Sunday Sep 28, 2025
Sunday Sep 28, 2025
Saturday, 27 September 2025 01:33 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Speaking before a packed audience of Sri Lankans at the Centre for the Arts, College of Staten Island, President Anura Kumara Disanayake on Thursday urged the diaspora to play an active role in promoting tourism, boosting investments, while strengthening ties with the homeland.
He made a strong appeal to Sri Lankans living in overseas to actively contribute to the economic progress, insisting that their participation is not sought through charity, but through investment and engagement.
“You can make a substantial contribution to the tourism industry. Collaborative programs can be organised in partnership with the Embassy, enabling active engagement with Sri Lanka rather than remaining distant observers.
We invite everyone to become a community actively involved in supporting the country in various ways,” he said.
Delivering a candid and detailed review of his Government’s progress one year after coming to power, the President stressed that the administration is delivering on its mandate to build a corruption-free State and restore faith in justice.
Disanayake underscored his administration’s commitment to ending impunity and restoring public confidence in justice. “No one in Sri Lanka is beyond the reach of the law,” he said, asserting that both high-profile corruption and past political crimes are under investigation. The President was careful to emphasise that these investigations are not politically motivated, but are being conducted by independent institutions like the Bribery or Corruption Commission and the Criminal Investigation Department.
“The people also expected that those guilty of fraud and corruption would be punished, and today, we are doing just that. Justice must be served for the assassinations and abductions that stained our country’s reputation in the international sphere. These demand justice and we are conducting investigations,” he said.
He asserted that no one has the right to denigrate war heroes as the Government honour their service during the war. However, the President said crimes committed under the cover of that struggle cannot be excused. “A society’s faith in justice is not built merely on the existence of laws. It is founded on the conviction that the law is applied fairly. Merely having laws does not create confidence in justice. That belief is built when injustice occurs and justice is then delivered. This is exactly what we are ensuring,” he added.
Disanayake said the country is witnessing for the first time a Government that does not waste a single cent of the people’s money, while simultaneously ensuring accountability for past corruption, fraud and human rights violations through independent investigations.
The President also projected that the country would return to its pre-crisis economic levels, specifically its 2019 status by next year.
He confirmed that the country, which defaulted in 2022, now expects to resume debt repayments confidently by 2028. A critical factor in this recovery, he said, was the record growth in all four of the country’s foreign exchange earning sectors. Tourism, in particular, has surged, with 2.5 million tourist arrivals expected in 2025, the highest ever recorded in Sri Lankan history.
Emphasising that his administration is answerable only to the aspirations of the people, he declared, “We are working to fulfil the mandate of the people without bowing to anyone’s influence.”
Reflecting on the dire state of the nation in 2022, when Sri Lanka officially defaulted on its debt and plunged into economic collapse, the President noted that his government was elected not from political privilege but from grassroots struggle. In 2019, the movement he led had secured only 3% of the national vote. Yet in the 2024 Presidential Election, they achieved what he described as a “remarkable victory,” followed by an unprecedented performance in the General Election, where his coalition secured the highest number of Parliamentary seats ever recorded under Sri Lanka’s proportional representation system.
Since assuming office in September 2024, the President claimed that the country has seen a “decisive turnaround” in key areas including economic stability, public sector efficiency, anti-corruption efforts, and international credibility.
Disanayake stated that the country has managed to escape the full impact of its bankruptcy faster than global financial analysts predicted. “Economists say a country loses a decade after a collapse. We are recovering in just two years,” he said.
He noted that foreign remittances have also reached an all-time high in 2025, contributing significantly to resolving the country’s previous foreign reserves crisis. In terms of direct investment, the Government has secured $ 1 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year alone, along with an additional $ 1.4 billion into the Colombo Port City project. “This year has become the year with the largest inflow of foreign investment,” he said, attributing it to investor confidence in the country’s new political and economic direction.
On the fiscal front, President Disanayake highlighted that 2025 marks the first time in Sri Lanka’s post-independence history that Government revenue has exceeded its annual budget projections. Historically, he explained, the country had failed to meet revenue targets while overspending. In contrast, this year not only saw higher-than-expected revenues but a reduction in the usual overspending margin, establishing, in his words, “a degree of economic stability.”
However, stability, he noted, is only the beginning. The next phase is ensuring that these economic gains “flow down to the ordinary people.” The National Budget for 2026, he said, is being designed specifically with this aim in mind, prioritising support for agriculture, fisheries, small and medium enterprises, and the creation of new economic opportunities.
The President also addressed the longstanding inefficiencies in the public sector, acknowledging that political appointments and neglect had left critical institutions weakened. To address this, he said the Government has initiated a major recruitment drive, bringing in 70,000 new employees. Alongside this, it has implemented the largest public sector salary hike in the nation’s history, allocating Rs. 110 billion in 2025, with the same amount earmarked for 2026 and 2027, a total of Rs. 330 billion over three years.
As part of broader public administration reforms, the Government has accelerated the digital transformation of State institutions. The Inland Revenue Department, Customs, and Excise Department are undergoing full digitalisation, with the goal that by next year, all Government transactions will be conducted through digital platforms. The President also announced plans to introduce a long-requested single-window system to streamline processes for exporters and investors.
Institutional reform extends beyond digitalisation. Citing the inefficiencies of the Ceylon Electricity Board, he said outdated structures are being restructured to improve performance. He also referenced stalled development projects, including the expansion of the Katunayake Airport, originally set for completion in 2023 and confirmed that construction will resume by February or March 2026. Similarly, abandoned infrastructure such as the SAARC Cultural Centre in Matara is being reviewed and repurposed.
In a significant policy shift, the President announced that former Presidents will no longer be entitled to State-funded residences, calling it a necessary measure to instil political decency. “At a time when the economy had gravely collapsed. Rs. 470 million was allocated to renovate the President’s official residence,” he said, calling such past actions examples of political excess. “They believed they could spend as they pleased. Until that culture is built, we are compelled to set boundaries through law.”
He also pledged justice for victims of past abductions and assassinations, while affirming his respect for war heroes. “Crimes committed under the cover of that struggle cannot be excused,” he said. “Justice must be delivered.”
The President spoke firmly about dismantling drug cartels and organised crime networks, calling them “parallel structures of governance.” “A country cannot operate with two separate States,” he said, noting that the administration is systematically working to bring all such networks under legal control.
Rebuilding Sri Lanka’s image abroad was another major theme.
Disanayake said the country had previously been blacklisted internationally for its record on democracy, human rights, and corruption. However, he affirmed that diplomatic efforts, including his meetings with the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, have already begun to shift perceptions. “Today, there is renewed hope regarding Sri Lanka within international organisations,” he stated.
The event, organised by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, was attended by Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath, and Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN, former Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya PC. Members of the Sri Lankan diaspora, including professionals and business leaders, took part in the dialogue, where the President’s message of reform, accountability, and national renewal was received with appreciation and cautious optimism.
