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These are changing times for Sri Lanka’s insurance sector. Major regulatory moves over the last two years have seen much strengthening and consolidation, with these processes set to continue in the year ahead. Profitability remains high, particularly in the life insurance segment, while in the non-life segment a fiercely competitive environment is driving companies to find ways to differentiate through more innovative and distinctive products and campaigns. Meanwhile, many eyes are focused on Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic conditions. Areas such as medical and health, real estate and project insurance are all tipped to be future growth areas, as the country’s economy cranks up and the middle class expands. This chapter contains an interview with Hemaka Amarasuriya, Chairman, Sri Lanka Insurance.

A post-war boom has been followed by a mixed few years for Sri Lanka’s capital markets, with a strong performance in 2014 followed by two slower years. The outlook is now brightening again as the Colombo Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Sri Lankan government look to build the bourse’s role in the economy. The bourse’s composition is not particularly representative of the economy as a whole, with financial services companies strongly represented in index weightings, for example. Thus the bourse’s indices do not invariably track that of Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic performance as a whole. Yet in recent years there has been a growing understanding that they can play a leading role in economic development, particularly as the country looks to boost private sector growth and foreign investment. This chapter contains an interview with Dilshan Wirasekara, CEO, First Capital.

With strong asset growth, reliable profitability and solid capital adequacy, the Sri Lankan banking sector stands in sound health these days as it looks forward to a period of continued economic stability. Like other sectors, the industry is moving in the direction of greater capital and technological requirements, and continues to undergo a period of consolidation – particularly among its smaller players. In addition, new legislation on microfinance holds promise in seeing banking services spread further beyond the Western Province, with major benefits for companies and individuals outside of the country’s metropolitan centre. This chapter contains interviews with Indrajith Coomaraswamy, Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka; and Jim McCabe, CEO, Standard Chartered Sri Lanka.

With robust growth figures, improving infrastructure, an increasingly service-dominated economy and a new reform-minded government, Sri Lanka is an economic champion that has too often been overlooked. The island nation has seen continuous growth since a recession in 2001, even during the last years of the civil war, which ended in 2008. The rising tide has lifted all boats, and pockets of poverty are relatively rare, with more and more Sri Lankans able to participate in the country’s economic success. This chapter contains interviews with Ravi Karunanayake, Former Minister of Finance; Samantha Ranatunga, Chairman, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce; and Tilak De Zoysa, Chairman, Carson Cumberbatch.

As the country’s economy has liberalised and grown in recent decades, its trade volumes to developed markets and emerging ones have risen strongly. The country has established a name for itself as a leading exporter both of manufactured goods and traditional products such as tea and spices. A free trade agreement with India signed in 2000 has proved a major boon and is now being followed by a raft of other deals that should both boost export potential and open markets to foreign producers and investors. This chapter contains interviews with Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General, UN; Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade; Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade); Upul Jayasuriya, Chairman, Board of Investment; and Peter Wong, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive, HSBC.