VZCZCXRO5985
RR RUEHBI RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0852/01 1660321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150321Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6272
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1098
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0208
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 7191
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 5298
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2204
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 7777
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5437
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2130
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000852 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB/EPPD NSMITH-NISSLEY AND SCA/INS 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
MCC FOR S. GROFF, D. TETER, D. NASSIRY AND E. BURKE 
TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL 
GENEVA PASS USTR 
 
FOR EEB ASSISTANT SECRETARY SULLIVAN FROM AMBASSADOR BLAKE 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON BEXP ETRD ELAB KSEP SENV AMGT CE
SUBJECT:  SRI LANKA - NOMINATION OF MICROSOFT FOR CORPORATE 
EXCELLENCE AWARD 
 
REF: A) STATE 47222 B) COLOMBO 754 
 
¶1.  I am pleased to nominate Microsoft-Sri Lanka for the Secretary's 
Award for Corporate Excellence in the multinational enterprise 
category.  While meeting all eligibility requirements for this 
award, Microsoft-Sri Lanka has demonstrated outstanding corporate 
citizenship by enabling reformed drug addicts to obtain better jobs 
through information and communication technology (IT) training.  It 
has helped contribute to the advancement of Sri Lanka's scientific 
and technology policies by conducting seminars for developing 
IT-enhanced curricula and counseling students in their career paths. 
 Microsoft-Sri Lanka has contributed to rule of law by sponsoring an 
intellectual property rights (IPR) training program for judicial 
officials. 
 
CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP:  EXPANDING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND 
OBJECTIVES OF EX-DRUG ADDICTS 
 
¶2.  In 2005-06, Microsoft-Sri Lanka partnered with the Sri Lanka 
Anti Narcotics Association (SLANA) to attempt to integrate ex-drug 
users back into society, by providing them with IT skills to 
facilitate employability.  Microsoft donated $113,000 to help SLANA 
set up three centers and directly train 400 people.  This project is 
designed to positively influence over 1,500 people over two years. 
The plan has already begun working.  A 25-year old former heroin 
addict wrote that the program "made me realize that I could pursue 
numerous avenues...I further understood what I could do with the 
support of new technology."  A 20-year old ex-drug user who 
completed the program wrote, "I realized that there is a world 
beyond drugs.  [The program] exposed me to many things I could do in 
life.  It also created a special interest in computers." 
 
CONTRIBUTING TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL 
POLICIES:  CURRICULUM REDESIGN AND IT TRAINING; PROMOTING IT CAREER 
OPPORTUNITIES 
 
¶3.  Sri Lanka has identified IT as a potential growth sector, and 
seeks to encourage its growth.  In Sri Lanka, mainly upper-class 
urban residents have access to the Internet, while rural communities 
are left without IT training or access - tools that are essential 
for economic advancement in today's world.  In 2004-05, 
Microsoft-Sri Lanka provided a grant of $110,000 to set up 12 
telecenters island-wide, to enable rural youth to access IT and to 
receive training.  Microsoft estimates that the grant has trained 
3,500 young people, and affected the lives of an additional 10,000 
people. 
 
¶4.  In 2006, Microsoft-Sri Lanka urged and coordinated with other IT 
companies, including IBM, HP, IDM, and Suntel, to contribute to the 
development of four rural IT projects.  This practice has evolved 
into a Global Best Practice for Microsoft, which has adopted it in 
over a dozen countries within the past year. 
 
¶5. Microsoft-Sri Lanka also identified the need to reduce "fear of 
technology" among Sri Lanka's teachers. The company, together with 
the Ministry of Education, launched the National Teacher PC Drive, 
aimed at enabling 50,000 teachers to own PCs. It provided several 
subsidies for this initiative, including provision of free training 
to any teacher who buys a PC, and free lesson plans.  Approximately 
6,900 teachers have received this training delivered by the company, 
in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.  This represents a 
total classroom size of approximately 332,000 students. 
 
¶6. Microsoft-Sri Lanka co-sponsored with USAID/Sri Lanka a job fair 
in June 2007.  The fair featured prominent Sri Lankan local and 
internationally based businesses, seminars on applying for jobs and 
where opportunities lie in the job market, and counseling services 
on how to interview and which technical fields are most appropriate 
for the skills of the students.  One of the 900 student participants 
commented that this job fair provided him with more knowledge and 
practical experience about the job market than all of his years of 
education combined. 
 
COLOMBO 00000852  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
CONTRIBUTING TO RULE OF LAW:  JUDICIAL TRAINING IN INTELLECTUAL 
PROPERTY LAWS 
 
¶7. Microsoft-Sri Lanka partnered with the local American Chamber of 
Commerce in a multi-pronged intellectual property rights campaign. 
In addition to its non-publicized financial contributions to a 
public-awareness component of the campaign, Microsoft staff 
conducted training on Sri Lanka's Intellectual Property Act and the 
importance of IPR enforcement for judiciary staff who rule on 
intellectual property rights cases.  One American Chamber of 
Commerce member reported a significant increase in the size of fines 
imposed on IPR violators following the training.  Due to the success 
of this program, Microsoft executives have expressed interest in 
supporting continuing training programs within the court system. 
Additionally, the Embassy requested funding (Ref B) to support 
continuation of this program. 
 
BLAKE