Collaboration, cooperation, consensus – these words are seldom used when describing the interactions of the eight sovereign nations that make up South Asia. For a variety of reasons, South Asia is considered the least integrated region in the world

With the vaccines against the coronavirus gaining momentum in Sri Lanka and across the globe, Fits Aviation (Pvt.) Limited (FitsAir), Sri Lanka’s sole private sector-owned airline with operations in both cargo and passenger segments, eyes major exp

Sunimalee Madurawala is a Research Economist at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS). Her research interests include health economics, gender and population studies. Madurawala holds a BA (Economics Special), with First Class Honours an

Raw turmeric roots on the shelves of roadside vendors is a frequent sight nowadays. Thanks to the import controls, turmeric now fetches a higher price domestically; prices having soared by as much as 275 percent from Rs. 80 per kilo to Rs. 300 per ki

Despite robust growth and reduced poverty, female labour force participation in Sri Lanka remains at a low 36 percent compared to 75 percent for men —and below international standards.

EY has announced 14 female business leaders selected for the Asia-Pacific class of the 2021 EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women — a programme designed to support women entrepreneurs to become global market leaders and to scale their businesses to reac

Having spent our childhood with Asterix comics, we were not really surprised in encountering our own Getafix (‘Veda Pappa’ in Sinhalised version) in the form of a house constructor turned medic in Kegalle, offering us magic portion in quarter lit

Sri Lanka’s thriving tech industry has proved time and again that it is not about only rising to the top but also taking as many companies as possible up that growth trajectory.

The COVID-19 pandemic which was first reported in Sri Lanka in January 2020 has distressed the country’s labour market. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, with the onset of the pandemic, the labour force participation has decreas

The advent of a locally manufactured tobacco-free cinnamon cigarette into the market stirred much interest and controversy in recent weeks.

It is aptly said that when a woman becomes financially independent she sets off a chain reaction of positive outcomes within her family and wider community. In my long journey of working with women right from the grassroots right up to the higher cor

The first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” by 2030. While achieving the goal of zero poverty is a lofty goal for any government, it is profoundly more so for those of developing countries.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) is a composite index that measures the extent of gender-based gaps in and among countries and tracks progress towards reducing these gaps over time. See Box 1 on calculation of the Gender Ga

Recently Central Bank Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman at a media briefing stated that Sri Lanka was following a market-oriented economy with state guidance, involving some controls and restrictions. He was quoted as saying that such a framework would no

With the recent events unfolding in Sri Lanka, it’s high time that the corporate leaders and thought leaders of the Sri Lankan society take a stand on the gender discrimination that is happening right before our very own eyes. The elephant in the r

Newly elected chief of the Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters’ Association (SLAEA) Aroon Hidramani spoke to Mirror Business recently on how the country’s apparel sector is gearing up to tackle 2021 after a tumultuous year marred by a global pandemic.

Two thousand twenty-one will be a difficult year. For most economies – not just for Sri Lanka. One does not have to be a macroeconomist to predict that. This year carries a legacy from 2020 that has brought unprecedented economic shocks as the cons

Two thousand twenty-one—it’s finally here! I think we can all agree that the last year was both the longest and fastest year ever. One thing we will all remember from 2020 is how work and life collided and converged in an unprecedented way, makin

The Sri Lankan authorities have been able to achieve stable macro-economic indicators despite the severe economic dislocation caused by the pandemic. Inflation has remained well within the 4-6 percent target range and the improvement of the trade def

International migrants have historically been a driving force of the Sri Lankan economy and during the COVID-19 pandemic their remittances have helped boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

Growth and development come hand-in-hand with better governance and application of law and order. Ill-considered strategies result in leakages that will see us meandering in this constant state of a ‘developing nation’ – a poster-child of disap

For the 10th consecutive year, MTI Consulting (via their Corporate Finance practice), in partnership with Daily FT, Daily Mirror and Sunday Times, has concluded the MTI CEO Business Outlook Study, collectively outlining the Sri Lankan business commun

While no one is immune to contracting COVID-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified specific groups that are at higher risks of becoming seriously ill. One such group is those suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including

As the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) looms large in about a month’s time, the debate on its controversial Resolution 30/1 of 2015, which the ‘Yahapalana’ government co-owned in an unprecedented and unwise move, has resumed w

Farmers, hoteliers and homestay owners, fishers, producers of the famous Kanthale milk curd, Ayurveda healers, fruit growers, developers, safari jeep drivers, local dwellers—all derive their livelihoods from shared natural resources offered by the

In just three months since we released our last forecast in October, recorded COVID-19 deaths have doubled to over two million, as new waves have lifted infections past previous peaks in many countries. In these same three months, multiple vaccines h

From a foot-operated handwashing machine invented by a nine-year old boy in Kenya, to a new “sky park” opened in Bangkok on an disused railway line that could serve as a model for greening abandoned spaces, to the roll-out of robots in health cen

High levels of inequality impede sustainable growth and development of a country. Sri Lanka made impressive strides to reach an upper-middle-income country (UMIC) status in July 2019, only to slip back a year later. The COVID-19 crisis, amid growing

The motivation for Special Economic Zones, also commonly referred to as SEZs, stems from an innovative idea: to overcome distortions in policy and infrastructure constraints in domestic economies.

The unprecedented disruptions of COVID-19 are causing a geopolitical reset — and as the global order is redrawn, small emerging market economies like Sri Lanka are vulnerable to the fallout. Sri Lanka straddles vital shipping routes and is at the c