Partnership signals renewed foreign investor confidence in Sri Lanka as a destination and in the long-term growth of its hospitality sector

Japanese investor Yoshimichi Watanabe has entered into a partnership with Colombo Stock Exchange-listed Hunas Holdings PLC, in a move that comes as the diversified conglomerate prepares a significant expansion of its hospitality and real estate interests in Sri Lanka.

The partnership brings foreign capital and international market experience into one of Sri Lanka’s fastest-diversifying listed groups at a point when the Group is actively building out its pipeline across both sectors. Hunas Holdings is currently evaluating a series of hospitality and real estate developments in Sri Lanka, with further announcements expected in the coming months.

Hunas Holdings PLC operates across hospitality and leisure, real estate, renewable energy and agriculture, with a hotel portfolio that includes Hunas Falls in Elkaduwa

For Sri Lanka, the significance of the partnership extends beyond the two parties. Inbound investment of this nature, from an investor with direct and sustained experience of the market, is a measure of returning confidence in the country as a destination and in the underlying fundamentals of its hospitality sector, at a time when the industry is repositioning towards higher-value, experience-led travel.

Watanabe brings investment experience across e-commerce, hospitality and real estate in Japan and in international markets including Bali, Indonesia. He has also maintained a relationship with Sri Lanka over many years, having made multiple investments in the country, giving him first-hand insight into its business environment, regulatory landscape and long-term potential.

Over 250 university student volunteers joined a multi-stakeholder environmental initiative focused on responsible PET collection and recovery during one of Sri Lanka’s most significant cultural gatherings. Neptune Recyclers, an Aberdeen Holdings company, supported the Esala Perahera PET Collection Drive, a collaborative environmental initiative that resulted in the collection of more than 45,000 PET bottles along the Perahera route in Kandy.

Led by the Central Provincial Ministry of Environment, the initiative brought together a diverse group of public and private sector partners, including Sri Dalada Maligawa, Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka, Neptune Recyclers, CFC Health Care, Siyatha TV and Siyatha FM, Kandy City Centre, public coordination bodies and university volunteer partners.

Collection activities were carried out across the Perahera route, helping to recover discarded PET bottles and direct them towards appropriate recycling and recovery channels. The initiative addressed the significant volume of waste generated during a major public gathering while encouraging greater awareness around responsible disposal, material recovery and recycling. The collective effort contributed towards maintaining cleaner public spaces in Kandy while helping ensure that recoverable PET remained within the recycling system rather than becoming environmental waste.

BYD officially launched RACCO, its first model specifically designed to break into the highly competitive Japanese automotive market.

The launch took place across multiple events hosted across Japan, marking BYD’s official entry into kei car segment. BYD Group Vice President Liu Xueliang attended the event and unveiled the new model together with Atsuki Tofukuji, Head of Passenger Vehicles at BYD Japan, Yang Buyi, RACCO Project Leader, and Hirohide Tagawa, Head of Japan Planning.

By highlighting RACCO’s safety, spaciousness, convenience and other product advantages based on Japanese consumers’ daily mobility scenarios, BYD demonstrated how RACCO is designed around the real needs of the users, further increasing awareness and influence of the BYD brand in Japan.