Category: Daily Financial Times

Who is a parent? Is it only one who has a biological bond? Or can humanity be gentle enough to endear itself to the extent where strangers become maternal or paternal protectors, thus filling vacuums of sorrow with compassion and selfless love?

The contemplation of the above came upon me after I casually asked Akitha Deshan, the ecotourism guide who had shown me the interior of Sinharaja rainforest, about the sentence tattooed upon his hand. It was an emotional phrase about a son who longs for his departed father. He answered my question by stating that it is only a few weeks since his dad passed away. I offered my condolences. After a short pause where he seemed to make an assessment whether he should elaborate further or not – and after which he finally did – he confided that his biological father had passed on when he was a child and that this dad was someone who had relocated from his home country – Switzerland – to Sri Lanka.

He had wished to live his retirement in a warmer climate and do some good to the locale. Having established his residence in Hikkaduwa about three years ago he had met with Akitha initially to request some translation and help with errands. These pertained to social service oriented work he was doing for several families in the village. Many families received monthly provisions and some were given allowances as per their need.

‘His name was Peter Maria Gabriel Christen. He was from Switzerland. In his heart lived divinity. He did so much for people he barely knew and was cheated so many times as a result. Finally he met me and asked me if I could help him with translations and purchasing some of the things he needed to distribute to the village monthly. He wished to live like a recluse and did not wish to travel much. I took on the tasks as needed and I used to give him all the receipts and bills with change upto the very cent. It was a training I had when shopping for my mother who had to get everything done without my father. I did not wish to take payment from Mr. Christen for these small shopping and translating tasks I did. It just seemed to me that I should help out as this gentleman was helping citizens of our country.’

‘This was the beginning. After that he got to know about me. My longing for a father was filled by him so sincerely. He was a businessman from a family of entrepreneurs. He had handed over his business company to his son and moved to Sri Lanka, having first come here as a tourist. Although he made no show of it I think he was a deeply spiritual person who was interested in Buddhism and merged it into the ethics of his own religion, Catholicism.’

Was there any feeling of jealousy or resentment by his own son back in Switzerland that his father showered so much paternal affection on another?

‘The beauty of it all was that he treated me just as another brother. It was a short time that I got to spend with my dad – just about two years – before he got diagnosed with cancer. He passed away almost two months back. I was written into his will just in the way his son was and his son’s reaction was as protective of me as his father had been and exactly how he would have treated another sibling. We all live and die. We face sorrows and joy. But my father, who came all the way from Switzerland to care for me, as well as my new brother, taught me that the only one thing we need in this world is love. It is not money. It is genuine love.’

A hotel owned by former North-Central Province Governor Maheepala Herath, located on the Peramiyankulama tank reservation, was demolished on the instructions of the Divisional Secretary as part of an ongoing effort to clear encroachments in the Anuradhapura district.

Nuwaragama Palatha Divisional Secretary Sudarashana Disanayake confirmed the action, noting that a notice had been issued on 18 September to Ajantha Herath, the former Governor’s wife, directing the removal of the unauthorised structure.

The Irrigation Department, supported by the Survey Department, is carrying out the Government’s program to demarcate tank reservations in the district and eliminate illegal constructions. Disanayake added that the survey of the Peramiyankulama tank reservation has now been completed.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Sri Lanka Rugby, which is scheduled for 8 October, is set to be one of the most significant in recent times as it will decide the future leadership of the sport for the 2025-27 term. The meeting will be held at the Duncan White Auditorium at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which will kick off at 3 p.m. If this is failed Sri Lanka is assured of being banned plus no international rugby for the athletes.

National Olympic Committee President Suresh Subramaniam was notified of the seriousness of the AGM to be completed by 8 October without any further delays. This warning was issued at the World Rugby Forum which took place in Dublin, Ireland where the Working Task Force headed by SDIG M. Lateef and his committee was not able to send a representative from Sri Lanka. World Rugby gave ample notice where the WTF refrain from sending Sri Lanka Rugby Rugby Director Inthi Marikar and nominating Nalin De Silva who too could not make it where the reason was not clear.

Former Sri Lanka skipper CR and FC and national player Pavithra Fernando will face off against Lasintha Gunaratne another former Royal, national CR player and former SLR President and Vice President.

However, early signs suggest that Fernando may hold the upper hand. With the majority of members of his team being elected uncontested but with CH and Kandy backing Lasitha anything could be possible which is on the cards. Pavithra nomination came from CR and FC, and it was seconded by Sri Lanka Police SC.

On the other hand, Gunaratne, who was nominated by CH and FC and seconded by Kandy SC, is preparing for a tough battle. A veteran administrator, he has already held the presidency and is keen to reclaim the position, although the numbers at present appear to favour his younger opponent. The shocking episode of the former Sri Lankan player Pradeep Basnayake nomination was rejected without a clear reason.

The election process itself is being overseen by a five-member Election Committee. Voting rights at the AGM will be crucial in shaping the outcome. The powerful clubs and services teams carry the following entitlements: Kandy SC (6 votes), CR and FC (6), CH and FC (6), Havelocks SC (6), Police SC (7), Army SC (7), Air Force SC (7), Navy SC (7), Sabaragamuwa Province (2) and University (1).

Human rights advocate Ambika Satkunanathan has cautioned that when economic growth and financial tools do not automatically solve gender inequality, it could reproduce existing disparities.

‘When we speak of solutions – economic growth, wealth creation and technology are touted as solutions to gender inequality, but they will not automatically provide solutions unless we address the existing inequalities which will be reproduced in different ways,’ she said.

Delivering the keynote speech at the forum ‘Amplifying the Voices of Women’ organised by the South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) held on 1 October,

Satkunanathan, the former Human Rights Commissioner of Sri Lanka, said women, who were targeted, had limited financial literacy and lived below the poverty line as they had little education or marketable skills, and had also lost their assets due to the war but they needed finances for their children.

She described how in the post-war, banks and finance companies opened in the war-affected North and East, specifically targeted women-headed households for loans and micro-credit.

‘These women had mortgaged their few remaining assets to start income-generating activities. However, these ventures were often not profitable because they didn’t cater to market needs or gaps, and the women were not connected to marketing networks,’ she said.

She explained that when women were unable to repay the loans, they faced severe harassment from loan recovery officers and the situation became so dire that it even led to some women committing suicide.

Satkunanathan presented this as evidence that simply introducing financial systems into a region without addressing the underlying structural and systemic inequalities and discrimination will not lead to positive outcomes for vulnerable women.

Meanwhile, she has also cautioned that the progress on gender equality was being actively reversed and women were being systematically erased from public life through a combination of overt legal restrictions and insidious covert tactics.

She explained how covertly, tools such as social media were being used to perpetrate violence against women and influence women to reject public life, a career and aspirations that extend beyond the home and domestic duties.

‘One prominent example is the ‘Trad wife’ phenomenon, a social media trend that glamorises domestic labour to influence young women to reject careers and financial independence. This trend stands in sharp contrast to the economic reality faced by women globally,’ she said.

Satkunanathan cited International Labour Organization’s findings in 2023, which stated that 748 million people were not participating in the global labour force because of care responsibilities, of which 708 million were women and 40 million were men.

‘The ILO stated that this stark gender discrepancy highlights the disproportionate role that women take on in child-rearing, care, and support for persons with disabilities and those in need of long-term care, housekeeping, and other care responsibilities,’ she noted.

Satkunanathan also highlighted the transforming nature of violence against women, which has found new and disturbing forms in the digital age where she referred to a chilling example of a YouTube channel which carried AI generated videos of women being shot.

Before being taken down, the channel had nearly 200,000 views in just three months, revealing a shocking liking to view for such violent content.

Satkunanathan stressed that extreme acts of violence, particularly sexual violence, do not exist in a vacuum but are part of a continuum of everyday violence that society has normalised.

‘In this new world, women will not fall into the trap of defining their needs within patriarchal value systems. They will not view the need for emotional care as weak. They will accept they are not superhuman or invincible but are very much human. Women will know that we too need support, and needing or asking for it is not weak. Strength lies in seeking help when needed and solidarity,’ she stressed.

It has been a year since a new government voted in by the people of Sri Lanka brought the issue of types of political leadership into the forefront of reflective civics.

In the dark years preceding this unprecedented regime change, the Aragalaya (‘people’s struggle’) critically engaged with a ‘strongman administration’ that promised much but delivered little. It also ended in ignominy despite the hype and hoopla of its apologists.

The issues that led up to our island-nation defaulting on its sovereign debt repayments and subsequent bankruptcy brought on widespread introspection on what failures of governance in the past three decades – and attendant leadership styles – led to the country’s abysmal fate.

This has prompted academic research, as well as armchair curiosity, seeking to understand the issue of failures in governance by surveying the scarce literature on political leadership. And also by appropriating lessons still to be learned about the mirage of political messiahship which fails to live up to its promises.

It has led to assessing the contribution of leadership styles to failures in government over the past three decades and more as well as critiquing the ‘strongman’ style of political leadership based on personal ambition fuelled by the attractiveness of ‘Great Man’ theories.

Critics of the style have striven to evaluate the most pertinent aspects of other leadership approaches in search of the holy grail – a holistic framework for a fresh take on political leadership in Sri Lanka today, arguing inter alia as to why ‘strongman’ administrations need to be a thing of the past.

Perhaps no more pressing a time than when past presidents – who came into power through parliamentary procedure rather than a poll, and on the broken back of the Aragalaya then (one they broke through heavy-handed policing) – are accusing those who defeated them democratically of implementing a constitutional dictatorship.

The past is prologue

In the year or so past, which featured presidential and parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, the topic of political leadership in the land became paramount for electors considering their options in a crowded field of aspirants to high executive office (September 2024) and legislative representation (November of the same year.).

It continues to be an important subject for scrutiny and reflection a year later. It is especially pertinent in a milieu where political pundits among other socio-political critics including academic commentators and senior journalists observe the parlous state of the polity in recent times (if they’re progressives or people simply fed up) and even today (in the case of the Establishment’s old guard).

The general sense among many people of voting age since the Aragalaya is that in addition to the regime change that was ostensibly effected in July 2022, there is a need for ongoing ‘systemic change’ including in the calibre and character of national leadership.

After the landmark polls of 2024, a sea change into something rich and strange – a new paradigm of doing politics that is emerging, and still being cannily developed by a fresh set of practitioners – has eventuated. It has done so to mixed reactions.

On the one hand, there is the rump of the Old Guard: laughing away as parvenus those who profess to have rescued the nation from the doldrums by their sagacity, and lampooning as arriviste buffoons those whose pronunciation of the Queen’s – much less pronouncements about ‘Nobel Prizes’ – are not the cup of the tea of the Establishment.

On the other, a surprisingly large number of people from the same demographic – deserters from the ‘Ancien Regime’ and newfound camp-followers of the progressive element in politics – have embraced the ostensibly clean, simple and straight-talking political culture as perhaps best embodied by the personage at the helm of state today.

The salt of sea change

This sense may be compounded by a growing understanding that in the past, since virtually immediately after Sri Lanka’s independence, successive electorates have voted repeatedly for politicians lacking in leadership acumen, moral fibre, socio-political skills, appropriate ethical conduct, a sense of probity and responsibility, and a deep-rooted gravitas to govern.

While the focus has often been on growth, development and progress (one type of ‘GDP’; much vaunted by those in city, chamber and cocktail circuit who saw in future Colombo a facsimile of present Singapore), there has been severely lacking the genuineness, decency, and professionalism (another type of ‘GDP’) at the heart of a more salutary political leadership.

As a senior journalist essayed recently: Sri Lanka has chronically elected ‘crooks, charlatans, the incompetent, the corrupt, and the utterly unrepentant of their litany of crimes’.

And the same editorialist added that ‘to add insult to injury [they] still have the gumption to stand for public office as if their House is in the order they say they want the Nation to be in’.

As other political analysts and electoral commentators have also observed, the citizenry vote for political leaders in the hope that ‘this time’ there will be change for the better. But the electorate is disappointed time and again.

And ‘next time’ round too, the voting population opts to invest their faith in the electoral system – to say nothing of essentially the same political leadership figures albeit with a few new faces – all over again.

As a brace of Colombo University academics observed: ‘There is also a growing dissatisfaction with, and a lowering of trust in, the functioning of political parties. This has led to a paradoxical situation. People feel that the political parties are essential to the functioning of democracy but do not seem to trust them for making democracy work’ (Uyangoda and Pieris, 2009).

It is the people who make up these parties, especially their respective party leaderships, which is part of the problem.

Leadership-deficit

It is also a perennial or cyclical problem that has many other root causes; including especially a deficit in the type, tenor, and timbre of political leadership necessary to govern well, accountably, and with transparently shared power.

Some of the roles that political leaders of Sri Lanka, past and present, have played in the development of this paradoxical situation is lamentable.

The ethos of Sri Lankan politics is such that political party leaders prefer to nominate candidates who will sweep the polls even if their ethics are questionable.

In doing so, it entrenches the patron-client system in which government and citizenry are both complicit in the model of transactional politics whereby ‘political parties have become election and patronage machines’ (Uyangoda and Pieris, 2009).

This necessitates that the calibre of contestants seeking public office leaves much to be desired in terms of moral, ethical, and personal integrity; entrenching a political culture where those whom voters elect to lead the country seek to serve themselves and their cronies, relatives, and vested interests among the elites who paved their path to power, and not the people who voted them in or the country’s most pressing causes.

In this and a succession of columns ahead, we will look at the underlying issue of a leadership deficit today from a conceptual point of view, and attempt to develop a meaningful holistic framework for aspiring Sri Lankan politicians, party machines and their respective leaderships, and voters in general as well.

The goal is to take cognisance of the need for a more representative, accountable, inclusive, pluralistic, and inter-relational style of transparent accountable leadership (despite empirical evidence to the contrary and the experience of decades indicating otherwise) – a new model that is (despite its theoretical underpinnings) a planned, purposeful, practical, and principle-oriented – not a personality-oriented – one.

This October, Harvard-educated Prof. Patrick Mendis is scheduled to visit Colombo as the keynote speaker at the 46th National Conference of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. This year’s theme, ‘Uprise-Navigating Geopolitics for Growth: Sri Lanka’s Strategic Play,’ takes on added weight at a time when the country is seeking stability and growth in a turbulent global environment.

The largest and most prestigious gathering-with over 2,500 business and accounting professionals attending-will meet on 8-9 October in Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, while more than 500 executives will join the professor remotely from Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world.

Prof. Mendis is a first-class business administration and economics honours graduate of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ), and a notable alumnus leader of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Prof. Mendis went to the United States as a high school exchange student on an American Field Service (AFS) scholarship. He was one of 10 selected from over 100,000 national applicants for the AFS program sponsored by the US Department of State.

Born in Polonnaruwa, Prof. Mendis demonstrated innate leadership talents during his formative years, when the medieval capital became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the early 1970s. In his school days, he became the best commander of the Army Cadet Corps of Sri Lanka, the sports champion, the sergeant of the Police Cadet Corps of Sri Lanka, and, most importantly, the first recipient of the UNESCO award. He later began his professional career as a management trainee at Unilever Sri Lanka.

Our first encounter

I first learned about the remarkable life of Prof. Mendis in an unlikely place. During a visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy, I met my relative, C.W. Karunarathne, a respected civil servant who had served as secretary to the prime minister and was then the Secretary General of the Sri Dalada Maligawa. He spoke of a young man who grew up in Polonnaruwa under the influence of both Catholic priests and Buddhist monks-a childhood that shaped his lifelong ability to bridge worlds. He also told me that he had been a mentor to this young man. I further learned that Prof. Mendis had given back early: in 1994, he established the annual Patrick Mendis Prize at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Years later, when I chaired the 14th International Conference on Business Management (ICBM) in 2017, I invited our illustrious alumnus as the guest of honour and keynote speaker. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of his prize in 2024, USJ appointed him as a distinguished visiting professor and honorary fellow-recognising not only his academic achievements but also his leadership as president of the Sports Council and founding president of the World University Service at USJ.

Service to Sri Lanka and the world

His service to the motherland goes beyond the university. Alongside the renowned Amb. Jayantha Dhanapala, Prof. Mendis represented the Government of Sri Lanka at the United Nations as its first youth ambassador. For his leadership, the United Nations honoured him with the UN Medal for the International Year of the Youth.

Committed to public service, Prof. Mendis moved from the UN in New York to the US Congress in Washington to work in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He served on the staff of Senator Rudy Boschwitz during the President Ronald Reagan administration.

After his advanced studies in geography, economics, foreign affairs, and international development at the University of Minnesota, and the executive leadership program at Harvard, Prof. Mendis held visiting faculty positions in UN studies and globalisation at Yale University and a Coolidge fellow at Columbia University. Along the way, he has travelled to or worked in more than 100 countries and authored over 250 books, journal articles, and newspaper columns.

Back in US government service, he became an award-winning diplomat and military professor at NATO and Indo-Pacific Command during President Bill Clinton years. Later, US Secretary of State Colin Powell asked him to lead the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs-managing international exchange programs such as Fulbright and Humphrey during the President George W. Bush administration. President Barack Obama appointed him as a commissioner to UNESCO, and under the Biden White House he became a presidential advisor on the National Security Education Board at the Department of Defense.

Recognising his continuous service as a global leader in higher education and international diplomacy, ‘Who’s Who in America’-the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles-presented him with the coveted Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

Beyond the US: China and Sri Lanka

For more than 20 years, Prof. Patrick Mendis has also built deep ties with China, teaching at over 25 universities and academies-including Fudan, Peking, and Tsinghua, as well as the National Academy of Social Sciences. His contribution earned him the International Confucius Award in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.

He has stayed equally engaged in Sri Lanka-lecturing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the University of Colombo, the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, the National Institute of Security Studies, the Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, and the Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.

While serving as the founding chairman of the Educate Lanka Foundation, Prof. Mendis also established scholarships for students in Sri Lanka and provided microloans to entrepreneurs in more than 50 countries. He also served as an advisor and contributor to ‘The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora,’ a multiyear project of the National University of Singapore. In recognition of his service to the motherland, the Sri Lanka Foundation in Los Angeles honoured him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Globalising Sri Lanka

A transition from humble rural upbringing with water buffaloes in a three-acre rice field in Polonnaruwa to the corridors of power in Washington and New York could not have been achieved without the guidance of illustrious mentors in Sri Lanka and the United States.

For Prof. Patrick Mendis, it is the power of education-both intellectual dexterity and emotional maturity-that made his global journey possible.

The much-anticipated Under-16 Elite Rugby Tens tournament organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA), will kick off today at Ananda College grounds in Rajagiriya and St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya.

The opening day’s matches will be spread across the two venues, while the final day the knock out stages will be hosted at St. Peter’s College. With 32 teams in the fray, grouped into eight pools, a thrilling weekend of schoolboy rugby is on the cards. Thomians are the defending champions of this event having secured the Cup last year.

Group A includes S. Thomas’ Mount Lavinia, Science, Piliyandala Central, and Richmond, setting the tone with a competitive pool.

Group B features D.S. Senanayake, Vidyartha, Prince of Wales and Lalith Athulathmudali, while Group C has powerhouses Isipathana and St. Anthony’s alongside Mahanama and Sri Piyarathna.

Group D brings together Trinity, Kandy Sumangala, St. Benedict’s and St. Aloysius, promising another closely fought set of matches.

Group E will see St. Peter’s, St Joseph’s, Maliyadeva, Nugawela Central while in Group F will feature teams from Wesley, Dharmaraja, Ananda and Panadura Sumangala.

Group G will see Royal, Thurstan, St. Sylvester’s and Sri Rahula while the last group in H segment will see Kingswood, Zahira, Lumbini and Carey battling it out to secure their knock out berth on day 2 at St. Peter’s ground in Bambalapitiya. (SJ)

Spa Ceylon, together with All About That Reef and Scope Cinemas, have partnered to highlight the urgency of ocean conservation through public screenings of the globally acclaimed documentary ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’ in Sri Lanka.

The free public screenings took place on 30 September, at the Scope Cinema Multiplex, Havelock City Mall. The screenings invite the public, media, and conservation advocates to witness the beauty and fragility of the oceans, and to join the call for impactful environmental action.

Spa Ceylon Co-Founder and Group Director Shalin Balasuriya said, ‘Oceans are a vital natural resource, sustaining life on Earth and supporting the livelihoods of over 3 billion people. Yet today, they face growing threats from climate change, pollution, and human activity. According to the United Nations, more than 20 million tonnes of plastic enter our waters each year, with plastic accounting for 85% of all marine waste. As a responsible global brand, Spa Ceylon believes marine conservation is a shared responsibility that transcends borders. This screening is a small but meaningful step to inspire collective action towards safeguarding oceans for future generations.’

Celebrated worldwide, the documentary ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’, highlights the wonders of marine ecosystems while shining a spotlight on the urgent threats facing ocean life today. Produced under limited release guidelines, the screenings in Sri Lanka emphasise the importance of storytelling in building awareness and inspiring action on marine conservation.

All About That Reef Founder Aindri Morahela said: ‘Sri Lanka signing the agreement to establish a system for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in international waters is a milestone that shows what collective action can achieve for our oceans. Screening ‘Ocean’ is our way of reminding people that every effort, whether it’s protecting, caring, or even just sharing knowledge about the sea, contributes to something far greater than ourselves. The ocean connects us all, and when we choose to stand up for it, we’re making a selfless commitment to protect life on Earth for generations to come.’

Scope Cinemas Executive Chairman Naveen Cader said: ‘At Scope Cinemas, we see collaboration as the key to creating lasting impact. By working with Spa Ceylon and All About That Reef, we’re showing that cinema can go beyond entertainment – it can unite communities, spark important conversations, and drive positive changes. This initiative is a reminder that the big screen has the power to influence society for the better.’

Sri Lanka’s economic recovery will continue to be anchored on fiscal discipline, with the Government preparing a set of governance, legislative and digital reforms to strengthen stability and sustain growth into 2026, Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma said yesterday.

Addressing the Annual Conference on Public Sector Reforms for Economic Revival organised by CA Sri Lanka and the Association of Public Finance Accountants, he said the administration is operating under tight timelines, with the budget cycle underway and the IMF’s fifth review in progress.

‘The good news is, as a nation, we are in a better place, much better than we were. One of the key reasons behind that achievement and the journey is the financial discipline. The present administration has implemented and is diligently following up on those lines to make sure we will continue the journey better than how it was before,’ he said.

The Treasury Secretary’s remarks come as the Central Bank reported the overall budget deficit for the first eight months of 2025 had fallen 54.9% year-on-year to Rs. 411 billion, compared with Rs. 911 billion a year ago.

Outstanding Government debt rose 3% in the first half of 2025 to Rs. 29.6 trillion, with domestic debt up 2.7% to Rs. 18.8 trillion and foreign debt up 3.8% to Rs. 10.8 trillion.

Treasury Bills outstanding fell 3.4% to Rs. 3.9 trillion while Bonds rose 6% to Rs. 14.9 trillion.

Dr. Suriyapperuma said that confidence was returning with businesses preparing to expand and foreign investors showing renewed interest. ‘Growth is taking shape, confidence is getting back into businesses to invest, for FDI to flow into the country, businesses to expand, capacity building at all levels to ensure ventures move to the next stage,’ the Treasury Secretary added.

Reforms, both ongoing and planned, will be central to meeting these expectations. ‘Some of the reforms, we are in the middle of those reforms and some of the changes to the legislations and certain reforms are expected also. These reforms are in terms of legislature, in terms of enhancements to the governance structure, enhancements to the reporting frameworks,’ he said.

Dr. Suriyapperuma cited the appointment of independent directors to State banks under a new framework as an example of governance improvements, noting that the initiative had the direct backing of the President and professional institutes.

‘There are many such reforms that have been implemented and we are in the process of continuing to implement,’ he added. Several new laws are being prepared for presentation to Parliament before the end of the financial year.

Strengthening capacity in the public sector, especially through professional qualifications and recognition of public finance accountants, was essential to improving governance and reporting. ‘We need to ensure team members have adequate capacity, understanding, continuous improvements and updates to their knowledge base,’ he said.

Digitalisation was also highlighted as a cornerstone of reform. ‘Another key element is the digital journey, to have seamless engagements to obtain government service, to have seamless access to publish finances, whether it is a working day or weekend 24-7, whether you are in Sri Lanka or outside Sri Lanka, to have access to services through digital means. This is the modern Sri Lanka that we were waiting for, that journey has begun.’

He said political, economic and social stability were converging to provide a stronger foundation for citizens and businesses.

Despite near-term gains, medium-term risks remain from Sri Lanka’s restructured debt. The IMF has warned that macro-linked Bonds could add between $ 150 million and $ 270 million annually to debt service from 2028 until 2038 if GDP exceeds certain thresholds. Once triggered, these payments would continue even if growth later slows.

‘In the case of Sri Lanka, the one-time adjustment nature of the macro-linked Bonds presents risks to Sri Lanka as higher payments after 2028, once triggered, would persist even if economic performance were to deteriorate thereafter,’ the IMF said in a September working paper.

However, the Treasury Secretary was upbeat.

‘We want to walk into 2026 with more confidence, with more opportunities, more options for citizens, businesses and enterprises, and the SME sector,’ he told the conference.

‘They can perform better, make more profits, hire more employees, in a modern Sri Lanka, a modern structure that is available for all, creating a level playing field for all businesses, whether they are competing from overseas or whether they are investors locally, to have the best products, invite best technologies, invite best capital pools to consider Sri Lanka as a vibrant destination for business engagements,’ the Treasury Secretary said.

Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath on Thursday clarified that the Government has no plans to promote LGBTQ tourism as part of its strategy, stressing that Sri Lanka’s focus is on building a ‘quality over quantity’ tourism industry rooted in the country’s culture, heritage, and hospitality.

Speaking at the International Tourism Leaders’ Summit (ITLS) held at the BMICH under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Disanayake, he said the sector’s recent growth proves the country does not need to compromise on cultural values to attract visitors.

‘Tourism is not just another industry; it is a reflection of our civilisation, nature and hospitality. The industry is growing rapidly, and against this backdrop, we don’t want to harm our civilisation by chasing quantity over quality. The growth in arrivals and foreign exchange has been achieved without such measures,’ the Minister said.

He said Sri Lanka welcomed 158,971 tourists in September, the highest monthly footfall ever and bringing year-to-date (YTD) arrivals to over 1.72 million. Tourism earnings for the first eight months reached $ 2.3 billion, with India, the UK, Russia, China, Germany, France, and Australia, leading source markets.

‘We are very happy how the industry has recovered and is growing. Our unique hospitality, deeply rooted in culture and civilisation, offers an authentic experience unmatched by any other country. We want to present this to the world, while contributing to our national growth targets,’ Herath said.

The Minister asserted that while Sri Lanka has no bias against travellers, the Government intends to upgrade tourism products and experiences to attract higher-spending visitors.

He also stressed the importance of research, innovation and programs designed to engage the younger generation and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in shaping the sector’s future.

Guided by the Tourism Ministry, the program was jointly organised by the Alumni Association of Tourism Economics and Hospitality Management (AATEHM) of the University of Colombo, its Sustainable Tourism Unit (STU), the Department of Economics, University of Colombo, in collaboration with Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB), Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM).

The main objective was to enhance the contribution of the younger generation, especially in small and medium enterprises towards the future of the tourism sector.

The ITLS, held to conclude a month-long program marking World Tourism Day, gathered Ambassadors, High Commissioners, industry stakeholders, and scholars under the theme ‘Tourism Innovation and Connections for the Future of Sri Lanka’s Tourism Industry.’

At the summit, the tourism industry also unveiled the ‘Ruhunu Ring’, a landmark private sector-led initiative aimed at transforming Southern Sri Lanka’s tourism landscape. Branded ‘Culturally Wild,’ the 300-kilometre circuit connects premier attractions ranging from Yala and Udawalawe national parks to the Sinharaja Rainforest, Arugam Bay, Mirissa, Galle Fort and Kataragama.

The project seeks to raise average daily tourist spending beyond the current $ 170-180 by promoting immersive, experiential travel and encouraging visitors to engage with local communities.

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Buddhika Hewawasam hailed the initiative as a ‘key shift in product development,’ led by hoteliers and developers rather than the State.

Tourism advocate Yasas Hewage added that the ‘Ruhunu Ring’ is the first of five proposed thematic circuits, including wildlife, culinary, adventure and sports, and a future northern ring designed to reposition Sri Lanka as a premier destination.

The initiative was formally launched with the debut of its official website, providing an international digital gateway to market the circuit globally.

The event featured awards for school tourism competitions, a scholarly research forum and the first copy of ‘Vision2Voice’ magazine was also presented to President Disanayake, along with a research volume from the University of Colombo’s Sustainable Tourism Unit Prof. Suranga de Silva featuring the top 10 tourism studies.

President Disanayake awarded students, honoured industry veterans, and received a special memento during the event.

Labour Minister and Economic Development Deputy Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody, Tourism Deputy Minister Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe, University of Colombo Vice Chancellor Prof. Indika Karunathilaka, AATEHM President Nihal Muhandiram, and several other dignitaries were present at the occasion.