Business

‘Ground realities should correspond to President’s words’

Published

3 years ago

2022/08/10

The National Peace Council called on the government to restore political stability.

“The immediate need is to restore political stability. The route to follow is not Emergency rule, by cracking down on the protesters and their leaders, but to find ways and means of engaging with them in a nonviolent manner and address the root causes that brought tens of thousands of citizens, young and old, to the streets, countrywide,” the NPC said in a statement.

It said: President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s inaugural address to Parliament set forth a vision of good governance and civility that would stand among the most outstanding in the world. His speech comes at a time when several leaders of the protest movement, and youth activists, have been arrested for having violated the law during the public protests that led to the resignations of the former President Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers of the country.

The National Peace Council congratulates the President on his assumption of office and pledges our support to make his vision a reality. We see the government, headed by the President, is taking forward several new initiatives to improve the current situation. The system change, the protest movement and youth of the country are seeking, is a transformation of the existing structures, both within and outside the current Parliament, which contributed to the collapse of the economic fabric of the country.

We have five specific requests to make of the President at this time.

1. The Cabinet has approved the proposed 22nd Amendment to strengthen the system of checks and balances. Three of the 10-member Constitutional Council will represent civil society. However, the discretion is given to the Speaker to pick them, which makes it likely that the choice will be in favour of the government. Therefore, we call for the civil society representatives to be appointed as in the 19th Amendment by both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader together.

2. In his inaugural address, which was welcomed by many for its content and delivery, the President repeated his call for an all-party government. Earlier he had written to all parliamentarians regarding this. We urge the President to establish the all-party government in a manner that would give equal weight to each of the political parties in Parliament, irrespective of their size or numbers. The Cabinet needs to be established in such a manner that each party feels that they have a say in the governance, otherwise it will be a show only.

3. The significant role that the protest movement has made to the rise of the President to his present position has been recognided by the President who has offered them places in the national policy council, which is yet to be established. Additionally, we call for representation of members of the protest movement in the all-party government.

4. We urge the President to recognise the exceptional nature of the public protests that included youth, entire families and spanned the communities as the President noted in his inaugural address. We call on him to grant a blanket amnesty/pardon to those currently being held in custody or being subjected to legal action. Being magnanimous towards the youth and others who contributed to ushering in the change of political leadership needs to be done without resorting to Emergency rule.

5. The economic difficulties, the country is going through and its present inability to earn more than it spends, will require significant restructuring of the economy and livelihoods and living standards of the people. This will require a government that has the people’s backing and a fresh mandate. We call for elections to be held, within a time frame of a year, and that the long-postponed provincial elections, which are especially important to the minority communities, should also be held.

Unfortunately, the spate of arrests of leading members of the protest movement have cast a pall of gloom over the country which the President’s inaugural address can dispel if words are the precursor to change on the ground. It is essential that they do or else the hope of political stability and getting out of national economic distress will prove to be elusive.

The immediate need is to restore political stability. The route to follow is not Emergency rule by cracking down on the protesters and their leaders but to find ways and means of engaging with them in a nonviolent manner and address the root causes that brought tens of thousands of citizens young and old to the streets countrywide. The legitimate demands of people who have seen their living standards crash in a matter of months should be addressed through dialogue with them and not by assuming Emergency powers and engaging in witch hunts to silence the dissenting voices.

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

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Business

Salesforce Startup Program targets Sri Lanka’s high-growth tech sector

Published

7 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

Bhattacharya (L) and Madusanka at the launch

Salesforce, the world’s leading AI-powered CRM platform, is set to expand its presence in Sri Lanka with the launch of the Salesforce Startup Program by the end of January 2026, signalling growing confidence in the country’s technology-led growth potential.

The move comes as Sri Lanka consolidates its position as the second-largest startup ecosystem in South Asia after India, with software, data and artificial intelligence-driven ventures accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the national startup base.

Industry observers say this concentration places Sri Lanka at a decisive stage where global exposure and enterprise access could unlock the next phase of scale.

Under the programme, Sri Lankan startups will gain access to Salesforce’s global ecosystem, including AI-powered platforms, business and technical mentorship, joint go-to-market opportunities and connections to enterprise customers, enabling founders to build globally competitive solutions from Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka has developed a strong base of technical talent and entrepreneurial ambition that is increasingly visible regionally and globally,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, President and CEO of Salesforce South Asia.

“Through the Salesforce Startup Program, we aim to help startups move beyond early momentum to global relevance while delivering long-term economic impact,” he added.

He also said the initiative builds on the success of its Startup Program in India and Singapore, which today supports over 435 startups, including more than 230 AI-first companies. Several participants have expanded across Asia and beyond by building products natively on the Salesforce platform.

Responding to queries, he said Sri Lanka is also emerging as an important enterprise market for Salesforce, with major corporates such as John Keells Holdings and Cinnamon Hotels adopting the platform to modernise customer engagement, sales, marketing and loyalty management operations.

In parallel, Salesforce is strengthening the country’s digital talent pipeline through its Trailhead learning ecosystem, with plans to skill nearly 1,000 learners over the next year via local workforce development partners and community-led cohorts.

Chamil Madusanka, Head of Salesforce Practice and Salesforce Architect, said the programme arrives at a critical juncture for Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem.

“Sri Lankan founders are increasingly building AI, data and enterprise software solutions with global relevance,” Madusanka told The Island Financial Review.

“What many startups need is structured access to enterprise customers, global mentorship and market exposure. This initiative creates that bridge, enabling local companies to scale faster while remaining rooted in Sri Lanka.”

He said the Startup Program is designed to act as a connective platform, bringing together startups, enterprises, technology partners, universities and developer communities to accelerate collaboration and innovation.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️

Business

Good news on risen foreign reserves exerts buoyant impact on bourse

Published

8 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

CSE activities were extremely bullish yesterday following Central Bank Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe’s announcement that Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves had risen to US $ 6.8 billion in December 2025, up US$ 791 million from November 2025.

The Governor provided the estimated economic growth while announcing the Central Bank’s policy agenda for this year.

In December Sri Lanka received budget support loans from the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe

Amid these developments both CSE indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 226.81 points, while the S and P SL20 rose by 100.01 points. Turnover stood at Rs 12.3 billion with 12 crossings.

Top seven crossings that mainly contributed to the turnover were: Lee Hedges 18.2 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 3.9 billion; its shares traded at Rs 416, Commercial Bank 2.1 million shares crossed for Rs 467.6 million; its shares traded at Rs 215, Ceylon Hotels 429,000 shares crossed for Rs 128.7 million; its shares traded at Rs 300, LB Finance 650,000 shares crossed for Rs 105 million; its shares sold at Rs 152.50, Ceylinco Holdings 31000 shares crossed for Rs 104.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 3400, Melstacorp 200,000 shares crossed tfor Rs 35.7 million; its shares sold at Rs 178.50 and Three Acres Farm 400,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 29.6 million; its shares fetched Rs 740.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Wealth Trust Securities Rs 1.17 billion (55.8 million shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 509 million (2.4 million shares traded), HNB Rs 370 million (870,000 shares traded), ACL Cables Rs 303 million (three million shares traded), Prime Lands Residencies Rs 283 million (7.9 million shares traded), Lanka Realty Rs 227.5 million (4.7 million shares traded) and HNB Rs 218 million (332,000 shares traded). During the day 223.7 million share volumes changed hands in 55116 transactions.

Yesterday, investor interest in Wealth Trust and banking stocks led to higher activity levels, brokers said. Further, the real estate sector also performed well. Lanka Realty Investments PLC acquired 51 percent of the total number of shares in issue of Lee Hedges, CSE sources said. 13,057,595 ordinary voting shares were bought at Rs 216 each.

Yesterday the rupee opened at Rs 310.12/18 to the US dollar in the spot market, weaker from Rs 310.05/15 the previous day, dealers said, while bond yields opened marginally high.

By Hiran H Senewiratne ✍️

Business

Launch of monograph ‘Development: Not By Economics Alone’

Published

8 hours ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The Gamani Corea Foundation (GCF) is pleased to announce the launch of the monograph Development: Not By Economics Alone by Dr. Nimal Sanderatne, Emeritus Chairperson of the Foundation. The foreword to the publication has been written by Dr. Godfrey Gunatilleke, one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent development economists. The launch ceremony will be held on Friday, 9th January 2026, at 4.00 p.m. at the Horton Lodge.

In this monograph, Dr. Sanderatne argues that development cannot be understood through economic indicators alone. He emphasizes that the quality of human capital depends not only on knowledge and skills acquired through formal education, but also on deeper, non-formal processes embedded in a society’s culture and value systems. These influence human behaviour, shaping work ethics, attitudes to work and leisure, capacity for teamwork, preferences between short- and long-term goals, and patterns of saving and consumption.

Dr. Sanderatne is a distinguished economist and academic, holding degrees from the Universities of London, Saskatchewan, and Wisconsin, and was conferred the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the University of Peradeniya in 2004.