Category: Daily Financial Times

Eligible pensioners can now access financing from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 12 million through the DFCC Garusaru Pension Loan, with repayment periods of up to 15 years and a choice of fixed or variable interest rates.

The facility can be used for significant expenses that may arise during retirement, including medical needs, home improvements and other personal requirements. The longer repayment period can make monthly instalments more manageable, while the fixed-rate option gives customers greater certainty when planning their household budgets.

Commenting on the proposition, DFCC Bank Vice President and Head of Products and Propositions Asitha Pinnaduwa said: ‘Retirement income may be predictable, but significant expenses do not always arrive in manageable amounts. We structured Garusaru to recognise both realities. The higher loan limit allows eligible pensioners to address larger needs, while the longer repayment period and fixed-rate option make their monthly commitments easier to plan.’

The loan is available to Government pensioners, widows and widowers receiving State pensions, pensioners of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Ceylon Electricity Board, and eligible ex-military personnel. Applicants must be below 74 years of age when applying, and the loan must be fully repaid before they reach 75. Monthly instalments may not exceed 60% of the applicant’s net monthly pension.

Boutique Agency Network (BAN) has once again proven its strength as one of Sri Lanka’s most effective integrated creative agencies, winning Gold at the Dragons of Sri Lanka Awards for the Munchee Father’s Day campaign, ‘Piya Kirula’, in the Integrated Marketing Campaign category.

The win marks a major milestone for BAN, making it the second consecutive year the agency has won Gold in the Integrated Marketing Campaign category at Dragons of Sri Lanka.

BAN said the achievement firmly positions it as a consistent leader in integrated brand thinking, culturally rooted creativity, and campaign effectiveness.

Created for Ceylon Biscuits’ flagship brand Munchee, Piya Kirula transformed a familiar brand symbol into a powerful national gesture of gratitude. The campaign was built around a simple but deeply emotional cultural truth: in Sri Lankan homes, fathers are deeply loved, but rarely openly appreciated.

The creative idea came from a symbol that had always been present in the CBL identity – the crown in the logo. Much like fathers, the crown had always been there but was often less noticed than it deserved to be. For Father’s Day 2025, BAN reinterpreted that crown as a symbol of appreciation for the ‘unsung kings’ at home.

The campaign invited Sri Lankans to crown their fathers through a simple act of love and recognition. A real crown was printed in national newspapers, allowing families across the country to cut it out and crown their fathers at home. To make the idea accessible to younger audiences, the campaign also introduced a TikTok crown filter, supported by a digital storytelling film that explained the emotional meaning behind the gesture.

The campaign quickly moved beyond brand communication and entered popular culture. Celebrities, influencers, community pages, content creators, schools, and families across Sri Lanka participated in the movement. Leading media channels and OOH partners also endorsed and amplified the campaign, helping Piya Kirula become one of the most outspoken Father’s Day campaigns in Sri Lanka in 2025.

Adding to the agency’s success at this year’s Dragons of Sri Lanka, BAN also won Silver for Watawala in the Best Innovative Concept category, further highlighting the agency’s growing creative and strategic impact across different brands and categories.

With Gold for Munchee’s Piya Kirula, Silver for Watawala, and back-to-back Gold wins in Integrated Marketing, BAN has once again shown that powerful integrated campaigns are not just about media presence. They are about creating ideas that people participate in, share, and remember.

BAN said this recognition is more than an award. It is proof of the agency’s belief that the best campaigns are built at the intersection of brand truth, cultural truth, and human truth.

New Media Solutions Ltd., has been recognised at the Dragons of Sri Lanka 2026, taking home a Gold Award in the Marketing Discipline category for Softlogic Life Insurance PLC’s Health Score campaign and two Silver Awards in Public Relations and Content Creation for Unilever Sri Lanka/Closeup’s Break the Barriers campaign.

The Health Score campaign for Softlogic Life Insurance PLC focused on encouraging greater awareness around health and wellbeing through a consumer focused approach to healthier living. International cricket legend Jonty Rhodes was a key part of the campaign, bringing his strong association with fitness and an active lifestyle to the initiative and helping the campaign connect with a wider audience. The campaign combined strategic communication and consumer engagement to create greater awareness around health, contributing to its Gold recognition at the Dragons of Sri Lanka 2026.

For Unilever Sri Lanka and Closeup, New Media Solutions led the public relations and content creation work for Break the Barriers, a campaign that invited Sri Lankans to share personal experiences of overcoming barriers for love. Conducted in Sinhala, Tamil and English, the campaign received more than 1,000 submissions, covering experiences around distance, language, family expectations, cultural differences, disability and fear. From these, 100 stories were selected for publication in Sri Lanka’s first crowdsourced love story book, with selected stories also reproduced in Braille.

The campaign used reading and writing communities, social media creators, podcasts, short form video, youth outreach and contributions from established writers to encourage participation. New Media Solutions also managed the public relations surrounding the book’s publication and launch at Waters Edge, Battaramulla, securing more than 100 earned media placements across online, print, radio and television in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The campaign was recognised with Silver Awards in both the Public Relations and Content Creation categories.

Managing Director Nilupa Liyanage said: ‘Winning one Gold and two Silver Awards across two client campaigns is a strong reflection of the breadth of work delivered by our teams. We are grateful to Softlogic Life Insurance PLC, Unilever Sri Lanka and Closeup for their trust and partnership in bringing these campaigns to life.’

Head of Digital and Operations Kavindu Wijesekara said: ‘The content strategy was designed around participation. We worked with different communities, creators and formats because each audience needed a relevant way to engage with the campaign. Every piece of content had a clear role in encouraging people to contribute.’

Manager – Client Servicing, Banura Abeywickrema said: ‘The success of both campaigns came from close collaboration with our clients, partners and teams. We are grateful to all our clients for their continued trust and to everyone who contributed to bringing these campaigns from strategy through to execution, with each team playing an important role in delivering the final work.’

The Dragons of Sri Lanka forms part of the Dragons of Asia Marketing Communications Awards, which has recognised agencies and brand owners across Asia since 2000. The Sri Lankan program was introduced in 2024, with entries judged by members of an international judging panel across strategy, concept, execution and results.

New Media Solutions said the recognition reinforces its ambition to create work that moves beyond communication, builds meaningful connections between brands and people, and delivers measurable impact.

Sri Lanka’s AI Academy has entered a strategic partnership with Berlin-based Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences to launch challenge-based AI degrees through an integrated work-study model that eliminates the gap between education and employment.

The partnership will deliver two Tomorrow University-awarded qualifications: a BSc in Applied AI and an MBA in AI and Technological Transformation. Both degrees are offered through AI Academy’s local incubator structure, allowing Sri Lankan students to earn state-recognised German higher education credentials without relocating abroad.

The partnership was announced recently bringing together government policymakers, academic leaders, venture capital investors, and industry veterans to discuss applied technology skills, ethical AI frameworks, and cross-border startup acceleration. The timing reflects a broader policy shift in how Sri Lanka approaches tertiary education and economic development as the country repositions itself as a regional innovation hub.

Students get a chance to work on paid, real briefs for Sri Lankan and international companies rather than treating education and employment as separate life stages. Whilst pursuing a full university degree, they build portfolios, obtain hands-on experience, and apply classroom learning directly to real business challenges. The model places students in close contact with industry through challenges and placements spanning technology and startups, apparel, tea, tourism, logistics, and government sectors.

Tomorrow University’s MBA in AI and Technological Transformation targets working professionals who cannot leave employment to study. Structured to allow career continuity whilst developing new AI and technological capabilities, the program integrates business leadership with advanced technical knowledge.

The BSc in Applied AI focuses on applied learning pathways for school leavers and professionals seeking career transitions into AI-adjacent roles. Both programs are accredited by the German Accreditation Council via ACQUIN for MBA delivery and FIBAA for Bachelor programs, with qualifications recognised internationally.

Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe highlighted that traditional education has long limited Sri Lanka’s capacity for innovation and problem-solving. He noted that rigid school systems have held back the creative thinking needed for technical progress. To illustrate his point, he contrasted strict modern education with the open imagination of the 1800s and 1900s, which gave rise to electricity, biotechnology, and major scientific breakthroughs.

Abeysinghe emphasised that as AI replaces repetitive and data-driven tasks, organisations will require workers who can solve complex problems, exercise creative ability, and demonstrate empathy. These competencies cannot emerge from memorisation-based education systems. The government is therefore transforming early childhood education to prioritise problem-solving, empathy, and exploration rather than rote learning. The partnership with Tomorrow University aligns precisely with this policy direction as Sri Lanka targets a 300 billion dollar economy within the next decade by strengthening its entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems.

AI Academy Founder Linda Speldewinde explained how the partnership bridges the gap between what universities teach and what industry genuinely needs. Drawing on two decades of experience building Sri Lanka’s design sector from scratch, Speldewinde developed not just designers but an entire creative economy spanning retail, manufacturing, and cultural platforms including Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and the Sri Lanka Design Festival. AOD graduates now compete head-to-head with graduates from the world’s best design schools, building international names for themselves globally. This outcome resulted from a single conviction: real work with real clients and real stakes from day one.

AI Academy is built on that identical principle, now applied to AI. Speldewinde emphasised that AI differs fundamentally from design or any previous profession. AI is not a profession. It’s a way of being, she said. The new generation must be equipped not merely to work with technology but to understand problems and turn knowledge into value across every economic sector.

The Tomorrow University partnership allows Sri Lankan students to access a state-recognised German degree without leaving the country. Students gain access to international peers, faculty, and a global learning environment whilst remaining based in Colombo. Unlike the design sector, which required decades to establish global credibility, AI Academy can leapfrog through this international partnership.

Speldewinde noted that the new generation of Sri Lankan global citizens can study globally, engage in international internships, and access international faculty without geographic relocation. The model offers an alternative to the traditional choice between studying abroad or accepting a conventional local degree.

Tomorrow University Founder Christian Rebernik brought insights from building five unicorn companies across Europe. He transformed European financial systems by creating a modern banking licence and rebuilding core banking infrastructure for the continent.

He helped build a digital health record platform that merges data for 37 health insurance companies serving 20 million people. He also contributed to the UN World Food Program’s meal-sharing platform, a donation system now used globally to help 300 million children.

Rebernik stressed a fundamental principle: the world pays for what you can do, not what you recall. University graduates often arrive with theoretical knowledge but lack the real skills required to build something under pressure in unprecedented circumstances.

Technology moves so rapidly that knowledge acquired during formal education becomes outdated within years. The true differentiator is the ability to solve problems that have never existed before and create meaningful solutions under real-world constraints rather than examination conditions.

AI Academy Chairperson and Investor Lin Gong Deutschmann reframed what policymakers typically call a talent shortage as actually a translation problem. Universities have failed to certify the talents and capabilities that industry genuinely needs.

She pointed out a clear global reality: for the first time in decades, people without a degree are now more likely to be unemployed than those without basic literacy. She brought up China’s fast school changes as an early sign of what lies ahead. Over the past five years, China has reformed one-third of its higher education system, cancelling 10,000 programs and adding 12,000 new ones, with mandatory AI learning required from age six onwards.

Deutschmann pointed to Germany’s apprenticeship model as the engine behind national economic success. In this model, industry is embedded within the degree itself rather than existing as a separate stage after graduation. Students build skill-based portfolios they can showcase rather than memorising examination content. Tomorrow University follows this lineage, designed specifically for the AI age.

Hatch Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, and Data Scientist Jeevan Gnanam reinforced that knowledge is no longer a competitive differentiator in the AI era. Information sits at everyone’s fingertips through internet access. What matters is how individuals apply knowledge creatively within their specific circumstances and challenges. Hatch has accelerated over 850 startups by teaching founders to apply knowledge rapidly to real-world problems. The Tomorrow University partnership mirrors this ecosystem-based approach, making it directly relevant to Sri Lanka’s startup sector and entrepreneurial ambitions.

A key feature of these programs is that every graduate must complete a practical AI project aimed at helping an underserved community. This project connects technical knowledge and business skills with measurable social benefits. Students will also organise and run AI Academy’s annual APEX Summit, giving them a direct platform to present their work to industry leaders, employers, and investors. Additionally, the local incubator setup offers mentorship and industry support, helping future entrepreneurs develop and test new business ideas.

This work-study model offers a practical route for both school leavers and working adults. Instead of having to choose between earning an income, studying, or launching a venture, students can do all three at the same time. Working professionals who cannot commit to full-time classes can stay employed while building advanced AI and tech skills through the MBA track.

This partnership comes as AI moves beyond the traditional tech sector into fields like manufacturing, clothing, tourism, logistics, farming, and business services. The model is built for anyone wanting to apply AI in their work, regardless of whether they plan to pursue a career in core technology.

This launch marks a significant shift from Sri Lanka’s traditional approach to higher education. Instead of treating AI as a narrow technical field, the program positions it as a core capability that is reshaping industries across every sector.

By replacing the gap between education and employment, this work-study model ensures that a student’s career begins on day one of their degree. Ultimately, offering the next generation real-world experience while building a future-ready solution.

The Human Rights Watch said in a report released yesterday alleged that the Sri Lankan Government’s prosecution of past grave abuses has lagged, raising concerns for future progress.

‘United Nations officials and UN member countries at the Human Rights Council should call on the Government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to show greater determination to address emblematic rights cases and cooperate with international accountability efforts,’ HRW said.

The 49-page report, ”Not Genuine with Justice’: Sri Lanka’s Lack of Will to Prosecute Past Abuses,’ provides an overview of domestic justice efforts in seven prominent cases of grave abuses in which the Dissanayake Government has made a measure of progress since taking office in 2024. Human Rights Watch found that many emblematic cases, including a massacre of aid workers, the targeting of journalists, and enforced disappearances of academics and others, remain stalled, while families of victims and human rights defenders face threats and intimidation.

‘The Dissanayake administration needs to break from past Government practice of delaying and denying justice for grave abuses,’ said Human Rights Watch UN Human Rights Council director Lucy McKernan. ‘The UN Human Rights Council should urge the Sri Lankan Government to take credible steps toward accountability for past crimes and end reprisals against victims, their families, and human rights defenders.’

Human Rights Watch interviewed 32 victims of abuses, family members of the disappeared, and lawyers and other human rights defenders, and extensively reviewed court documents and other sources.

Tens of thousands of people were tortured, forcibly disappeared, abducted, and killed by Government security forces and nonstate armed groups during Sri Lanka’s 1987-1989 Marxist insurgency in the south and the civil war between the Government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in 2009.

Sri Lanka has a legacy of failed attempts at obtaining justice for past abuses. Successive Governments have appointed more than 10 commissions since the 1990s to inquire into human rights violations, but none led to prosecutions or revealed what happened to thousands of people who disappeared. Various administrations either made minimal progress on cases or actively intervened to block the few criminal investigations underway.

‘Excavations [of mass graves] alone will not provide justice,’ said a family member of a disappearance victim in Jaffna. ‘Will those who are responsible for abuses be held accountable?’ Investigators have recovered the remains of 582 people from a mass grave at Chemmani, near Jaffna, but there has been no apparent progress in identifying the victims or finding what happened to them.

The Dissanayake Government has made some progress in important investigations that were previously derailed. These include the inquiry into the 2009 murder of a newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge; the 2010 enforced disappearance of a journalist, Prageeth Ekneligoda; and the enforced disappearance by naval intelligence officers of 11 young men who were held for ransom in 2008 and 2009.

An investigation into an alleged high-level Government conspiracy behind the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 269 people, was only able to proceed after President Dissanayake took office. In February 2026, police arrested Suresh Sallay, a former military intelligence officer, for colluding with an Islamist group accused of carrying out the attacks. In June, a Sri Lankan court banned former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and two other military intelligence officers from foreign travel in connection with the ongoing investigations into the attacks.

Despite the limited progress, the Dissanayake Government has not responded with the needed urgency to end impunity for grave abuses, Human Rights Watch found. There has been no progress in other important cases in which senior officials have been implicated, including the 2006 killing of five Tamil students and the massacre of 17 mostly Tamil members of the French aid group Action Contre la Faim. Twenty years on, no one has been arrested, let alone prosecuted, for these killings.

The Dissanayake Government has not accepted the Sri Lanka Accountability Project, established by the UN Human Rights Council to collect evidence of serious rights abuses. It has failed to establish the promised Directorate of Public Prosecution to independently prosecute past abuses.

Instead, it has backed initiatives of previous Governments, such as the Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations, which many victims’ families have rejected because they consider them efforts intended to delay justice.

Since the end of the civil war in 2009, the UN has played an important role in promoting justice and accountability while seeking to end ongoing violations. The UN Secretary-General’s 2011 Panel of Experts report and the 2015 investigation on Sri Lanka by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented extensive war crimes and other abuses by both sides during the civil war. And the UN Human Rights Council has adopted a series of resolutions seeking accountability.

The UN Human Rights Council and the OHCHR should continue to review the Dissanayake Government’s progress on justice and press for action to address decades of impunity, Human Rights Watch said.

‘The Dissanayake Government should jumpstart its efforts to obtain genuine accountability for the killings and disappearances in the past conflicts,’ McKernan said. ‘The UN high commissioner and UN member States at the Human Rights Council should urge the Dissanayake Government to demonstrate its expressed commitment to justice in Sri Lanka.’

NINETY two of formal private sector employees in Sri Lanka earn less than 100,000 rupees a month, according to EPF data.

This startling revelation, made at a recent Sri Lanka Korea Business Council panel discussion, should have caused a furore, with the Government and the Opposition racing against each other to use this proof of extreme wage inequality as a politico-propaganda weapon.

Should have, but didn’t; because for the Government and for the Opposition, political life begins and ends with 22.

The quasi-totalitarian content in the new NGO bill and the proposed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act aimed at protecting the tender feelings of asset-accumulating politicians are being given a near-free pass as the Government and the Opposition obsess on the 22nd Amendment. It is as if the fate of the nation depends on whether Preethi Padman Surasena remains Chief Justice for two more years – or not. After all, the real issue with the 22nd Amendment is not its content but its timing. The Government wants the 22nd Amendment in place before CJ Surasena retires in December. The Opposition doesn’t mind the 22nd Amendment if it is enacted after CJ Surasena retires. The rest is just verbiage.

One of the many critical issues lost in this tsunami of self-serving slogans is Lankan economy’s deeply entrenched structural inequalities and their socio-political consequences.

This year, Sri Lanka regained upper-middle income status, an achievement the Government celebrated, justly, while staying mum on a related fact. According to the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) measurement used for upper-middle income countries (with poverty line set at $ 8.3 – Rs. 2,724 – per day), Sri Lanka’s poverty rate for 2026 would be a mind-boggling 65.4%. In other words, Sri Lanka is an upper-middle income country with almost two-thirds of its population living in poverty!

According to the World Bank’s Sri Lanka Development Update 2026, ‘The economic recovery has been unable to reverse crisis induced welfare losses. 33% of households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025’ (Weathering the Storm). ‘Many households are yet to experience benefits associated with regained upper-middle-income status,’ warned UN Assistant Secretary General Kanni Wignaraja during her recent visit to Colombo. As long as our economic strategy continues to place a disproportionate share of the burden of recovery on the poor and the middle classes (via exorbitant indirect taxes), benefits of growth will continue to be concentrated in the hands of a wealthy minority. According to World Bank calculations, by 2028, our poverty rate will go down only very marginally to 63.4% (https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099213205052641407/pdf/IDU-df6d36cb-59f0-4e01-af7b-4893b4d08e24.pdf).

The IMF is not the villain of this particular piece. Deputy minister Wasantha Piyatissa was wrong when he stated that, ‘Under the present IMF agreement, it is not possible for the Government to make further financial commitments to expand social welfare’ (https://srilankabrief.org/welfare-funding-squeezed-under-imf-programme-sri-lankan-minister-says/). On the contrary, the IMF has been pushing Colombo to spend more and not less on welfare. It has set not a ceiling but a mandatory floor on social spending – a minimum and not a maximum.

The IMF is opposed to blanket subsidies but is fully supportive of targeted subsidies (thus its opposition to tax breaks for businesses, local or foreign). In November 2024, the IMF reminded the new Government that, ‘While Sri Lanka met most performance criteria, it consistently missed social spending targets’ (https://publicfinance.lk/en/topics/imf-calls-on-government-to-increase-social-spending-1732492064). As the World Bank pointed out, Sri Lanka’s spending on ‘public wages and capital projects and on sectors such as health, social protection, and education are all comparatively low’ (Better Spending for All). Today, for instance, Sri Lanka ranks near the bottom on public education.

In its 2024 presidential election manifesto, the NPP promised A thriving nation and A beautiful life. Two years on, Sri Lanka remains a land where the top one-third thrive while the rest struggle to keep their heads above the tide level.

Working but poor

Sri Lanka’s economic policy is shaped not for the wellbeing of a majority of Lankans but for the benefit of about 1000 people, warned Advocata Chairman, Murtaza Jafferjee. About 100 families are blocking competition and enterprise, he revealed (https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-main/Stop-worshipping-growth-start-measuring-poverty-economists-tell-government/245-348224).

A warning the Government and the Opposition were at one in ignoring.

The world provides ample examples of what happens to nations when governments dance to the tune of the richest 1%.

Journalist Brian Goldstone’s Pulitzer-winning non-fiction book, ‘There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America’ details how high growth, high employment, and high corporate profits exist side by side with growing poverty and homelessness in the world sole super power. ‘Today there isn’t a single state, metropolitan area, or county in the United States where a fulltime worker earning the local minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment… And it is in the nation’s richest, most rapidly developing cities – the one’s which are ‘doing well’ – that the threat of homelessness has become particularly acute.’

This ’emergency born of prosperity’ is no accident but the inevitable outcome of deliberate policy choices. As economist John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out, ‘Today in the United States, we find islands of wealth and power on one side and an ocean of precarity and powerlessness alongside poverty on the other. This is a structural development over 50 years…’ (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/07/us-economy-growth-inequality-james-k-galbraith).

Not all jobs are created equally. Even when growth promotes employment, it could be the kind of employment which doesn’t pay a living wage and therefore perpetuates poverty – and inequality – instead of combatting it. Low wages and the absence of social recognition, one an outcome of rampant capitalism and the other a residue of defunct feudalism, are main drivers of Sri Lanka’s skills drain. Sri Lankan private sector wants workers who are willing to work at dangerous, backbreaking or tedious jobs for a barely liveable age, jobs which bring not social acceptance but social opprobrium. Consequently, there is a growing gulf between the type of employment on demand and the type of employment available.

UN Assistant Secretary General Wignaraja warned about Sri Lanka’s skills drain and stated that promoting quality employment opportunities would be a defining pillar of the UNDP’s Sri Lanka country program. It should be a defining pillar of NPP Government’s economic strategy as well. The Government did the morally right and economically appropriate thing when it gave workers in the plantation sector a much-needed wage hike. That should be not a one off measure, but the first step in a long journey towards a solid blue collar middle class society. The Government needs to initiate a dialogue with employers in other sectors to devise ways and means to make available job opportunities more attractive to Lankan workers. Unfortunately, the Government is promoting skills migration on one hand while allowing many sectors to ‘import’ migrant workers. Not to mention devising hare-brained schemes like banning the profession of three-wheeler driving for those under 40!

Equally important would be to promote not any and every investment, but investment Sri Lanka needs today (not what she needed 20 or even 10 years ago). The Kerala model could be instructive in this regard. Kerala has adopted ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria in investment promotion, evaluating potential investors based on their performance on sustainability, ethical governance, and industrial responsibility. Investments which do not increase our already severe environmental vulnerabilities while creating jobs that can keep young skilled workers and professionals from migrating.

The wrong type of growth, growth which enriches a few while bypassing the many, can be more damaging politically than even no growth, as history demonstrates from France in 1789 to Iran in 1978.

A country for whom?

Verité Research Executive Director Nishan de Mel defined Lankan system as a racket. ‘We have a country…where people who earn don’t pay taxes… This is a racket in which people like us, you know, benefit enormously on the backs of those who see very little benefit of the economy’ (https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Sri-Lanka-economy—a-racket—Economists/26-796108).

Taxation plays a crucial role in determining systemic fairness or its absence. Where tax systems are skewed to benefit the wealthy, inequality thrives. Since the 1980’s there has been a global shift towards greater inequality. A key instrument in this transition was taxation.

Protestors demonstrating against Jeff Bezos’ opulent Venetian wedding carried a 4300-square foot banner reading, If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax. The slogan was not hyperbolic. Bezos could afford to rent Venice for his wedding because his tax bill is rather low. According to the Forbes magazine, ‘Bezos didn’t pay any federal taxes in 2007 and 2011, per ProPublica reporting, on leaked returns, and likely paid little in 2022 and 2023… Per a 2018 UC Berkeley study based on Forbes data, families in the top 0.1% of Americans by net worth were estimated to owe just 3.2% of their wealth in taxes in 2019 while the bottom 99% were estimated to have owed 7.2%; since then, America’s richest have only gotten richer, and Bezos tax bill for 2024 amounts to just around 1% of his estimated net worth’ (https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2025/06/28/wedding-protesters-say-bezos-should-pay-more-tax-heres-how-much-he-likely-did-pay/).

According to a recent Oxfam report, From Private Wealth to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy, the wealth of global millionaires increased by $ 2.5 trillion in the last year, enough to eradicate poverty 26 times over. Extreme wealth, warned Oxfam, is ‘increasingly translating into political power with billionaires estimated to be 4000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens… Almost half of people surveyed in 66 countries said ‘the rich often buy elections.” Oxfam’s recommendations to alleviate this extremity begins with taxing super rich. (https://oxfam.app.box.com/s/7trdq1tnxrmvspym3p8sx8q125c2mw6v)

Since 2022, the IMF has been pushing for a wealth tax and an inheritance tax targeting the wealthy minority in Sri Lanka. The supposedly progressive NPP Government is vehemently opposed to this globally acknowledged progressive measure, preferring to use exorbitant indirect taxes to bridge deficits caused, in part, by high military spending and subsidising of loss-making state enterprises. A recent report by the Auditor General focused on seven inactive SOEs kept on life-support using public funds (including taxes on books and educational materials). For instance, the Kantale sugar factory, inoperative since 1994, still exits with 32 past-retirement-age employees (https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Millions-bleed-into-dormant-state-enterprises-as-liquidation-delays-persist/273-348875).

‘Growth that doesn’t make the lives of people, the majority, better off, ends up, like in lots of places, biting back, even on those who benefit from that kind of growth’ warned Dr.de Mel. ‘Putting more roads at very high costs and more cars on the roads are not the solution,’ he said reminding that growth should not be worshipped but be regarded as a servant, a means to an end (https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Sri-Lanka-economy—a-racket—Economists/26-796108).

Sensible words, ignored by a 22-obsessed Government and an Opposition.

As two recent polls demonstrated, economics remains the Government’s Achilles’ Heel. According to the CPA survey, 51% of respondents said that their household economic situation worsened while only 18% said it improved. Only 45% are satisfied with the way the Government handles the cost-of-living issue while 44% are dissatisfied. According to the latest Mood of the Nation survey by Verité Research, only 42% of respondents say that the economy is getting better while 40% said it is getting worse (https://www.newswire.lk/2026/08/16/government-approval-drops-to-50-as-economic-outlook-weakens-verite-poll/).

If the Opposition had a grain of sense, it would have focused on economics, the Government’s weakest point. Since economic malaise is a problem that oversteps all primordial boundaries, it can easily use economic issues to create a broad tent with a Lankan complexion, uniting all ethnicities and races under the banner of the Affordability Crisis, as Zohran Mamdani did in New York and other radical Democrats are doing across the US. Instead, Lankan Opposition is allowing the more disreputable elements within its ranks to incite ethno-religious fear and hatred.

The pro-Opposition cyberspace seems suffused with anti-Tamil/Muslim/Christian propaganda. Instead of accusing the Government of not standing up to economic vested interests (as is the case), the Opposition’s cyber-warriors are charging the Government with being subservient to Tiger/Tamil Diaspora, the Muslims, and Catholic cardinal and Christian churches. Perhaps the Opposition’s attempts to channel public discontent into ethnic/religious extremist path stems from its unwillingness to confront the Government on matters economic. Perhaps it has no issue with a racket of a country where economic policies are made to benefit just

100 families? By Tisaranee Gunasekara

NINETY two of formal private sector employees in Sri Lanka earn less than 100,000 rupees a month, according to EPF data.

This startling revelation, made at a recent Sri Lanka Korea Business Council panel discussion, should have caused a furore, with the Government and the Opposition racing against each other to use this proof of extreme wage inequality as a politico-propaganda weapon.

Should have, but didn’t; because for the Government and for the Opposition, political life begins and ends with 22.

The quasi-totalitarian content in the new NGO bill and the proposed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act aimed at protecting the tender feelings of asset-accumulating politicians are being given a near-free pass as the Government and the Opposition obsess on the 22nd Amendment. It is as if the fate of the nation depends on whether Preethi Padman Surasena remains Chief Justice for two more years – or not. After all, the real issue with the 22nd Amendment is not its content but its timing. The Government wants the 22nd Amendment in place before CJ Surasena retires in December. The Opposition doesn’t mind the 22nd Amendment if it is enacted after CJ Surasena retires. The rest is just verbiage.

One of the many critical issues lost in this tsunami of self-serving slogans is Lankan economy’s deeply entrenched structural inequalities and their socio-political consequences.

This year, Sri Lanka regained upper-middle income status, an achievement the Government celebrated, justly, while staying mum on a related fact. According to the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) measurement used for upper-middle income countries (with poverty line set at $ 8.3 – Rs. 2,724 – per day), Sri Lanka’s poverty rate for 2026 would be a mind-boggling 65.4%. In other words, Sri Lanka is an upper-middle income country with almost two-thirds of its population living in poverty!

According to the World Bank’s Sri Lanka Development Update 2026, ‘The economic recovery has been unable to reverse crisis induced welfare losses. 33% of households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025’ (Weathering the Storm). ‘Many households are yet to experience benefits associated with regained upper-middle-income status,’ warned UN Assistant Secretary General Kanni Wignaraja during her recent visit to Colombo. As long as our economic strategy continues to place a disproportionate share of the burden of recovery on the poor and the middle classes (via exorbitant indirect taxes), benefits of growth will continue to be concentrated in the hands of a wealthy minority. According to World Bank calculations, by 2028, our poverty rate will go down only very marginally to 63.4% (https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099213205052641407/pdf/IDU-df6d36cb-59f0-4e01-af7b-4893b4d08e24.pdf).

The IMF is not the villain of this particular piece. Deputy minister Wasantha Piyatissa was wrong when he stated that, ‘Under the present IMF agreement, it is not possible for the Government to make further financial commitments to expand social welfare’ (https://srilankabrief.org/welfare-funding-squeezed-under-imf-programme-sri-lankan-minister-says/). On the contrary, the IMF has been pushing Colombo to spend more and not less on welfare. It has set not a ceiling but a mandatory floor on social spending – a minimum and not a maximum.

The IMF is opposed to blanket subsidies but is fully supportive of targeted subsidies (thus its opposition to tax breaks for businesses, local or foreign). In November 2024, the IMF reminded the new Government that, ‘While Sri Lanka met most performance criteria, it consistently missed social spending targets’ (https://publicfinance.lk/en/topics/imf-calls-on-government-to-increase-social-spending-1732492064). As the World Bank pointed out, Sri Lanka’s spending on ‘public wages and capital projects and on sectors such as health, social protection, and education are all comparatively low’ (Better Spending for All). Today, for instance, Sri Lanka ranks near the bottom on public education.

In its 2024 presidential election manifesto, the NPP promised A thriving nation and A beautiful life. Two years on, Sri Lanka remains a land where the top one-third thrive while the rest struggle to keep their heads above the tide level.

Working but poor

Sri Lanka’s economic policy is shaped not for the wellbeing of a majority of Lankans but for the benefit of about 1000 people, warned Advocata Chairman, Murtaza Jafferjee. About 100 families are blocking competition and enterprise, he revealed (https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-main/Stop-worshipping-growth-start-measuring-poverty-economists-tell-government/245-348224).

A warning the Government and the Opposition were at one in ignoring.

The world provides ample examples of what happens to nations when governments dance to the tune of the richest 1%.

Journalist Brian Goldstone’s Pulitzer-winning non-fiction book, ‘There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America’ details how high growth, high employment, and high corporate profits exist side by side with growing poverty and homelessness in the world sole super power. ‘Today there isn’t a single state, metropolitan area, or county in the United States where a fulltime worker earning the local minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment… And it is in the nation’s richest, most rapidly developing cities – the one’s which are ‘doing well’ – that the threat of homelessness has become particularly acute.’

This ’emergency born of prosperity’ is no accident but the inevitable outcome of deliberate policy choices. As economist John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out, ‘Today in the United States, we find islands of wealth and power on one side and an ocean of precarity and powerlessness alongside poverty on the other. This is a structural development over 50 years…’ (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/07/us-economy-growth-inequality-james-k-galbraith).

Not all jobs are created equally. Even when growth promotes employment, it could be the kind of employment which doesn’t pay a living wage and therefore perpetuates poverty – and inequality – instead of combatting it. Low wages and the absence of social recognition, one an outcome of rampant capitalism and the other a residue of defunct feudalism, are main drivers of Sri Lanka’s skills drain. Sri Lankan private sector wants workers who are willing to work at dangerous, backbreaking or tedious jobs for a barely liveable age, jobs which bring not social acceptance but social opprobrium. Consequently, there is a growing gulf between the type of employment on demand and the type of employment available.

UN Assistant Secretary General Wignaraja warned about Sri Lanka’s skills drain and stated that promoting quality employment opportunities would be a defining pillar of the UNDP’s Sri Lanka country program. It should be a defining pillar of NPP Government’s economic strategy as well. The Government did the morally right and economically appropriate thing when it gave workers in the plantation sector a much-needed wage hike. That should be not a one off measure, but the first step in a long journey towards a solid blue collar middle class society. The Government needs to initiate a dialogue with employers in other sectors to devise ways and means to make available job opportunities more attractive to Lankan workers. Unfortunately, the Government is promoting skills migration on one hand while allowing many sectors to ‘import’ migrant workers. Not to mention devising hare-brained schemes like banning the profession of three-wheeler driving for those under 40!

Equally important would be to promote not any and every investment, but investment Sri Lanka needs today (not what she needed 20 or even 10 years ago). The Kerala model could be instructive in this regard. Kerala has adopted ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria in investment promotion, evaluating potential investors based on their performance on sustainability, ethical governance, and industrial responsibility. Investments which do not increase our already severe environmental vulnerabilities while creating jobs that can keep young skilled workers and professionals from migrating.

The wrong type of growth, growth which enriches a few while bypassing the many, can be more damaging politically than even no growth, as history demonstrates from France in 1789 to Iran in 1978.

A country for whom?

Verité Research Executive Director Nishan de Mel defined Lankan system as a racket. ‘We have a country…where people who earn don’t pay taxes… This is a racket in which people like us, you know, benefit enormously on the backs of those who see very little benefit of the economy’ (https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Sri-Lanka-economy—a-racket—Economists/26-796108).

Taxation plays a crucial role in determining systemic fairness or its absence. Where tax systems are skewed to benefit the wealthy, inequality thrives. Since the 1980’s there has been a global shift towards greater inequality. A key instrument in this transition was taxation.

Protestors demonstrating against Jeff Bezos’ opulent Venetian wedding carried a 4300-square foot banner reading, If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax. The slogan was not hyperbolic. Bezos could afford to rent Venice for his wedding because his tax bill is rather low. According to the Forbes magazine, ‘Bezos didn’t pay any federal taxes in 2007 and 2011, per ProPublica reporting, on leaked returns, and likely paid little in 2022 and 2023… Per a 2018 UC Berkeley study based on Forbes data, families in the top 0.1% of Americans by net worth were estimated to owe just 3.2% of their wealth in taxes in 2019 while the bottom 99% were estimated to have owed 7.2%; since then, America’s richest have only gotten richer, and Bezos tax bill for 2024 amounts to just around 1% of his estimated net worth’ (https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2025/06/28/wedding-protesters-say-bezos-should-pay-more-tax-heres-how-much-he-likely-did-pay/).

According to a recent Oxfam report, From Private Wealth to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy, the wealth of global millionaires increased by $ 2.5 trillion in the last year, enough to eradicate poverty 26 times over. Extreme wealth, warned Oxfam, is ‘increasingly translating into political power with billionaires estimated to be 4000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens… Almost half of people surveyed in 66 countries said ‘the rich often buy elections.” Oxfam’s recommendations to alleviate this extremity begins with taxing super rich. (https://oxfam.app.box.com/s/7trdq1tnxrmvspym3p8sx8q125c2mw6v)

Since 2022, the IMF has been pushing for a wealth tax and an inheritance tax targeting the wealthy minority in Sri Lanka. The supposedly progressive NPP Government is vehemently opposed to this globally acknowledged progressive measure, preferring to use exorbitant indirect taxes to bridge deficits caused, in part, by high military spending and subsidising of loss-making state enterprises. A recent report by the Auditor General focused on seven inactive SOEs kept on life-support using public funds (including taxes on books and educational materials). For instance, the Kantale sugar factory, inoperative since 1994, still exits with 32 past-retirement-age employees (https://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/Millions-bleed-into-dormant-state-enterprises-as-liquidation-delays-persist/273-348875).

‘Growth that doesn’t make the lives of people, the majority, better off, ends up, like in lots of places, biting back, even on those who benefit from that kind of growth’ warned Dr.de Mel. ‘Putting more roads at very high costs and more cars on the roads are not the solution,’ he said reminding that growth should not be worshipped but be regarded as a servant, a means to an end (https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Sri-Lanka-economy—a-racket—Economists/26-796108).

Sensible words, ignored by a 22-obsessed Government and an Opposition.

As two recent polls demonstrated, economics remains the Government’s Achilles’ Heel. According to the CPA survey, 51% of respondents said that their household economic situation worsened while only 18% said it improved. Only 45% are satisfied with the way the Government handles the cost-of-living issue while 44% are dissatisfied. According to the latest Mood of the Nation survey by Verité Research, only 42% of respondents say that the economy is getting better while 40% said it is getting worse (https://www.newswire.lk/2026/08/16/government-approval-drops-to-50-as-economic-outlook-weakens-verite-poll/).

If the Opposition had a grain of sense, it would have focused on economics, the Government’s weakest point. Since economic malaise is a problem that oversteps all primordial boundaries, it can easily use economic issues to create a broad tent with a Lankan complexion, uniting all ethnicities and races under the banner of the Affordability Crisis, as Zohran Mamdani did in New York and other radical Democrats are doing across the US. Instead, Lankan Opposition is allowing the more disreputable elements within its ranks to incite ethno-religious fear and hatred.

The pro-Opposition cyberspace seems suffused with anti-Tamil/Muslim/Christian propaganda. Instead of accusing the Government of not standing up to economic vested interests (as is the case), the Opposition’s cyber-warriors are charging the Government with being subservient to Tiger/Tamil Diaspora, the Muslims, and Catholic cardinal and Christian churches. Perhaps the Opposition’s attempts to channel public discontent into ethnic/religious extremist path stems from its unwillingness to confront the Government on matters economic. Perhaps it has no issue with a racket of a country where economic policies are made to benefit just 100 families?

Singer has been recognised as Sri Lanka’s Fastest Growing Brand and the Most Valuable Retail (General) Brand in Brand Finance’s Sri Lanka’s Top 100 Most Valuable Brands 2026.

Singer was ranked overall 14th up by three places, among Sri Lanka’s Top 100 Most Valuable Brands, with a brand value of Rs. 13.888 billion and an AAA- brand rating. The recognition reflects the strong growth of the Singer brand and its continued relevance among Sri Lankan consumers.

Group Managing Director Mahesh Wijewardene said: ‘We are proud to receive this recognition from Brand Finance. Singer has been a part of Sri Lankan lives for generations, and this achievement reflects the trust our customers continue to place in us. Being recognised both as Sri Lanka’s Fastest Growing Brand and the Most Valuable Retail (General) Brand is particularly significant as we continue to expand into new categories and strengthen our core business. Our focus remains on offering greater choice, better experiences and more value to our customers.’

Over its 149 year history, Singer has grown from a brand best known for sewing machines to one of Sri Lanka’s most diversified consumer businesses. Today, the company operates across home appliances, consumer electronics, smartphones, light automobiles, agriculture, connectivity, renewable energy, manufacturing and financial solutions.

This expansion has been driven by changing customer needs and Singer’s ability to identify new areas where its brand, islandwide reach and service capabilities can add value.

In recent years, Singer has entered several new categories, strategically aligned to complement Singer’s established portfolio while allowing the company to serve a wider range of household and business needs.

At the same time, Singer has continued to strengthen the fundamentals that have built the brand over generations, an extensive retail network, a wide choice of products and leading international brands, islandwide accessibility and dependable after-sales service.

The company is also investing significantly in digital transformation to respond to the way customers now research, shop and interact with brands. This includes omnichannel retailing, AI driven customer engagement and greater use of data across marketing and customer experience.

While technology will play an increasingly important role, Singer’s focus is to combine these capabilities with the personal service and human connection that customers have associated with the brand for generations.

Singer Sri Lanka Marketing Director Janmesh Antony said, ‘For us, staying relevant is not simply about entering new categories or adopting new technology. It is about understanding how the lives of our customers are changing and making sure Singer changes with them. Over the years, we have evolved from selling sewing machines to becoming part of many different aspects of a customer’s life. But as we evolve, we also need to protect what has made Singer strong for nearly 150 years trust, accessibility, islandwide reach and dependable service. If we continue to listen to our customers, innovate around their needs and deliver a consistently good experience, I believe Singer will continue to remain relevant for generations to come.’

Brand Finance evaluates brands using a globally standardised methodology that considers factors including financial performance, brand strength and market recognition. The ranking provides an independent benchmark of the strength and value of brands within their respective markets.

The latest recognition reinforces Singer’s position as one of Sri Lanka’s leading retail brands and reflects the company’s continued transformation beyond traditional retail. As customer needs and lifestyles continue to change, Singer will continue to explore new opportunities while strengthening its position as a trusted lifestyle solutions provider for Sri Lankan consumers.

When a craft goes extinct, it’s a permanent loss of knowledge and creativity that humans painstakingly assembled for centuries. This loss ripples far beyond a simple style or a product. It also affects delicate social and economic ecosystems; artisans, farmers, spinners, carders, dyers, weavers, and toolmakers whose transactions are often backed by human connections, not just money. How do we prevent such losses? How do we revive lost or nearly extinct crafts with the ecosystems that underpin them?

During a recent knowledge-sharing session hosted by Rithihi in Colombo, the painstaking work of revival was explored, offering a glimpse into what it takes to revitalise near-extinct crafts. This was the fourth edition of Rithihi’s Textile Tales knowledge-sharing series.

Inviting Rajasthan-based revivalist designer Alka Sharma to Colombo, and with a documentary screening of Swati Dandekar’s ‘True Blue’ on indigo dye-making communities, Rithihi opened the space for a conversation on what it really takes to revive a craft and keep it alive.

Speaking to the circle gathered at Rithihi, Alka Sharma emphasised that preservation and innovation cannot exist separately. Stop evolving, and a craft slowly loses its relevance to a changing world; innovate without understanding it fully, and the very knowledge that makes it distinct is what’s lost. She explained how the designer’s role is to listen, and to build the conditions under which inherited knowledge can find meaning. A trunk show by the Rajasthani brand Aavaran founded by Sharma, was also held at Rithihi, demonstrating real outcomes of this close creative kinship between the designer and the artisan.

Swati Dandekar’s documentary ‘Neel Raag’ screened at Rithihi showed how crafts are also living ecosystems. How deep the roots of a craft ecosystem run, and how the indigo colour mesmerises, stains, and seeps into the skin, the nails, and the lives of those who craft it. From dyers and woodblock makers to designer-artisan collaborations, maker-to-maker networks are essential to reviving and sustaining a craft.

The evening made it clear as to why it’s never simple to revive a craft. It takes a mix of courage, love, and hope to believe that a nearly lost craft is worth reviving. Would discussing and sharing craft revival methods support future restorative work? Rithihi thinks so. This conversation and screening stemmed from that belief. Rithihi will be sharing more interesting conversations on South Asia’s rich handcrafted clothing legacies and the cultures that make them, through their ‘Textiles Tales’ series.

The project arm of Hayleys Fentons Ltd., has successfully completed construction of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., at the Wathupitiwala Export Processing Zone, delivered fully on schedule, from foundation stone to completion in roughly 14 months.

The project, valued at over Rs. 1 billion, is among the more technically demanding industrial builds the company has undertaken, given the precision and international compliance standards required for a specialised manufacturing environment. The facility will manufacture premium safety restraint systems supplying for international automotive industry through Shield Restraint Systems.

Hayleys Fentons Deputy Managing Director – Projects Sujith De Alwis said: ‘This project is a strong reflection of the engineering and project management capabilities we have built within Hayleys Fentons over the years. Delivering a facility of this complexity, built to meet stringent international manufacturing standards, within an agreed timeline, demonstrates that Sri Lankan construction expertise can compete at the highest global level. We are proud to have played a part in supporting this investment in Sri Lanka and strengthening the country’s position within the global automotive supply chain.’

Hayleys Mobility Ltd., Executive Director Roshani Dharmaratne said: ‘Projects of this nature demand far more than construction excellence. They require meticulous planning, rigorous quality management, seamless coordination across multiple disciplines, and an unwavering commitment to international standards. Successfully delivering this facility on schedule reflects the strength of our project execution capabilities and reinforces Hayleys Fentons’ position as a trusted partner for high-value industrial and foreign direct investment projects in Sri Lanka.’

The on-time handover, from the foundation stone laid on 7 January 2025 through to completion, underscores the company’s planning discipline and its ability to coordinate technical, regulatory and construction requirements for a facility built to serve a highly specialised global manufacturing industry. It also reflects the project arm’s broader strategy of positioning itself as the contractor of choice for foreign direct investment projects requiring specialised, high-precision construction.

Hayleys Fentons said with this project, it adds another high-value, internationally significant facility to its portfolio, further establishing its reputation as a partner capable of delivering precision-engineered industrial infrastructure that meets global standards while supporting the kind of foreign investment that strengthens Sri Lanka’s industrial base.

One of Sri Lanka’s leading inspirational and educational corporate trainers, Dhammika Kalapuge, presented for the second time his latest public program on Customer Experience, titled ‘Sinhalen Customer Service’, on 20 August 2026 at Cinnamon Grand Colombo. The program attracted nearly 300 participants representing 55 organisations.

Explaining the thinking behind the program, Kalapuge said: ‘I frequently conduct in-house programs on this subject in both English and Sinhala for corporate clients, while our public programs have traditionally been conducted in English for SMEs and individual participants. Recognising the growing demand for learning in Sinhala, we identified the need for a dedicated Sinhala public program.’

‘The program was therefore designed exclusively in Sinhala, using simple and practical language, visuals and rhyming expressions to communicate the fundamentals of creating a customer experience culture. I strongly believe that when behavioural change is the goal, the message must touch people’s hearts, and this is best achieved through one’s mother tongue.’

The program focused on the importance of responding to rising customer expectations and creating memorable experiences at every point of interaction-physical, digital and hybrid. Through practical case studies, storytelling, acronyms, mnemonics, analogies and real-life examples, participants were encouraged to reflect on actions they could apply immediately in their workplaces.

‘Building a strong service culture is vital in today’s competitive environment,’ Kalapuge said. ‘An excellent customer experience culture can be a distinctly sustainable differentiator, supported by employees who are inspired and passionate about delivering exceptional service.’

Participants described the program as educational, inspirational and highly practical. AJAX Engineers Ltd. Accountant D. V. D. Lankapura said: ‘This was one of the most valuable training programs I have participated in during my career. I gained a great deal of knowledge and benefited immensely from the program. I believe it was a worthwhile investment for both my personal development and the company, helping us achieve our goals through better teamwork.’

Professor Sri Kandiyah of the University of Southampton, UK, one of Dhammika’s senior mentors for the past 30 years, who attended the program, said: ‘Over the years, Dhammika has grown in stature and professionalism. This program was high-octane, impactful and rich in content. The large audience was captivated by his knowledge and extensive experience in customer service. It is a program not to be missed by anyone directly or indirectly dealing with customers.’

Dhammika Kalapuge is renowned for his Power to Change philosophy and has conducted nearly 3,500 programs across more than 800 organisations in Sri Lanka and overseas over the past three decades. His programs, primarily focused on service quality and excellence, consistently achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) above +90. All Dhammika’s programs are organised by SIPCOM-1 Ltd., a company dedicated to holistic people development. More details: www.dhammikakalapuge.com