ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Colombo International Maritime Conference this year has aimed at taking the island nation as one of best logistic hubs with a fundamental shift in the current operational model, while improving the efficiency.

The goal includes increasing the contribution from the ports and logistics to 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 2.5 percent.

Situated along the main East-West East Asia–Europe shipping lane just 6 to 10 nautical miles off the southern tip of South Asia, Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo has transformed into the premier maritime transshipment engine of the Indian Ocean.

Handling millions of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, the port has consistently climbed the global ranks, entering the top 20 container ports worldwide, by serving as an indispensable feeder hub for the Indian subcontinent, processing nearly 80 percent of its total container volumes as transshipment cargo bound for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives.

Equipped with deep-water berths capable of handling ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) exceeding 20,000 TEUs and supported by major terminal expansion projects like the East Container Terminal (ECT) and West Container Terminal (WCT-1), Colombo is evolving beyond traditional vessel-to-vessel transfers.

As global supply chains prioritize resilience, speed, and decarbonization, the port is establishing itself as a vital logistics center offering multi-country consolidation, bonded warehousing, and advanced marine services directly serving global international trade.

“The amount of growth and potential that is here in Colombo in Sri Lanka, as a port by comparison around the world, is immense, absolutely immense.” U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Laura DiBella who was the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

“And there is so much that can be done. And the fact that you continue to succeed again and again and again in the face of incredible conflict is a testament to really where you can go.”

“So, we want to see more, we want to promote competition. Competition is what we are all about. That’s what the Federal Maritime Commission has as far as its program.”

“We monitor a competitive parallel competition program. We don’t pay attention to antitrust issues. We pay attention to how if there’s any cartel activity going on,”

“If there’s any great exploitation, if there’s any sort of surcharges that have significant effects on the cargo themselves, which ultimately gets absorbed by the … consumers. So that’s what we are looking for.”

As global trade routes grapple with ongoing Middle Eastern disruptions, soaring freight overheads, and heightened vulnerabilities at critical maritime choke points, the strategic weight of the Indian Ocean has never been more pronounced.

The eighth edition of the CIMC under the theme “Building a world around us” saw gathering of over 500 regional policymakers, terminal operators, global shipping lines, and development agencies to address a vital economic imperative: transforming Sri Lanka from a traditional container transshipment junction into a modern, fully integrated logistics powerhouse.

A central focus of the three-day conference was the fundamental shift required in Sri Lanka’s operational model.

Industry experts and speakers emphasized that standard transshipment, simply moving containers from vessel to vessel, is no longer sufficient to sustain long-term economic growth or retain market share.

Discussions prioritized the evolution of local port operations toward comprehensive free port zones and bonded logistics centers.

Procurement Capacity  

“One key thing if the government wants to fix, I think we can very quickly move ahead with implementation, is procurement capacity.” Amali Rajapaksa. World bank’s Senior Infrastructure Specialist, South Asia told the forum on the second day.

“And no matter how much planning you do, how much leveling you do, if you don’t fix the procurement capacity, hitting the government right now, you’re not going to get anything done and that is what is really standing in the way right now.

“And for infrastructure organizations, 90% is procurement. And imagine how much you can get done if you were to fix that.”

By leveraging free port frameworks, international logistics providers can establish regional distribution hubs directly adjacent to quay walls.

Panelists highlighted that the developing capabilities in multi-country consolidation, transit value addition, inventory processing, and bonded re-export operations will allow Sri Lanka to capture higher margins per container handled while embedding its ports deeper into global supply chains.

Port capacity expansion and infrastructure modernization were highlighted as essential pillars for supporting this strategic pivot.

The conference evaluated Sri Lanka’s ambitious port expansion trajectory, which targets a nearly 100 percent increase in new container capacity by the end of 2027 and aims to double total capacity across the Colombo and Hambantota port complexes by 2040.

Delegations reviewed the operational rollout of deep-water assets, including the East Container Terminal and West Container Terminal.

Key priorities included resolving quayside bottlenecks, streamlining yard crane scheduling, and ensuring terminal depths can seamlessly accommodate ultra-large container vessels exceeding 24,000 TEUs without incurring costly off-dock waiting times.

The CIMC 2026 also placed heavy emphasis on digital technology transition and administrative reform to complement physical infrastructure upgrades.

Logistics analysts pointed out that modern trade demands frictionless electronic documentation and automated workflows.

Sessions focused on accelerating the implementation of a single-window digital Port Community System, integrating electronic bills of lading, and utilizing artificial intelligence to optimize berth allocation and predictive traffic management.

In addition, international development partners, including representatives from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, outlined necessary policy reforms to modernize customs procedures and strengthen cybersecurity frameworks protecting critical digital infrastructure.

The conference also gave priority to strengthening ancillary marine services, which are critical to offering a complete, end-to-end service package for vessels navigating the East-West trade corridor.

Detailed discussions covered the expansion of regional ship bunkering infrastructure, specifically the transition toward low-sulfur fuels and green bunkering options like liquefied natural gas and methanol to help global fleets meet decarbonization targets.

Furthermore, expanding marine engineering capabilities, ship repair services, and dry-docking capacities in Colombo and Trincomalee was highlighted as a high-value opportunity to capture routine vessel maintenance business.

The CIMC 2026 underscored Sri Lanka’s unique positioning to serve as the gateway to South Asia’s surging trade volumes, particularly as neighboring India accelerates toward becoming the world’s third-largest economy by 2030.

The summit concluded with a multi-party panel that challenged Sri Lanka’s legislative leadership to maintain regulatory stability, update the national maritime legal framework, and foster a predictable environment for foreign direct investment.

By aligning physical port expansion with digital innovation, free port services, and clear public policy, Sri Lanka aims to secure its position as the premier maritime and logistics hub of the Indian Ocean. (Colombo/September 13/2026)

Sri Lanka’s most effective craft campaign of the year may not have come from a trade fair, export pavilion or government promotion. In recent weeks, Miss World Sri Lanka Prathibha Liyanarachchi, a technical designer and University of Moratuwa graduate, has taken a distinctly Sri Lankan visual identity onto the international stage.

That exposure is hard to measure, but it shows how powerful heritage can become when made contemporary, visible and relevant. There could be hundreds of young creatives doing similar work if given the right platforms and opportunities.

That makes the Government’s renewed attention to handloom timely.

Speaking recently at The Art of Weaving, the Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development described handloom not as a declining heritage industry, but as an “industry of the future”, calling for product categories beyond the saree and setting an export ambition of US$100 million or more.

The direction is encouraging, but it raises a harder question: after decades of programmes and preservation, what actually needs to change?

For Selyna Peiris and Robert Meeder, co-founders of The Institute for Future Creations (TIFC), the answer lies in Sri Lanka’s creative economy. The phrase has circulated long enough to risk becoming development vocabulary: broad enough for everyone to support, but vague enough for nobody to own. Five years after Sri Lanka helped sponsor a UN resolution on the creative economy, the challenge is defining what it means economically.

“Craft gives us something very tangible around which to start building that economy,” says Peiris.

“We have makers, materials, knowledge and businesses already producing. The opportunity is to stop seeing them simply as beneficiaries of preservation programmes and start seeing them as part of a contemporary productive economy.”

Handloom, batik, jewellery, ceramics, wood, fibre and other material traditions can create jobs, intellectual property, innovation and exports, but not if development is treated simply as producing more. As Meeder argues, “The answer isn’t necessarily more handloom stations or more looms. It is about connecting the capabilities we already have to markets and partners prepared to pay a better price for a better product.”

That thinking shaped earlier work behind Creative Sri Lanka 2030, developed with EDB and later supported through an EU-led matchmaking programme.

Instead of stopping at training, six Sri Lankan brands were mentored, matched with international designers and secured export orders from Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the UK. EDB is now scaling the approach through an umbrella model that links established exporters with 40 to 50 SMEs, artisans, and designers.

The Chamber of Ethical Lifestyle Enterprises (CELE) grew from the relationships created through that programme, bringing together businesses that realised many challenges could not be solved alone.

It reflects a new kind of industry chamber for enterprises navigating international markets, sustainability demands, technology and collaboration.

A small business cannot run production, track regulation, attend fairs, find designers and buyers, and maintain overseas networks at once. A functioning creative economy needs shared infrastructure, and organisations such as CELE can bridge entrepreneurs, government, knowledge partners and markets.

That infrastructure matters as international markets change. Europe’s emerging Digital Product Passport framework will require more product information and traceability.

For large exporters, this means investment; for resource-constrained MSMEs, the implications are more serious.

If compliance becomes costlier while craft remains concentrated in low-value, souvenir-like products, smaller producers risk being pushed further from export markets. The answer is not only compliance, but moving products up the value chain.

“Small does not have to mean low value,” says Peiris. “A craft business does not necessarily need to become a factory. It needs the design, technology, market intelligence and partnerships that allow what it makes to become more valuable, while ensuring that value reaches the people and communities behind it.”

This also demands a rethink of creative education. Sri Lanka does not necessarily need more design graduates leaving university, assuming success means launching another fashion label.

It needs hybrid creative product designers and innovators who can move between a weaving community, a manufacturer, a new material, an informal craft value chain and an international market. These people already exist.

What is missing is an ecosystem that recognises them, supports them and gives them industries worth transforming.

Nor should Europe be the only horizon. India offers a vast neighbouring ecosystem of craft knowledge, materials, designers, technology and increasingly sophisticated consumers.

Greater exchange between Indian and Sri Lankan experts could turn proximity into an advantage, building regional knowledge and commercial relationships rather than looking instinctively west for every market and solution.

There are also more radical possibilities around regenerative materials, agriculture, traceability and the reconnection of land with product.

Sri Lanka once had more interconnected local fibre and handloom systems, including cotton cultivation.

New experiments suggest how those relationships might be reconsidered, not nostalgically, but through design, technology, green investment and higher-value production.

TIFC is exploring interventions with partners around these intersections, asking how materials, makers, designers, technology and markets can be connected from the beginning.

For Meeder, this is why the search for another Sri Lankan “sleeping giant” may be misguided.

“I don’t think there is one giant sector waiting for someone to discover it. We have hundreds of capabilities, materials, businesses, and knowledge systems. We need to identify what works, stop endlessly repeating what doesn’t, and put serious support behind the things that can create real value.”

That may be the best way to interpret the Minister’s US$100 million handloom ambition.

The objective should not simply be more production, designers or projects, but better products, stronger businesses, hybrid creative talent, smarter investment and markets prepared to pay for Sri Lankan knowledge and originality.

Sri Lanka has spent long enough describing its creative economy. Craft gives it an obvious place to start building one, not as heritage protected from change, but as knowledge capable of creating economic value.

The country has proved it can make things exceptionally well.

The next challenge is owning more of the ideas, materials, intellectual property and value behind what it makes. That is when the creative economy stops being a phrase and starts becoming an economy. (Colombo/Sep12/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has sold 120 billion rupees in 2030, 2034 and 2037 bonds, data from the public debt management office showed.

All offered 70 billion rupees of 01 August 2030 (LKB00530H016) bonds were sold at an average yield of 10.83 percent.

All offered 50 billion rupees of 15 October 2034 (LKB00934J156) bonds were sold at an average yield of 11.96 percent.

All offered 30 billion rupees of 01 July 2037 (LKB01237G019) bonds were sold at an average yield of 12.08 percent.

All 3 bonds are available on tap. (Colombo/Sep11/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange closed up on Friday trading, CSE data showed, with the benchmark All Share Price Index moving up 0.12 percent.

The ASPI was up 25.00 points at 21,382.74, while the more liquid S&P SL20 was up 0.19 percent, or 11.16 points, at 6,015.08.

Positive contributors to the ASPI were Haycarb (up 5.63 percent at 211.25 rupees), Cargills (Ceylon) (up 2.07 percent at 689.00 rupees), Sampath Bank (up 0.36 percent at 140.00 rupees), and LOLC Holdings (up 1.09 percent at 465.75 rupees).

Ceylinco Holdings (down 2.34 percent at 2,856.50 rupees), John Keells Holdings (down 0.52 percent at 19.30 rupees), Commercial Bank of Ceylon (down 0.24 percent at 204.50 rupees), and Hemas Holdings (down 0.64 percent at 31.10 rupees) were top negative contributors.

Market turnover was 333 million rupees. Capital goods led turnover with 89.85 million rupees.

Galle Face Capital Partners announced it received in-principle approval from the Colombo Stock Exchange for the listing of up to 4,060,218 new ordinary shares by way of a scrip dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2026.

The Annual General Meeting has been scheduled for September 23, 2026, with the XD date set for September 24, 2026, subject to shareholder approval, and a record date of September 25, 2026.

Shares of Galle Face Capital Partners closed down 2.45 percent at 19.90 rupees. (Colombo/September11/2026)

Fitch Ratings – Fitch Ratings has assigned Sampath Bank PLC’s (AA-(lka)/Stable) proposed Sri Lankan rupee-denominated Basel III-compliant subordinated debentures of up to LKR10 billion an expected National Long-Term Rating of ‘A(EXP)(lka)’.

The proposed debentures, which will mature in five and seven years, will be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The bank plans to use the proceeds to supplement its Tier 2 capital base to maintain capital adequacy compliance as well as to support loan book growth.

The bank expects the proposed debentures to qualify as Basel III-compliant regulatory Tier 2 capital. The debentures include a non-viability clause that states they will convert to ordinary voting shares upon the occurrence of a trigger event, as determined by the Governing Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The final rating is subject to the receipt of final documentation conforming to information already received.

Key Rating Drivers
Fitch rates the proposed Basel III Tier 2 debentures two notches below the bank’s National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA-(lka)’. This reflects Fitch’s baseline notching for loss severity for this type of debt and our expectations of poor recoveries. There is no additional notching for non-performance risks, as the proposed notes do not incorporate going-concern loss-absorption features.

Sampath’s National Long-Term Rating is used as the anchor rating for this instrument because the rating reflects the bank’s standalone financial strength and best indicates the risk of the bank becoming non-viable.

Fitch affirmed Sampath’s ratings on 17 August 2026. See our latest rating action commentary, Fitch Affirms Sampath Bank at ‘AA-(lka)’; Outlook Stable , for the key rating drivers and sensitivities.

Rating Sensitivities

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade
A downgrade of the bank’s National Long-Term Rating will lead to a downgrade of the expected subordinated debt rating.

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade
An upgrade of the bank’s National Long-Term Rating will lead to an upgrade of the expected subordinated debt rating.

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has sold 8,000 million rupees of treasury bills offered on tap at an average rate of 9.24 percent, the public debt management office said, bringing the total of bills sold this week to 88 billion rupees.

Total market subscription was 8,000 million rupees.

The debt office sold a 6-month bill at 9.24 percent.

On Wednesday (9) the debt office raised 80 billion rupees of 3, 6 and 12 month bills.

Read more
Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields dip across longer terms, Rs80bn sold

The 3-month and 6-month bills were later offered on tap. (Colombo/Sep11/2026)