Annual Report 2005 - Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka

IPS Research Themes__Public Enterprise Reform, Competition, & ............the Grameen Village Phone Programme. The study also discusses the replicability of the Grameen approach.The report based on this study can be accessed at: http://www.lirne.asia.net/wp-content/GrameenReportVersion 3.1.pdfReview of Competition Policy in Sri LankaThere are many factors that determine the effectiveness of competition policy in any country. This includesthe institutional framework such as competition agencies and regulatory bodies, as well as the legislativeframework in the form of competition laws, public utility regulations and consumer protection laws enactedby the government. Hence, the objectives of this study are to identify the effectiveness and implementationcapacity of competition agencies and regulatory bodies in Sri Lanka and analyse the reach and breadth ofprevailing competition laws; formulate a policy paper on the current state of competition policy and law in SriLanka, highlighted through relevant case studies; formulate recommendations to the government on policyimprovement using best practice literature and international comparisons of similar studies.Telecommunications Reform and RegulationThe IPS has been involved in research and policy work relating to telecommunications reform and regulationin a developing country context for over a decade, through dircet participation in committees, and developingpolicy briefs for the Government. It has also interacted with telecommunications researchers and policymakers internationally in the process of identifying strategies that would work in the Sri Lankan context.Presentations were made on “Embedding Competition Principles in Telecommunications Regulation: Issuesand Challenges” and “Competition in Telecommunications Networks: Anti-trust and Sector-specific Regulation:Solutions and Challenges for Developing Countries” at conferences organized by CUTS on Advocacy andCapacity Building on Competition Policy and Law in Asia and Africa during the year.Applying Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in Sri LankaThis research study follows from a project undertaken in collaboration with IPS research partners at theCentre on Regulation and Competition (CRC), University of Manchester to look at options for regulatoryreform in Sri Lanka and provide recommendations to policy makers in the regulatory space. The principalobjective of this research is to develop a working template for RIA in Sri Lanka with inputs from researchpartners at the CRC and from an informal Working Group made up of key stakeholders from the policy andregulatory space, from the private sector, from the NGO community and from the media. The first policyoutput – which included Expert Consultations with key stakeholders in the regulatory reform process – is apolicy paper titled, “Regulatory Impact Assessment: A Tool for Better Regulatory Governance in Sri Lanka?”,which was handed over to the government, and was also presented by IPS research staff at international andregional fora. Malathy Kinght-John made presentations on “RIA: A Tool for Better Regulatory Governancein Sri Lanka?” at the South Asia Roundtable on Implementing Regulatory Reform, organized by FIAS, SEDFand DFID, during 13-14 June in Dhaka and at the Annual CRC workshop on Competition, Regulation andRegulatory Governance, during 21-22 June in Manchester. IPS research in this area also includes an ongoingsurvey on regulatory practices in key regulatory institutions as well as pilot tests of the RIA templatedeveloped for Sri Lanka at the local government level.Research PersonnelMalathy Knight-John , Shantha Jayasinghe, Shihana Samad, Apsara Thureiratnam andAmrit Rajapakse22__________ Annual Report 2005