News

Korea, UNDP launch anti-corruption initiative assessment in Lanka

Published

4 months ago

2026/06/7

Korean Ambassador Lee speaking at the event on Friday

The Government of the Republic of Korea, together with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of Korea, the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sri Lanka, has launched the findings of the Anti-Corruption Initiative Assessment (AIA) aimed at supporting Sri Lanka’s broader anti-corruption reform agenda.

The launch took place on Friday at BMICH.

The programme, valued at US$100,000, was implemented as a pilot initiative under the SDG Partnership Project on Transparency and Accountability, introducing an assessment framework to public institutions to evaluate integrity practices, identify risk areas and explore corrective measures.

Speaking at the event, Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka Miyon Lee said anti-corruption efforts should be viewed as a whole-of-government responsibility supported by systems that strengthen integrity, reduce discretionary power and incentivise improved performance.

She noted that South Korea’s integrity assessment model is conducted annually across hundreds of public institutions, including government agencies, local authorities, educational and medical institutions, public corporations and local councils. The 2024 exercise covered 716 institutions, drawing responses from around 300,000 stakeholders, including citizens and public officials.

Ambassador Lee highlighted key governance areas such as licensing, procurement, taxation, customs and regulatory approvals as critical sectors where integrity assessments can reduce uncertainty and build investor confidence.

She expressed hope that Sri Lanka would build on the pilot initiative by developing locally tailored assessment tools to strengthen transparency, accountability and governance as part of ongoing reforms aimed at attracting investment and modernising the public sector.

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Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 to purchase four (04) automated passenger clearance gates for Bandaranayake International Airport.

In addition, it is expected to extend the automated passenger clearance gates facility so far given only to the Sri Lankans
parallel to the e – passport issuance system to be introduced in the year 2027 also to the foreigners who travel to and from this country.

Furthermore, considering also the number of air passengers rapidly increasing with the fast – forwarding business and tourism field, the appropriateness to increase the total automated passenger clearance gates up to twelve (12) in number has been recognized.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers, approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to initiate the procurement and installation of 12
automated passenger clearance gates altogether with the already approved four (04) and another eight (08) automated passenger clearance gates adhering to the formal procurement procedure

News

Draft Bill for amending the Trust Ordinance

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Based on the observations submitted by the Task Force on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing for Terrorism, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 18.12.2024 to amend the Trust Ordinance No. 9 of 1917 including amendments proposed by the Financial
Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted for the Trust (Amendment) Draft Bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration
to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby, submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Implementing further relief programme to Public sffected by the Middle East conflict situation

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Action was taken to provide a fuel relief for the fuel consumers during the months of April, May and June of 2026 to redress by minimizing the impact caused to the day today life of the citizens of this country as well as the entire economy due to the price hike of petroleum fuel in the global market resulting from the war situation in the Middle East.

Government mediation is essential for minimizing the impact on the day to today life of citizens in this country due to that war situation not being ended further. Therefore, it has been planned to redress on the sale price for Auto Diesel and Industrial Diesel for a period of 03 months by the Government to provide relief to the public as well as to maintain the prices at a bearable level to the consumers without escalating the fuel prices in this country compared to the escalation of fuel prices
in the international market.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to
allocate provisions subject to the monthly limitations respectively as rupees 15 billion for the month of October, rupees 13.5 billion for the month of November and rupees 12.15 billion for the month of December to provide the said relief