India, Oct. 28 -- The clearest example is the emergence of Nano GCCs. Unlike traditional Global Capability Centres employing thousands, these are specialised teams of a few dozen highly skilled professionals working in AI, product development, R&D, data analytics, treasury and cybersecurity. They compete on capability rather than headcount, which makes them well suited to a market of Sri Lanka's scale and to companies that want a second location rather than a second head office. Proximity matters to these teams, and India and Sri Lanka share a single time zone, which is an added advantage.

Geographic proximity creates the opportunity; regulatory certainty determines whether that opportunity is realised. Sri Lanka's Special Economic Zones...