President Anura Kumar Disanayake invited Sri Lankan exporters to rebuild and thrive on a robust economic foundation.

The President emphasized that our country faces the challenge of capturing market share from a position of relative weakness. He pointed out that, to overcome this, external support had to be sought. In this regard, he highlighted that the government is prepared to provide assistance for recovery based on the current economic stability.

President Anura Kumar Disanayake made these remarks at the 26th Presidential Export Awards Ceremony.

The 26th Presidential Export Awards, organized by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), was held on Friday (07) at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) under the patronage of President Anura Kumar Disanayake.

The main objective of the awards ceremony is to recognize exporters who have made significant contributions to the economic development of Sri Lanka.

The Presidential Export Award, presented by the President, is the highest honour for Sri Lankan exporters who have made significant contributions to the export sector and economic development.

The Presidential Export Awards program, initiated by the EDB in 1981, has been held annually to recognize Sri Lanka’s top exporters. The awards ceremony for the 2023/24 financial year took place this year.

A total of 14 major awards and 51 awards in the categories of production and services were presented, with recipients gaining the opportunity to use the Presidential Export Award logo as a marketing tool for three years.

President Anura Kumar Disanayake further emphasized the critical importance of the trust placed in Sri Lanka by international economic stakeholders to stabilize the country’s economy. He noted that the global market economy is interconnected, not entirely independent.

He further pointed out that the primary challenge facing Sri Lanka is securing a substantial share of the market amidst the current global division of markets and the ongoing competition to reclaim market shares.

President Anura Kumar Disanayake noted that the global market has become an interconnected network. He emphasized that in order for the country to become a key participant in this market, it must engage in trade agreements that are beneficial to Sri Lanka. He cautioned that aggressive, reckless approaches to market penetration would not be successful, stressing the need for strategic, thoughtful engagement.

The President further stated that the government is already taking steps to provide the necessary technical support for Sri Lankan exporters to enter the market with high-quality products. He highlighted the government’s focus on supplying new goods and services in response to global changes, in line with international market trends.

Regarding the reduction of electricity bills, the President mentioned that the government is prioritizing renewable energy sources to maintain long-term stability in energy costs. He added that efforts are underway to lower costs and ensure stable pricing over the next few years.

President Disanayake also emphasized that the government is committed to playing a pivotal role in advancing the nation’s economy to new heights. He noted that even small or misguided decisions can have significant negative impacts on the economy, and therefore, decisions regarding the economy must be made with great caution and foresight.

In his remarks, the President assured that the government is fully committed to fulfilling exporters’ requests, which are vital to strengthening the nation’s economy and maintaining a strong economic foundation.

Finally, the President invited Sri Lankan exporters to unite in strengthening the economy, stressing the importance of collaboration and mutual understanding to navigate the challenges of economic recovery and growth effectively.

The ceremony was attended by several distinguished individuals, including Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Anil Jayantha Fernando, Minister of Energy Kumara Jayakody, Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Thilaka Jayasundara, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka Mangala Wijesinghe, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Duminda Hulangamuwa, along with various Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentarians, foreign diplomats, Secretaries to the Ministries, and members of the EDB.

[PMD]

POS hardware and software solutions provider Retail IT (Pvt) Ltd recently hosted the Retail Technology Trends 2025 event at Water’s Edge Hotel, bringing together over 150 professionals from industries such as supermarkets, hospitality, apparel, and bookstores.

The event highlighted Retail IT’s 15-year partnership with Posiflex, a global leader in POS technology, showcasing innovations like the reliable Posiflex POS systems. The event also featured inspiring talks from industry leaders. Chandima Wickramatunge, Chief Executive Officer of Retail IT, was joined by experts such as Nalaka Umagiliya of John Keells Holdings, Ruwan Perera of Moore Aiyar, and Thilak Piyadigama, Chairman of WebXPay.

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

Everyone saw it unfold. This is the harsh reality of life in the Devil’s paradise, where desires are transformed into laws, ambitions become twisted ethics, and behaviour is coerced into the very fabric of the system. The truth? To survive here, one must bow to the powers that be, no matter the cost. Conscience and integrity are irrelevant—praise those in power or face annihilation.

President Donald Trump welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—an alleged war criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court—as the first foreign leader in his second term, declaring his grand vision to take control of Gaza, turning it into a “brave new Levantine Riviera” by cleansing over two million Palestinians. Nevertheless, the proposal has sparked strong opposition. Saudi Arabia, a key ally of Trump, swiftly condemned it, insisting that no nation would recognize Israel without the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Jordan and Egypt also rejected the idea of accepting millions of displaced Palestinians. The mere announcement of this plan starkly illustrates the chaotic grandeur of Trump’s vision. Yet, his proposal, however audacious, was no accident of rhetoric. It was a calculated, methodical blueprint, crafted long before Trump’s second term in office. With Netanyahu—a willing ally in these manoeuvres—Trump painted a picture of Gaza not as a refuge for the Palestinian people, but as a commercialized “paradise” defined not by its displaced residents, but by foreign investments and a transformation into a luxury resort.

Trump’s proposition, laden with both visionary ambition and horrific repercussions, challenges the entrenched paradigm. This proposal, as reported, was not born of sudden whim, but the culmination of years of deliberation within Trump’s inner circle—an enterprise in which his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, played a pivotal role in positioning the geopolitical and commercial components across Asia. Kushner’s claim, in a recent interview with the Financial Times, that his “ability to see trends before others” uniquely positions him to capitalize on opportunities others find unpalatable, resonates with the underlying logic of Trump’s plan. It’s a logic that blurs the line between statecraft and property development, where geopolitical ambitions are pursued not merely for strategic supremacy but also as a means to expand a business empire throughout Asia. This fusion of commerce and conquest is as disquieting as it is unprecedented, conjuring images of modern-day feudalism, where land and people are subjugated to serve the profit motives of a privileged few.

What is truly striking, however, is that Trump’s plan could offer a rare and pivotal opportunity for Arab nations, whose history of disunity has long hindered their collective potential. Regional players—Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Qatar, Jordan, and others—have long danced to contradictory tunes, using Palestine as a symbol to justify their betrayals, while failing to act with sincerity or consequence. These rivalries, cultivated over decades of political expediency, have reduced Palestinians from champions of an independent cause to mere pawns in a game that has been further complicated by internal rifts within Palestinian movements. For far too long, the Arab states have abandoned Palestine’s plight in favour of personal ambition and strategic alliances, turning the Palestinian cause into a commodity—moulded and shaped according to the whims of foreign powers.

This latest manoeuvre must be understood within the context of the convoluted history of Arab disunity—an entangled web of colonial subterfuge, sectarian fragmentation, and a legacy of betrayal that has persistently eroded Palestinian sovereignty and reduced their cause to a tragic geopolitical instrument. The Arab world, once intoxicated by the ideal of pan-Arab unity, has repeatedly succumbed to its internal fissures, never able to overcome the corrosive forces of realpolitik and self-interest. Behind the veneer of solidarity and proclamations of support for Palestinian self-determination, there lies a catalogue of secretive agreements, covert operations, and Machiavellian plots that have long entangled the region. While the Sykes-Picot Agreement remains the most infamous symbol of colonial partition, it is far from the only clandestine accord that has shaped the fate of Palestine. Lesser-known pacts, such as the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, which promised Arab independence in exchange for rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, were later betrayed in favour of European imperial ambitions. Similarly, the post-World War II period saw Arab states engage in secret dealings with both Western and Soviet powers, each prioritizing their strategic interests over Palestinian rights.

Agreements such as the Baghdad Pact and the Eisenhower Doctrine—purportedly aimed at regional stability—left the Palestinian cause sidelined in favour of Cold War allegiances, perpetuating cycles of betrayal. And perhaps most insidious of all were the secret negotiations between Arab leaders and Israel, at times tacit and other times more explicit, often involving quiet exchanges of territory, economic support, or even military cooperation, all under the guise of broader diplomatic manoeuvres.

These acts of realpolitik—often driven by the selfish interests of a few at the expense of the many—have left Palestine isolated, its sovereignty forfeited in a game of geopolitical chess. The fractured nature of Arab leadership, perpetuated by sectarianism and divergent national ambitions, only serves to deepen the wound. While leaders such as Egypt’s Nasser sought to rally the Arab world under a banner of unity, his efforts were consistently thwarted by rivalries and internal conflicts. Today, these past betrayals reverberate in the region’s collective psyche, leaving Palestinian aspirations still choked by the suffocating embrace of powers both external and internal, with the dream of a unified Arab world and a free Palestine rendered ever more elusive by the cynical.

Yet, it is precisely this history that makes Trump’s audacious proposal so paradoxically compelling. Here lies an opportunity for the perennial exiles—the Palestinians—not as pawns in a geopolitical chess game, but as potential agents for the reawakening of Arab unity. For decades, Palestinian suffering has been wielded as a symbol of resistance, a poignant reminder of an exodus that began with the Nakba in 1948. However, the continued instrumentation of Palestinian tragedy by neighbouring Arab regimes—who have long used the plight of these people as a rhetorical tool without offering substantial solutions.

It is within this environment of ambivalence and simmering tension that Trump’s proposal must be viewed as a paradigm-shifting moment. The convergence of statecraft and property development, epitomized by Trump and Kushner’s ambitions, signals a departure from conventional geopolitical paradigms. We are stepping into an era where the shifting power of oligarchies is increasingly driven by the convergence of economic gain and political opportunism—a transformation with far-reaching consequences for the future of West Asia. Whether this radical re-imagining of Gaza could catalyze Arab unity remains uncertain, inherently tied to the unresolved contradictions within the region’s historical legacy. Trump’s Riviera dream for Gaza is as much a test of American resolve as it is a crucible for Arab unity—a proposition that, if realized, could compel the Arab states to transcend their long-standing acrimony and mistrust. However, the likelihood remains that this bold gambit, with all its extravagant rhetoric and ambitious visions, will only serve to deepen existing rifts, leaving Palestinians once again at the mercy of external schemes.