COLOMBO, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka is aiming to launch a "complete knowledge economy" driven by the IT sector as one of the government's main spheres for economic development in the next decade, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe quoted by local media said on Thursday.

Addressing the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE)- organised ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Forum titled Information Technology and Its Role in the Modern Organization, Wickremesinghe urged local stakeholders to be geared to face the stumbling blocks in achieving a five-billion-dollar ICT industry by 2025.

"I would like to say that this Government will be promoting the knowledge economy as one of the main spheres for economic development in the next decade," Wickremesinghe said.

"We want to create a complete knowledge economy, where Sri Lankans work and benefit from it. I am confident of achieving the target," he said.

The prime minister said that the government had set up a taskforce to revamp the industry and focus on the knowledge and IT sector in the next 18 months.

He pointed out that the knowledge industry was economically important for Sri Lanka, as it was where the country could send the most valuable human resources.

The prime minister also noted that the government had identified promoting logistics, communication, and financial tourism as new areas in making Sri Lanka the hub of the Indian Ocean.

He said that very soon the government would have a viable arrangement for the Mattala airport in southern Sri Lanka, just as the Hambantota Port, making available good infrastructure in the middle of the Indian Ocean.