Category: Daily Financial Times

The Number 10, Downing Street – the official residence of the UK Prime Minister – has not brought much luck to its chief occupant over the last decade as none of its main residents has been able stay in office for too long. Since 2016 – the year in which Britons decided to leave the European Union (EU) via a referendum (Brexit) – the UK has had six Prime Ministers –

David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer and soon they will have the seventh one too. Drawing humour and sarcasm, observers have pointed out that Larry, a tabby cat who was adopted by Cameron and his wife in 2011 to hunt rats in the Number 10, has been the only constant in Downing Street.

Many British political commentators opine the political divisions created by the Brexit vote a decade ago continue to impact the nation’s political climate. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Department of Government Professor of Political Science Sarah Hobolt, in an opinion editorial had claimed the Brexit vote contributed to a more fundamental shift in British politics that has made governing more difficult and leadership less secure. According to Hobolt, voters are more volatile and less loyal to traditional parties in the aftermath of Brexit. Over recent decades, British voters have become increasingly detached from traditional party loyalties and more willing to switch between parties. She had further pointed out that with erosion of party loyalties, voters have grown more open to new political identities and more willing to support challenger parties, such as Reform UK and the Greens.

In the years since Brexit, Britain’s political landscape has fractured, with declining support for the two long-dominant parties, Conservatives and Labour. A decade after the game-changing referendum, Britain looks like a nation experiencing a gradual economic drag and deep political division, and businesses face ongoing trade friction with Europe while its GDP remains noticeably lower than it would have been inside the EU. At the same, there is a growing feeling in the European state that Brexit has failed. According to two polls from Ipsos, 52% of people in the UK would like to re-join the EU while 33% are against it.

The announcement of resignation by Keir Starmer shows how volatile British politics is. Less than two years ago, he led his Labour party to its biggest majority in Parliament this century. Two months ago, the populist right-wing Reform UK party made sweeping gains in England’s local council elections at the expense of Labour. The outgoing premier’s decision to appoint Jeffrey Epstein-linked politician Peter Mandelson to the role of UK ambassador in Washington did him no good while his attempt to make wealthier pensioners pay more to heat their homes as well as a plan to cut some benefits to disabled people caused his popularity rating to plummet.

Meanwhile, Greater Manchester former Mayor Andrew Burnham- is tipped to replace Starmer both as Labour Party Leader and Premier. Burnham’s decisive victory during last month at the by-election for Makerfield constituency has solidified his standing among the rank and file of Labour, as the electoral success was achieved amidst Labour’s low approval rating. Political observers believe the newly elected MP has got the best credentials to challenge the Reform UK Party – which is ahead of both Labour and Conservatives in opinion polls. Burnham’s aides believe that his working-class background and plain-speaking style would help them win back traditional Labour towns that have floated towards Reform UK.

Reform UK’s policies strongly mirror Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda, sharing a core focus on strict immigration control, economic protectionism apart from antipathy towards diversity and inclusion policies. Burnham’s supporters would be hoping that his charisma and appeal to the working class would become useful to contain the threat of Reform UK.

Activists affiliated with the Citizens’ Struggle Movement staged a protest in Borella yesterday, calling on the Government to take urgent action to address the rising cost of living, with demonstrators chanting the slogan ‘AKD Go Home’.

The protesters demanded immediate measures to reduce the prices of essential goods, including rice, vegetables and other daily necessities, arguing that households continue to face mounting financial pressure.

They accused the Government of failing to deliver the economic relief promised to the public.

Addressing the gathering, one of the organisers said the current administration had come to power on the strength of a people’s movement seeking systemic change but had failed to meet the expectations of those who supported it. He alleged that while ordinary citizens continue to struggle with mounting economic challenges, the Government has not responded adequately to their concerns.

The protesters further argued that the administration, which commands both the Executive Presidency and a parliamentary majority, bears responsibility for resolving the country’s economic difficulties. They questioned the Government’s ability to govern effectively if it cannot curb the rising cost of essential commodities.

Sri Lanka’s worsening dengue epidemic is not merely a public health emergency. It is also a test of urban governance, institutional accountability, and the rule of law.

With over 53,000 reported dengue infections and 31 deaths recorded during the first half of 2026, the nation is once again confronting the devastating consequences of a disease that is, to a significant extent, preventable.

The sharp surge in infections during June, following increased rainfall, underscores the urgent need not only for effective vector control but also for a critical examination of whether public authorities have faithfully discharged the statutory responsibilities entrusted to them.

Beyond epidemiology and public health

Behind these alarming statistics lies a question that extends beyond epidemiology and public health. It is fundamentally a question of governance, public administration, and the rule of law.

When a preventable disease reaches epidemic proportions within a city, citizens are entitled to ask whether the public authorities entrusted with protecting urban health have adequately discharged the legal duties imposed upon them. In Colombo, that inquiry must inevitably include the performance of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), the local authority principally responsible for maintaining municipal infrastructure, environmental sanitation and public health within the city.

The purpose of raising this issue is neither to politicise a public health emergency nor to assign blame without evidence. Rather, it is to reaffirm a principle that lies at the heart of democratic governance: every public authority exercising statutory powers must also be answerable for the manner in which it performs the statutory duties entrusted to it.

The CMC is not merely another administrative institution. It is a statutory corporation established by law to perform functions that directly affect the health, safety and welfare of hundreds of thousands of residents and the millions who enter Colombo each year for work, commerce, education and essential services.

Among its statutory responsibilities are the maintenance of municipal roads, stormwater drainage systems, canals under its control, environmental sanitation, waste management, nuisance prevention and the implementation of measures necessary to safeguard public health. These responsibilities are not discretionary aspirations. They are legal obligations that form an integral part of urban governance.

Municipal drainage infrastructure is particularly significant because its proper functioning directly influences mosquito breeding. Efficient drainage prevents water stagnation, facilitates the rapid removal of stormwater, reduces flooding and eliminates many of the artificial habitats in which Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes breed.

Conversely, blocked drains, silted canals, clogged roadside gullies, neglected catch pits, accumulated refuse and poorly maintained drainage networks create ideal breeding environments. Numerous scientific studies have consistently demonstrated the close relationship between inadequate urban drainage management and increased transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

No serious observer would suggest that deficiencies in municipal drainage alon determine dengue outbreaks. Rainfall patterns, temperature, humidity, population density, household practices, private property maintenance and individual preventive measures all influence disease transmission. Nevertheless, municipal infrastructure remains one of the most significant environmental factors that public authorities are able to control.

Legal and administrative responsibility

That reality places a correspondingly important legal and administrative responsibility upon municipal authorities.

Throughout recent years, residents across many parts of Colombo have repeatedly expressed concern regarding blocked drains, stagnant water, overflowing roadside gullies, poorly maintained canals and delays in routine drainage maintenance. Such concerns have frequently appeared in the media and on public platforms, particularly following periods of heavy rainfall.

Whether these reported conditions represent isolated operational shortcomings or broader systemic deficiencies is a matter requiring objective investigation rather than speculation. However, where persistent environmental conditions capable of facilitating mosquito breeding coincide with a substantial dengue outbreak, legitimate questions arise as to whether existing maintenance systems operated with the diligence, efficiency and effectiveness reasonably expected of a public authority entrusted with safeguarding public health.

Public accountability

Public accountability requires that such questions be answered through evidence rather than assumption.

Accordingly, an independent and transparent inquiry should examine several important issues.

Were statutory obligations relating to drainage maintenance, desilting operations, environmental sanitation and nuisance prevention carried out in accordance with accepted engineering and public health standards?

Were routine inspection programmes implemented throughout the municipal area to identify blocked drainage systems before they became significant public health hazards?

Were preventive maintenance schedules adhered to consistently, particularly before and during the southwest monsoon season when heavy rainfall predictably increases mosquito breeding opportunities?

Were adequate financial resources allocated for drainage maintenance and dengue prevention, and if so, were those resources utilised efficiently, transparently and for their intended purposes?

Were warnings, recommendations and technical advice issued by public health authorities acted upon promptly by the relevant municipal authorities?

Finally, did any administrative shortcomings, institutional neglect, procurement delays, staffing deficiencies or management failures contribute to environmental conditions that increased mosquito breeding and, consequently, disease transmission?

These are neither political nor rhetorical questions. They are matters of public administration deserving careful, impartial and evidence-based examination.

The principle of accountability is well established in every democratic society. Public authorities are entrusted with statutory powers because they perform essential public functions. Those powers are inseparable from corresponding legal responsibilities. The legitimacy of public administration depends not merely upon authority but equally upon accountability.

Where statutory obligations are performed competently, public confidence is strengthened. Where deficiencies occur, transparent investigation becomes essential-not merely to determine responsibility, but to identify institutional weaknesses, improve administrative performance and prevent recurrence.

Accountability should never be viewed solely as a mechanism for attributing blame. Its primary purpose is corrective. It promotes transparency, strengthens institutional integrity, encourages administrative reform and ultimately protects human life.

Public health governance

Public health governance functions most effectively when public institutions remain open to scrutiny rather than insulated from it.

Citizens likewise possess an important constitutional role in safeguarding accountable governance. Democratic participation extends beyond voting at elections. It includes monitoring public administration, seeking access to information, engaging constructively with public institutions and pursuing lawful remedies where statutory obligations appear not to have been adequately fulfilled.

Civil society organisations, professional bodies, engineers, public health specialists, environmental experts and public-interest advocates all have important roles to play in ensuring that municipal governance achieves the standards expected by the public.

Among the lawful measures deserving consideration are requests for the publication of drainage maintenance schedules, inspection reports, engineering audits, procurement records and expenditure relating to drainage maintenance and dengue-control programmes. Greater transparency strengthens public confidence while facilitating independent evaluation of institutional performance.

Where credible evidence indicates that statutory responsibilities have not been adequately discharged, the legal mechanisms available under Sri Lankan law should be permitted to operate without interference. Independent oversight, administrative investigation and judicial review, where appropriate, exist precisely to ensure that public authorities remain answerable for the performance of their statutory duties.

Equally important, accountability must always be founded upon evidence rather than assumption. No public institution should be condemned without due process. Equally, no institution should be shielded from legitimate scrutiny merely because its responsibilities are politically sensitive or administratively complex.

The present dengue epidemic should therefore become an opportunity not only to strengthen mosquito-control programmes but also to improve urban governance more broadly.

Colombo requires an integrated approach involving municipal engineers, environmental officers, epidemiologists, waste-management specialists, urban planners, public health inspectors and community organisations working together under clearly defined responsibilities and measurable performance standards.

Routine drainage maintenance should become proactive rather than reactive. Modern asset management, geospatial monitoring, predictive maintenance systems, regular engineering inspections and transparent public reporting can substantially improve the management of municipal drainage infrastructure. Public participation in reporting blocked drains and environmental hazards should likewise be strengthened through responsive administrative systems.

Preventing dengue cannot be achieved solely through public awareness campaigns urging households to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. Such campaigns remain indispensable, but they cannot substitute for the proper maintenance of public infrastructure that falls exclusively within governmental responsibility.

Public health is a shared responsibility. Citizens must maintain their own premises, eliminate standing water, cooperate with public health inspectors and follow preventive advice. At the same time, public authorities must discharge the statutory duties entrusted to them with diligence, competence, efficiency and integrity.

Neither responsibility can substitute for the other.

Every preventable dengue infection represents more than an unfortunate statistic. It reflects a failure somewhere within the chain of prevention. Every neglected drain, every blocked canal, every unrepaired roadside gully and every delayed maintenance programme increases the risk borne by ordinary citizens who are entitled to expect that their city will be administered responsibly and competently.

Dengue is a biological disease, but epidemics often expose failures far beyond biology. They reveal the strengths and weaknesses of governance, infrastructure, public administration and institutional responsibility.

When public authorities faithfully discharge their statutory duties, they protect lives before hospitals become overwhelmed. When those duties are neglected, the consequences are measured not merely in blocked drains or flooded streets, but in preventable illness, avoidable suffering and lives lost.

Sri Lanka’s response to the present epidemic must therefore extend beyond mosquito control. It must reaffirm a fundamental principle of democratic governance: public power is inseparable from public accountability. Where statutory duties are not faithfully discharged, transparency, independent scrutiny and the rule of law must prevail-not only to determine responsibility where appropriate, but also to strengthen public institutions and better protect the health, safety and lives of the people they exist to serve.

In this interview Visa Country Manager, Sri Lanka and Maldives Avanthi Colombage explains the growth in digital commerce and how Visa’s new initiative ‘Click to Pay’ can help companies and consumers alike.

Q: Sri Lanka’s digital commerce landscape is growing. Why is checkout becoming so important now?

A: Sri Lanka’s digital commerce ecosystem is at an exciting inflection point, with more consumers and businesses moving online. As this shift accelerates, the checkout experience has become a critical moment of truth in the consumer journey as it sits at the intersection of experience, trust and business performance.

Today, one of the biggest barriers to completing an online transaction is the complexity of guest checkout – manual card entry and multiple steps can slow consumers down and lead to abandoned purchases. These friction points not only disrupt consumer experience but also directly impact merchants through lost conversions.

As digital adoption deepens, expectations are also evolving. Consumers increasingly demand fast, intuitive, secure and trusted payment experiences, while merchants need higher success rates and smoother transactions to drive growth. At Visa, we see this as an opportunity to reimagine checkout for the digital age and the digitally savvy consumer, making it simpler for consumers to pay, more secure through technologies like tokenisation, and more efficient for merchants to grow their businesses

Q: How can Click to Pay support Sri Lankan merchants and online businesses?

A: For Sri Lankan businesses, Click to Pay enables a powerful combination of higher conversions, stronger customer confidence, and improved payment performance.

Click to Pay directly addresses a key challenge in digital commerce- lost conversions at checkout. By eliminating the need for manual card entry and reducing friction in the payment flow, it enables a faster, simpler checkout experience, which can help improve completion rates and drive higher sales.

Equally important is the role of security in building customer trust. With tokenisation at its core, Click to Pay is designed to help ensure that sensitive card details are never exposed during transactions, helping reduce fraud risk and strengthen consumer trust – an essential factor in driving repeat purchases and long-term customer relationships.

As Sri Lanka’s digital economy continues to expand, solutions like Click to Pay can help merchants scale more effectively by delivering experiences that are both seamless and secure.

Q: Why is trust such an important part of this launch?

A: Digital commerce can only scale when consumers trust it. No matter how strong demand or adoption may be, if people are not confident that their payments are secure, they may hesitate at the final step or choose not to transact at all. This is particularly relevant as Sri Lanka’s digital transaction volumes continue to rise alongside growing awareness of fraud and data security risks. For consumers to shift to digital payments at scale, they need to know their information is protected at every touchpoint. That is why trust today is more of a growth lever, making the online checkout experience even more critical.

With Click to Pay, security is embedded into the experience through tokenisation, helping ensure that actual card details are never exposed during transactions. This helps reduce risk while giving consumers the confidence to transact seamlessly across merchants.

By strengthening trust at this critical moment, we are enabling broader adoption of digital commerce, which ultimately supports sustainable growth for businesses and the Sri Lankan economy.

Q: What role does the wider payments ecosystem play in making Click to Pay successful?

A: Click to Pay is an ecosystem-driven innovation, and its success depends on strong collaboration across the payments value chain. Each stakeholder plays a distinct but interconnected role in delivering a frictionless and secure checkout experience.

While Visa acts as the ecosystem enabler, bringing together global standards, technology, security and partnerships to make solutions like Click to Pay work seamlessly at scale, the broader ecosystem helps in executing the end-to-end experience. Merchants enable Click to Pay at checkout, issuer banks support cardholders and authentication, and acquirers and payment partners power the infrastructure that helps ensure transactions are fast, reliable, and scalable.

With Click to Pay, Visa is embedding capabilities such as tokenisation into the payment experience, adding an extra layer of security by ensuring that sensitive card details are not shared during transactions. This works alongside existing processes to help deliver a seamless, consistent, and trusted checkout experience at scale, driving meaningful impact for consumers, businesses, and the broader digital economy.

Q: Which sectors are likely to benefit most from Click to Pay?

A: Click to Pay is designed to benefit the entire digital commerce ecosystem. Any sector that relies on online transactions whether it is retail, travel, e-commerce marketplaces, or digital services, one can benefit from a faster, more seamless, and secure checkout experience powered by Visa’s Click to Pay solution.

As digital commerce expands in Sri Lanka, its impact will be broad-based, supporting businesses of all sizes and sectors in delivering better digital payment experiences.

Q: How does Click to Pay fit into Visa’s broader vision for Sri Lanka’s cashless economy?

A: At Visa, our focus in Sri Lanka goes beyond enabling digital payments – we are committed to supporting the country’s economic growth by building a more inclusive, efficient, secure, seamless and digitally connected commerce ecosystem.

As part of this vision, the next phase of growth is about improving the quality of digital payment experiences- making them faster, simpler, and more trusted. This is where Click to Pay plays a key role, addressing three critical priorities for the digital commerce industry today: speed, security, and trust.

For consumers, it enables friction-free and safe online payment experience. For merchants, it improves checkout performance and customer experience. For the wider ecosystem, it supports more secure digital commerce through tokenization and globally aligned standards for secure digital commerce.

Sri Lanka is at a pivotal stage in its digital payments journey and continued growth will depend on how simple, safe and reliable digital payment experiences become. Click to Pay is a key step towards that future.

Some of Sri Lanka’s brightest young innovators will take centre stage today as 22 teams from 15 leading schools compete in the Grand Finale of the inaugural InfernoX Inter-School Hackathon 2026, organised by Lanka Nippon BizTech Institute (LNBTI).

Selected from an initial pool of 40 teams, the finalists will showcase innovative ideas addressing some of today’s most pressing real-world challenges.

The competition has attracted students from leading schools, including Ananda College, Ave Maria Convent Negombo, Bandaranayake Central College , BT/BC/Hiluriya Vidyalayam, Dharmapala Vidyalaya Pannipitiya, Mahinda Rajapaksha College Homagama, Nalanda College, R/Kolonna National School, Royal College Colombo, ST Joseph VAZ College Wennappuwa, St. Rita’s College Wennappuwa, Sujatha Vidyalaya Nugegoda, Trinity College Kandy, Visakha Vidyalaya, and Wesley College, reflecting the growing enthusiasm for technology and innovation among Sri Lanka’s next generation.

The projects extend well beyond conventional coding competitions. Students have developed solutions spanning artificial intelligence, disaster management, education, agriculture, healthcare, food safety, and robotics. From AI-powered learning platforms and disaster prediction systems to precision agriculture technologies, emergency response robots and smart safety solutions, the competition demonstrates how young minds are applying emerging technologies to solve real-world problems.

Beyond the competition itself, the initiative has strengthened LNBTI’s engagement with schools across the country. Through visits to participating schools and close collaboration with principals, vice principals, and ICT departments, the institute has laid the foundation for future AI workshops, IoT events, Japanese language programs, technology exhibitions, and long-term educational partnerships.

LNBTI Consultant Prof. K P Hewagamage said: ‘Innovation begins with curiosity and the courage to solve problems. InfernoX provides students with an opportunity to transform ideas into practical solutions while developing the skills, confidence, and mindset needed for tomorrow’s technology-driven world.’

The Grand Finale will see the finalists compete for an Rs. 1 million prize pool, recognising the most innovative solutions while celebrating the creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving capabilities of Sri Lanka’s emerging technology talent.

As the finalists prepare to present their innovations, InfernoX reflects LNBTI’s broader commitment to nurturing future-ready talent. By creating opportunities for school students to explore emerging technologies and tackle meaningful challenges, the institute is demonstrating that universities can play a vital role in inspiring innovation long before students step into a university classroom.

Arkam Rifas was born on 18 November 2007 in Matale, Sri Lanka, into a well-known sporting family. His father, Mohamed Rifas, is a Sri Lanka National Hockey Coach, and his mother is Fathima Raseeiya. Growing up in a family with a rich sporting background inspired Arkam to pursue excellence in hockey from a young age.

Arkam began his education at Zahira College, Matale, where he represented the college in hockey, cricket, football, and athletics. He was also a member of the Matale District Under-15 Cricket Team, demonstrating his all-round sporting ability.

He later joined Trinity College, Kandy, where he established himself as one of the country’s finest young hockey players.

As a proud Trinitian and Captain and Coloursman of the Trinity College Hockey Team has contributed immensely on winning many a Championship for his Alma Mater.

Arkam scored more than 130 goals at school, district, national, and international levels.

During his outstanding career, Arkam has represented:

Zahira College, Matale

Trinity College, Kandy (Captain)

Matale Schools Team

Kandy Schools Team

Matale District Junior Team

Sri Lanka Schools Hockey Team (Captain)

Sri Lanka Junior Under-18 Team (Vice Captain)

Sri Lanka Junior Under-20 Team

His major achievements include:

All-Island Under-16 Best Player

All-Island Under-18 Best Player

Multiple Best Player Awards in the prestigious Trinity College vs. Royal College hockey encounters

Multiple Best Player Awards in the Trinity College vs. St. Thomas’ College, Colombo hockey encounters

Best Player Award in the Junior Under-18 Asia Cup 2025 in China for his outstanding performance against Hong Kong

Represented Sri Lanka at the Junior AHF Cup 2026 in Kazakhstan

Best Player Award for the match against Tajikistan and Indonesia at the Junior AHF Cup 2026

Arkam Rifas is widely recognised as one of the best young strikers in Sri Lankan junior hockey. His exceptional goal-scoring ability, leadership, determination, and commitment have made him one of the country’s brightest young talents.

With his impressive achievements and dedication to the sport, Arkam Rifas is considered a future star of the Sri Lanka National Hockey Team.

Congratulations to Arkam Rifas on his remarkable journey so far. We wish him every success as he continues to make Sri Lanka proud on the international stage.

Over the next six months of this year, we will see significant changes in monetary policy and the use of macroprudential policy tools to bring private credit growth back, at least to a moderate level of around 13% or so. The objective is to stabilise and prevent significant volatility in the foreign exchange rate. A stable exchange rate is crucial to a country’s economic growth. This is true for a country that plans to increase Foreign Direct Investment to balance the Balance of Payments when a persistent deficit-prone national current account exists.

Sri Lanka’s current account has come under renewed pressure in 2026, after showing improvement during much of 2024 and 2025.

I strongly support a stable exchange rate rather than an unpredictable floating exchange rate. The reason is to ensure robust, resilient economic growth. No economy can basically grow without the continuous increase of what is known as the ‘total sellable output’, which strictly is not GDP. Business sector investments significantly contribute to the total sellable output in a country. These investments are crucial for economic growth as they drive capital formation, enhance productivity, foster innovation and exports. Therefore, investor confidence is important to ensuring economic growth.

Investor confidence does not arise from political rhetoric. There is one important single criterion that any investor – foreign or local – looks at before making any investment decisions. That criterion is the stability of the foreign exchange rate. They generally hate the floating rate of foreign exchange, but at the same time, they do not trust a strongly managed foreign exchange rate mechanism artificially.

In the past few weeks, investors lost confidence in the monetary authority’s ability to ensure a stable managed exchange rate mechanism. If the monetary authorities did not take proactive action to avoid the next impending exchange rate volatility after the removal of the 50% surcharge imposed on vehicle import duty in August, as promised to the IMF, the lack of confidence in the monetary authorities’ ability to ensure a stable foreign exchange rate mechanism would be badly embedded into the mindset of investors.

Therefore, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) should clearly explain its strategy for ensuring exchange rate stability because the exchange rate is the most important variable in Sri Lanka’s economy, as macroeconomic fiscal variables show significant improvements. Without a well-communicated strategy to stabilise the foreign exchange rate, uncertainty can increase and undermine business confidence.

Given Sri Lanka’s experience with repeated balance of payments crises, CBSL could strengthen confidence by explaining a medium-term exchange rate strategy or framework, as certain indicators such as private credit growth, import demand, reserve adequacy and capital inflows are monitored by the CBSL. Obviously, this framework might explain the policy tools such as interest rates, macroprudential measures, and liquidity management tools that will be used by the CBSL, although foreign exchange interventions are very unlikely. Also, this framework might further explain how the exchange rate policy or strategy supports both price stability and external sector sustainability. Ultimately, the same framework would explain how far the CBSL could deviate from the macroeconomic framework set by the IMF, under the improved or deteriorated conditions of the economy.

I do not suggest that CBSL should target a fixed exchange rate. Rather, a transparent strategy explained through a well-focused framework helps markets understand how the central bank will respond to evolving economic conditions, making exchange rate movements more orderly and reducing the likelihood of destabilising speculations. The most important objective of this task is to increase investor confidence to ensure a continuously increasing total sellable output, ensuring optimum economic growth.

Sri Lanka’s premier exhibition dedicated to the infrastructure and construction sector, INFRACON 2026, will be held from 3 to 5 July at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo, bringing together leading companies, industry professionals, and decision-makers from across South Asia.

Organised by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services Ltd., (LECS) in collaboration with Savor International Ltd., of Bangladesh, the exhibition aims to foster regional cooperation and create new opportunities for trade, investment, and technological advancement within the infrastructure and construction industries.

Formerly known as the Construction, Power and Energy Expo, the event has been rebranded as INFRACON 2026 to reflect its expanded scope and growing regional significance. The exhibition is endorsed by the Sri Lankan Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Solar Industries Association (SIA).

The event is supported by several leading industry partners and sponsors, including Gold Sponsor C.W. Mackie PLC, Silver Sponsors AESOLAR and Brantel Lanka Ltd., and Phoenix Super PVC, the Official PVC Partner of the exhibition.

INFRACON 2026 will showcase exhibitors and suppliers across five key sectors – Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC-R) and Cold Chain, Power and Energy, Green Energy, Safe Water Management, and Building Materials – offering visitors an opportunity to explore the latest technologies, products, and solutions shaping the future of the industry.

The exhibition is expected to attract developers, contractors, engineers, architects, consultants, policymakers, technology providers, investors, and buyers from both Sri Lanka and overseas. International participation from China, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is expected, making INFRACON 2026 one of the region’s most important industry gatherings.

Designed as a business-focused platform, the exhibition will facilitate direct interaction between exhibitors and key industry stakeholders. In addition to the physical exhibition, a dedicated online platform will enable virtual networking and collaboration opportunities for exhibitors, international visitors, and trade buyers.

Adding further value to the event, INFRACON 2026 will host a high-level panel discussion titled ‘Growth through Infrastructure,’ organised by the Research Intelligence Unit (RIU). The forum will feature distinguished industry leaders and experts including RIUNIT CEO and Founder Roshan Madawela, Board of Investment (BOI) Executive Director – Investment Promotion and Research Priyanka Samaraweera, RIUNIT Senior Consultant Dr. Anil Priyanka, Tudawe Brothers Ltd., CEO and Director Romali Tudawe, Home Lands Construction CEO Saman Hettiarachchi, Colombo Port City Economic Commission Director General Revan Wickramasuriya, RIL Properties Ltd., CEO/Executive Director Hiroshini Fernando, and ETIS Lanka COO Dr. Bram Nicholas.

According to the organisers, INFRACON 2026 will further strengthen Sri Lanka’s position as a regional business and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) destination while contributing to the development and modernisation of the country’s infrastructure and construction sectors.

The Sri Lanka-Germany Business Council (SLGBC) hosted its Members’ Day recently, bringing together industry leaders, diplomats, and business professionals to enhance trade relations between Sri Lanka and Germany. The event served as a platform to acknowledge the significant contributions of German businesses in Sri Lanka and explore future opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation. Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Felix Neumann delivered the keynote address reaffirming Germany’s long-standing cooperation with Sri Lanka’s economy. Highlighting the success of the Sri Lanka German Business Forum 2026, he emphasised that Germany values Sri Lanka as an important partner in the centre of the Indian Ocean region, bringing essential stability, predictability, and shared values such as free trade, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based global order to the forefront of doing business.

Addressing key areas of bilateral engagement, the Ambassador highlighted significant economic opportunities in logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy, green technologies, digital transformation, and tourism. He emphasised the need for continued trade facilitation, investment promotion, and digital ecosystem collaboration to connect businesses and reduce barriers, also noting the importance of rules-based international trading practices for sustainable economic growth and resilience.

SLGBC President Gerard Victoria, in his address, emphasised the Council’s commitment to promoting trade, tourism, and investment between the two nations while creating valuable opportunities for business collaboration and active member networking.

He also announced key initiatives for the upcoming year, including plans to launch a dedicated corporate social responsibility project which will support a local school with urgent infrastructure requirements.

This marks the first time LB Finance is entering into a partnership with these reputable European Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). As the second-largest Non-Bank Financial Institution (NBFI) in Sri Lanka, LB Finance commands total assets exceeding Rs. 400 billion. The company holds an A-(lka) credit rating with a Stable outlook from Fitch Ratings, and an A+ rating with a Stable outlook from Lanka Rating Agency (LRA).

LB Finance has a strong presence in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector and is keen to utilise the expertise of these DFIs to improve its ESG compliance and reporting framework. The funding will be utilised to support MSMEs, promote the adoption of modern and climate-smart agricultural technologies, and finance electric vehicles as well as fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, contributing to sustainable economic development and environmental stewardship

Commenting on these partnerships, Executive Director Ravi Tissera said: ‘It is a privilege for us to work with Norfund and Swedfund, two globally respected development finance institutions. We are currently in an exponential growth stage, and securing these funding facilities enables us to focus on our growth strategies with greater vigor. It also allows LB Finance to align its ESG policy framework with global best practices while aiming to utilising the technical assistance and guidance offered by these two DFIs.’

Norfund is Norway’s state-owned development finance institution established in 1997. Norfund’s role is to assist in building sustainable businesses and industries in developing countries by providing equity capital and other risk capital. In 2025, Norfund invested a record NOK 8.4 billion, reaching a total portfolio of NOK 45.5 billion. Its portfolio supported 788,000 jobs and reached 12.7 million new financial services clients.

‘LB Finance has demonstrated strong growth, prudent capital management, and a clear commitment to expanding access to financial services across Sri Lanka. Our investment supports a leading institution that contributes meaningfully to financial inclusion and economic resilience in the country,’ says Norfund Regional Director – Asia Fay Chetnakarnkul.

Swedfund is Sweden’s state-owned development finance institution. Established in 1979 and operating under the Swedish Ministry of Finance, it promotes sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction through investments in developing countries. In 2025, Swedfund invested approximately SEK 3.7 billion, bringing its total portfolio value to SEK 14 billion. Its portfolio supported 488,000 jobs and contributed to women’s economic empowerment through 58% of its investments.

‘Access to finance is critical for MSMEs to invest, grow and create jobs. At a time when long-term funding remains constrained in Sri Lanka, this investment will help increase funding for smaller businesses while also supporting the transition to more sustainable transport. LB Finance’s focus on MSMEs and extensive presence outside Colombo will help reach businesses that are often overlooked by traditional lenders,’ says Swedfund Investment Director Björn Areskog.

With these latest facilities, LB Finance continues to build on its legacy, leveraging strategic international partnerships to drive financial inclusion, focus on developing SMEs and MSMEs, strengthen its balance sheet, and support sustainable economic development across the country.