News & market updates

Sri Lanka was ranked No. 50 on Travel And Tour World's Top 50 Food Destinations for 2026. TTW highlighted Sri Lanka's aromatic spices and regional offerings from Colombo street food and coastal seafood to tea-inspired hill-country cuisine.

Medihelp Hospitals won three Gold and three Silver Awards at the National Convention on Quality and Productivity (NCQP) 2026. The awards recognise staff-led quality improvement projects across patient safety, operational efficiency and clinical processes that were implemented across the group.

Sysco LABS renewed its role as Strategic Partner of the AmCham Internship Bootcamp 2026, supporting mentorship and internship opportunities that provide final-year university students with a 'Fast Track to Corporate' experience.

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will hold Scale Up 2.0, a National SME Forum on Aug 11 at the Taj Samudra in Colombo to connect SMEs with buyers, financial institutions, policymakers and support organisations to address market access, finance and value‑chain challenges; registrations are open.

DFCC Bank PLC has signed an MoU with Co-Energi to provide customers with energy audits, technical advisory and tailored sustainable financing for energy-efficiency projects. The partnership aims to help businesses lower operating costs and boost long-term resilience.

DFCC Bank held its annual Buddhanuwandana Poson Bhakthi Gee observances in Colombo and Kandy, livestreaming the programmes and hosting a Dansala at Kandy's Sri Dalada Maligawa to engage employees, customers and the public.

Visa hosted the Sri Lanka Cybersecurity Conclave on 25 June 2026, convening banks, government and regulators to address AI-driven cyber threats, fraud prevention and Visa's security solutions. Participants stressed threat intelligence, real-time response and information sharing.

Hayleys Fentons was recognised among Sri Lanka's Most Outstanding Mom-Inclusive Workplaces at the Mom Leaders Conference 2026; 10 employees from the organisation were honoured as Mom Leaders for their leadership and contribution.

Hikvision Sri Lanka held the Shaping Intelligence – Smart Building Summit 2026, showcasing AIoT building-management and security solutions and recording 157 participants.

Colombo Stock Exchange's ASPI fell 0.40% (86.60 pts) to 21,678.96 and the S&P SL20 dropped 0.33% to 6,057.66, with market turnover Rs194.1m as banks weighed on the index. Alpha Fire Services announced a proposed acquisition of Icon Engineering, projecting group revenue above Rs1bn, ~30% higher profitability and foreign currency inflows from Maldives projects.

Associated Motorways (Private) Limited (AMW), Yamaha's official distributor in Sri Lanka, opened Yamaha's flagship Concept Showroom in Borella, consolidating motorcycles, scooters, outboard motors, parts and merchandise into a modern retail space.

HyperCon 2026, a two-day gaming, esports and digital entertainment convention organized by NXL Entertainment and TRIOSLK, will be held 1-2 August 2026 at the Royal MAS Arena and RCU Skills Centre in Colombo, projected to attract 4,000+ on-site visitors and 100,000+ online viewers.

Saegis Campus and the Event Management Association, in partnership with Pearson UK, launched a Diploma in International Event Management & Marketing Studies to provide industry-integrated education for event professionals. The programme offers hands-on experience at live events organised by EMA member companies to build practical skills and industry connections.

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has launched Scale Up 2.0, its National SME Forum for 2026, to be held on 11 August 2026 in Colombo to connect SMEs with buyers, financial institutions, policymakers and support organisations. The forum will feature sessions on market access, standards and financing and include B2B networking.

SLTPB held B2B roadshows and networking events in Surat, Rajkot and Ahmedabad on 15, 17 and 19 June 2026, bringing together 48 Sri Lankan travel firms and 550+ travel agents. The events coincided with FitsAir launching direct Ahmedabad–Sri Lanka flights on 19 June 2026, enhancing connectivity from Gujarat.

Sri Lanka's high-level delegation, led by Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, participated in the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva (6–7 July), reaffirming the country's commitment to international cooperation, digital equity and a fair, secure global digital order.

TRCSL Director General Bandula Herath presented Sri Lanka's digital regulatory reforms at WSIS Forum 2026 in Geneva, highlighting new spectrum auction rules, infrastructure-sharing regulations, broadband QoS standards, updated provider licensing and strengthened SIM registration to boost transparency, investment and connectivity.

EDB, IFC and the EU ran the 7th Provincial ExpoNavigator Programme in Batticaloa on 9–10 June 2026 to boost export readiness of nearly 100 Eastern Province SMEs. The two-day clinic provided advisory, quality/certification guidance and finance linkages to expand the regional exporter base under SLEEI/NEDP.

Government will present the Second Reading and Budget speech for the 2027 Appropriation Bill in Parliament on 12 November; the Bill will be gazetted on 18 September and have its First Reading on 7 October. The draft Bill goes to Cabinet on 14 September and the Committee Stage debate runs 21 November–14 December.

Sri Lanka Institute of Directors will host the Sri Lanka Corporate Director Summit 2026 on 22 July at Cinnamon Grand Colombo with keynote speakers Binod K. Chaudhary and Dillip Rajakarier. They will discuss board governance, global expansion and supply-chain resilience for future-ready Sri Lankan boards.

AmCham Sri Lanka led a delegation to the AmChams of Asia Pacific Washington Doorknock (21–24 June 2026) to lobby US policymakers on the US–Sri Lanka bilateral trade agreement, Section 301 issues affecting exporters (notably apparel), and to seek US investment and development finance support.

The Government raised company and society registration and administration fees effective 6 July 2026; private limited company registration fee increased to Rs.5,200 from Rs.4,600 and public limited to Rs.26,400 from Rs.23,000. Annual return and various other company/society filing fees were also increased.

MediaFest 2026 brought together Sri Lankan and Indian media leaders who urged 'trust-first' journalism and using AI to strengthen verification while safeguarding editorial independence; India's High Commissioner pledged support for journalist exchanges and institutional partnerships.

Union Assurance PLC (UAL.N0000) was named a Celent Model Insurer for Customer Experience in 2026 for its Connected Life Initiative. The programme, driven by the Clicklife app and AI Suwamaga+, has 100,000+ downloads, 69% straight-through automated underwriting and cut claims handling time by over 80% to ~5 minutes.

Hatton National Bank (HNB.N0000) has been named Title Sponsor of the Ceylon Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs Fashion Week & International Summit 2026, to be held 16–20 July at Cinnamon Life, Colombo. HNB says the sponsorship supports women's entrepreneurship, SME development and financial inclusion.

Foreign holdings in Sri Lanka rupee bonds rose by a net US$97.1m in the week to July 9, lifting foreign holdings to Rs168,895m — the highest since Aug 10, 2023. The inflow coincided with the rupee recovering to about 330/USD and a 100bp May policy rate hike by the Central Bank.

Sri Lanka's foreign reserves fell 6.2% to US$6,450m at end-June 2026. The central bank net-bought US$70.5m in June and US$556.4m in H1 2026, but the decline could pressure IMF reserve targets and future disbursements.

ADB lowers developing Asia and Pacific growth to 4.9% for 2026 (from 5.5% in 2025), a 0.2 percentage point downgrade from April due to prolonged energy-market disruptions. It raises regional inflation to 4.3% for this year and warns of risks from tighter financial conditions, supply-chain strains and higher fertilizer/commodity costs.

ADB retains Sri Lanka's 2026 GDP growth forecast at 4%, lowers 2027 to 4.0% from 4.2% citing the recent 100 basis-point rate hike, and raises 2026 inflation to 6% due to domestic fuel price rises and electricity tariff increases.

Government will implement a phased, FATF-aligned AML regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers and has proposed the SEC as prudential regulator, while cryptocurrencies remain unrecognised and banks/cards are barred from facilitating crypto transactions. Talks to enable PayPal inward receipts continue and some banks already offer Wise/Payoneer for cross-border receipts.