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Spanning 65,000 sq km and with a moderate climate, fertile soil and an abundant supply of groundwater, Sri Lanka has long benefitted from favourable agricultural conditions. The sector remains an economic mainstay and primary national employer. As manufacturing and industrial activities have expanded, agriculture’s position as the primary economic engine has been eroded in recent years, although it remains a major strength, with high-value tea, rubber, coconut and spice production contributing significantly to export earnings. This is despite falling global commodities prices and reduced production hitting export crops in recent years. This chapter contains interviews with Rohan Pethiyagoda, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tea Board; and Merrill Fernando, Founder and Chairman, Dilmah Tea.

This chapter explores the legal framework of Sri Lanka and features topics including foreign ownership rules, efforts to improve investor confidence, and employee rights and protections. It also contains an interview with John Wilson, Managing Proprietor, John Wilson Partners.

This chapter explores the Sri Lankan tax framework, giving a breakdown of the various regulatory authorities, revenue collection systems, taxpayer services and other elements. It also contains a viewpoint from Sujeewa Rajapakse, Managing Partner, BDO Partners.

Sri Lanka’s education system is widely regarded as among the best in South Asia. A commitment to improving the quality of teaching at all levels and across the country has resulted in impressive outcomes in recent years. The current government, which came to power in early 2015, has announced a series of ambitious new policies aimed at bolstering the nation’s reputation as a high-quality education provider and further improving the government-run primary, secondary and higher education systems. Free universal health care is enshrined in Sri Lanka’s Constitution. Its health care system delivers what is widely recognised as some of the highest-quality care in South Asia, despite spending considerably less than most other countries. Meanwhile, the private sector has made significant strides recently, with companies opening high-end hospitals and other specialised facilities at a rapid pace. This chapter contains an interview with Ashok Pathirage, Chairman, Asiri Group of Hospitals.

Sri Lanka’s vibrant telecommunications industry has benefitted from two decades of market liberalisation, with five competing mobile operators driving retail tariffs to some of the lowest levels worldwide. End users and operators benefit from the country’s position as a swing point between Europe and East Asia, and its advantageous geographic location atop a host of high-capacity submarine cable networks. With national ICT policies and development dating back to the early 1980s, Sri Lanka’s IT sector stands at the regional forefront today, and is slated for further expansion on the back of both the government and the private sector’s intensifying focus on increasing exports and employment within the sector. Although unable to compete with its regional competitors in terms of size and volume, Sri Lanka’s ICT sub-segments – most notably business process outsourcing– have risen to become major employers and economic strengths, with the country targeting niche services in a bid to expand its global IT reach. This chapter contains interviews with Hans Wijayasuriya, CEO, Dialog Axiata; and Mack Gill, CEO, MillenniumIT.

In 2015 and early 2016 the state rolled out a series of reforms and initiatives aimed at shoring up the country’s energy industry, including expanding the national electricity grid, particularly in rural areas; developing new renewable energy sources; opening up the hydrocarbons sector to greater foreign investment; and working to introduce a new fuel pricing formula, which has the potential to improve the economics of the domestic energy business dramatically. These and other changes have been put forward as part of a sector development plan covering 2015-25 conceived by the Ministry of Power and Energy (MoPE). Along with a number of additional medium- and long-term strategies for the sector the MoPE’s efforts are expected to contribute to an uptick in energy sector investment in Sri Lanka. Indeed, the 2015-25 plan is a key step towards achieving the government’s objective of 100% energy self-sufficiency by 2030. This chapter contains an interview with Damitha Kumarasinghe, Director-General, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka.