News & market updates

Sysco LABS Sri Lanka ran Purpose Month 2025 community programs, distributing 300 hampers (Share a Meal Phase 18), certifying 25 Project GLO facilitators across three universities, delivering Sysco LABS Academy workshops to 30 A/L IT students, and serving meals to 150 children.

Writer Corporation has launched local subsidiary Writer Business Services Pvt. Ltd. in Sri Lanka and will open a secure records and information storage facility in Seeduwa, Colombo. It will provide information management, cybersecurity and integrated payments services to banks, government and large enterprises.

HiAcuity and Radicle Solutions launched HierTalent, an AI-powered recruitment platform designed to speed and automate hiring. The platform automates résumé parsing, assessments and interview analysis to give HR teams real-time visibility and reduce administrative work for Sri Lankan firms.

Dialog Enterprise (Dialog Axiata PLC) partnered with the National Chamber of Exporters to host a digital marketing seminar for exporters, attended by over 100 NCE members to strengthen digital capabilities and AI-driven marketing strategies.

Vietnam opened its 14th Party Congress, targeting average annual GDP growth of 10% or higher for 2026–2030 and a per capita GDP of around $8,500 by 2030, prioritising technology-led, private-sector-driven and green economic transformation.

Colombo bourse opened the week down: ASPI fell 0.44% to 23,627.87 with foreign investors net sellers of ~Rs.697.9m and turnover ~Rs.4.7bn. Top negatives included DOCK, COMB, NTB, SAMP and SPEN, while ACL, Tokyo Cement, DIAL and REEF saw notable turnover/interest.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reviewed 2025 digital-economy projects and 2026 plans, prioritising a cashless economy with initiatives on QR payments, cloud infrastructure, national high-speed broadband, digital ID and GovTech implementation.

IMF projects global growth at 3.3% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027, a small upward revision for 2026 from the October WEO. It expects inflation to ease to 3.8% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027, cites AI-driven investment as a tailwind and warns of downside risks from trade tensions, productivity shocks and high debt.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake put a cashless economy at the centre of the 2026 digital agenda as the Budget allocates Rs. 25.5 billion to digital-economy initiatives. The funding targets scaling GovPay and government cloud, a national digital ID, broadband expansion, QR/e-payment incentives (waiving service charges on government e-payments from Jan 2026), and support for data centres, AI and digital governance.

IMF projects global growth will hold at 3.3% this year (up 0.2 percentage points since October), driven by US/China and a surge in IT/AI investment; it warns concentrated tech investment, rising leverage and potential equity repricing pose notable downside risks.

Mogo Studios released the trailer for The Secret of the Moonstone, billed as Sri Lanka’s first fully produced animated feature film, with a worldwide theatrical release scheduled for 2026 and submissions to international festivals underway.

TikTok removed 204,534,932 videos worldwide in Q3 2025 (about 0.7% of uploads) and removed 118,618,399 fake accounts. 186,608,081 videos were taken down via automated detection, the proactive removal rate was 99.3%, and 94.8% of flagged content was removed within 24 hours.

ICC Sri Lanka held a seminar on the new VAT tax invoice format due 1 April 2026, finding businesses unready and urging the IRD to clarify mandatory fields, allow adequate transition time, and prioritise guidance over strict enforcement to avoid compliance costs and disruption.

PayMedia (Pvt) Ltd appointed Dhammika Dasa as COO effective 18 November 2025; he brings over 27 years' IT and financial-sector experience including senior roles at People’s Bank, KPMG Technologies and Aitken Spence to lead operations and digital transformation.

SLIIT Business School hosted the 4th International Conference on Sustainable and Digital Business (ICSDB 2025) as a hybrid event, convening global academics, industry and policymakers to discuss sustainability and digital innovation and awarding the ICSDB Excellence Awards.

Marlbo Trading has added Teledyne FLIR thermal imaging cameras to its product portfolio to provide advanced inspection and safety solutions for buildings, industry and emergency services.

Vietnam will hold its 14th Party Congress from January 14; the economy grew 8.01% in 2025 to an estimated US$514 billion. Party leader To Lam urged prioritising macroeconomic stability and inflation control and promoted science- and technology-driven growth, digital transformation and an international financial centre.

TikTok will be FIFA’s first-ever Preferred Platform under a global agreement through 2026, giving TikTok expanded official FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage, behind-the-scenes access, creator programmes and interactive fan features.

SLT‑MOBITEL, in partnership with Fintelex, launched Yaya Agro, an all‑in‑one smart agriculture app offering AI chatbot assistance, location‑based weather, expert agronomy tips and an integrated marketplace to help Sri Lankan farmers improve productivity and access buyers.

Colombo Stock Exchange rose 0.43% as the ASPI gained 100.90 points to 23,708.70, led by Dialog Axiata and gains in banks, capital goods and telcos; market turnover increased to Rs9.2bn.

SLT-MOBITEL has partnered with MegaPay (Pay&Go) to offer Mobitel eSIM onboarding via 1,000+ Pay&Go kiosks, the Pay&Go app and website, reaching a combined monthly user base of 600,000. The service is available 24/7, expanding Mobitel's nationwide digital distribution.

Cloud Solutions International held the Spark Tank final pitch, showcasing employee-developed healthcare solutions and naming winning teams being positioned as potential independent ventures. The event was live-streamed to Saudi Arabia and finalists received prizes and recognition.

Colombo Stock Exchange closed flat as profit taking followed the previous day's record high; ASPI was down 0.71 points at 23,607 and S&P SL20 fell 0.12% to 6,494. Market turnover was lower at 4.9 million rupees, with Dialog up and John Keells among the top decliners.

U.S. Embassy-supported 'GeoAI for Disaster Resilience' program is offering Geospatial AI fellowships to Sri Lankan state officials and undergraduates, with applications due Jan 16. The ADRIMP-run initiative (with University of Colombo, Ministry of Digital Economy and Disaster Management Center) provides ArcGIS Pro access, mentorship and hands-on GeoAI pilot projects.

Alphabet briefly hit a $4 trillion market valuation as investor sentiment improved on its AI focus and Gemini deals. Google Cloud revenue jumped 34% in Q3, with a sales-contract backlog of $155 billion.

ODI Global and CEPA launched the report 'Sustaining Transformative Growth in Sri Lanka (2025–2030)' on 8 Jan 2026, offering a six-point policy roadmap to lock in macro stability and drive transformative growth through 2025–2030. The study notes renewed growth and lower inflation but high poverty, and highlights priorities including supply-chain integration, factor-market reforms and targeted sector policies with opportunities in tourism, digital, niche manufacturing and agriculture.

Dialog Axiata PLC announced a strategic partnership with UnionPay International to enable Dialog Finance PLC to offer expanded digital payment products and wider merchant acceptance, supporting e‑commerce, travel, retail and MSME cashless payments in Sri Lanka.

Metalabs won the Silver Award in the Client Implementations (Enterprise) category at the 2025 ICSDB Excellence Awards for its mAudit compliance platform. mAudit automates audit and compliance workflows and supports frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR.

Experts at a CEPA/ODI panel urged Sri Lanka to stick with the IMF program and invest in tourism-related infrastructure to sustain recovery, warning the rebound is fragile after Cyclone Ditwah caused about $4.1bn in damage (around 4% of GDP).