NASTEC


Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Department of National Planning
National Science and Technology Commission



Obtaining Public Comments for Draft National Research and Development Policy of Sri Lanka

Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has developed National Research and Development Policy (NRDP) for Sri Lanka. The National Research and Development Policy of Sri Lanka has been prepared in a very participatory process with all major stakeholders in Sri Lanka.

Overall Goal of the NRDP
The overall goal of the NRDP is to leverage science, including social sciences, and technology to establish a well-structured R&D mechanism, harnessing the potential for invention and innovation to elevate Sri Lanka to a new "Renaissance Era”.

This policy applies to the entire R&D sector, encompassing both natural sciences and social sciences in Sri Lanka. It extends across all the stakeholders; the government, the private sector, the public of Sri Lanka and the international community, establishing a comprehensive framework and guidelines for the effective and sustainable management of the R&D sector in the country. The broader scope is to establish the interconnection between above stakeholders of the R&D policy and allow the entire R&D mechanism to run smoothly to complete the inventions and innovations that are commercialized and benefit the entire society.		 Policy Principles

The NRDP stands on following policy principles:

  1. Fostering Equity
  2. Effective Governance
  3. Ensuring Accountability and Transparency
  4. Accepting Diversity and Inclusiveness
  5. Encouraging Collaborations and Knowledge Sharing
  6. Focusing on Economic, Societal and Environmental Impact

Policy Statements

The Policy Statements have thus been developed along with stakeholder consultations, analysis of historical developments, present scenarios, and future prospects, lessons learnt from successful and innovative global approaches and best practices in Research & Development.

  1. Vision, leadership, effective governance, and a sound institutional framework for R&D
  2. Prioritization of research areas alignment with national needs and development goals
  3. Adequately financing R&D
  4. Monitoring and evaluation of post award R&D activities
  5. Commercialization of research outcomes
  6. Dissemination of knowledge from R&D outcomes
  7. Human resource development and management
  8. Collaboration, partnership, networking, and integration
  9. Research ethics
  10. Addressing crosscutting issues for the smooth functioning of R&D ecosystem

The above is only a synopsis of the draft NRDP and the full document could be viewed at the following links:

Sinhala
Tamil
English

The interested (parties, institute or organization, general public) in providing comments/opinions to the policy are requested to send them in writing in Sinhala, Tamil or English to: The Chairman, National Science and Technology Commission, 6th Floor, Wing ‘D’, Sethsiripaya Stage II, Battaramulla or email nastecoffice@gmail.com or fax: 0112186713 on or before 31st August 2025