The mixed economy of Sri Lanka was worth $84 billion by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 and $296.959 billion by purchasing power parity (PPP). The country had experienced an annual growth of 6.4 percent from 2003 to 2012, well above its regional peers. This growth was driven by the growth of non-tradable sectors, which the World Bank warned to be both unsustainable and unequitable. Growth has slowed since then. In 2019 with an income per capita of 13,620 PPP Dollars or 3,852 (2019) nominal US dollars, Sri Lanka was re-classified as a lower middle income nation with the population around 22 million (2021) by the World Bank from a previous upper middle income status.
The Western Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Western Province is the most densely populated province in the country and is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte as well as to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is the monetary authority of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1950 under the Monetary Law Act No.58 of 1949 (MLA) and in terms of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act No. 16 of 2023, the CBSL is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal. The Central Bank has administrative and financial autonomy. The CBSL has two main boards in operation, namely, the Governing Board (GB) and the Monetary Policy Board (MPB).
Invest Hong Kong is the department of the Hong Kong SAR Government responsible for Foreign Direct Investment, supporting overseas businesses to set up and expand in Hong Kong. Founded on 1 July 2000, its first Director General was Michael Rowse.
Port City Colombo, is a multi-services special economic zone located in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is currently under construction on reclaimed land adjacent to the Galle Face Green. The land reclamation work had been completed as of January 2019. In 2017, the cost was slated to be US$ 15 billion. Port City Colombo is a multi-billion-dollar FDI-funded Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The Hong Kong national netball team represents Hong Kong in international netball tournaments. They compete in the biannual Asian Netball Championship. They are currently ranked 33rd in the world.
Fintech, a clipped compound of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. The use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing, borrowing services, and cryptocurrency are examples of technologies designed to make financial services more accessible to the general public. Fintech companies consist of both startups and established financial institutions and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services provided by existing financial companies.
Lakshman Arjuna Mahendran is a Sri Lankan-born Singaporean economist and banker. He is a former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), having been appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015 and served until the end of his term on 30 June 2016. He was the former Managing Director of HSBC Private Bank, Chief Investment Officer of Emirates NBD as well as chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. Mahendran is currently residing in Singapore, which has refused to extradite him on a request from Sri Lanka routed through interpol.
Deshamanya Weligamage Don Lakshman popularly known as Professor W. D. Lakshman is a Sri Lankan economist, professor, lecturer, academic and author who also served as the 15th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and current chairman of the Monetary Board of the CBSL. He is regarded as one of the prominent economists of the country mainly well known for his immense contributions to policy related activities and for being specialised in the field of Economics.
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is a financial hub in Astana, Kazakhstan that officially launched on July 5, 2018.
Fintech Valley Vizag is an initiative of the Government of Andhra Pradesh to promote business infrastructure in the state, and attract investors and multinational corporations to set up offices. Fintech Valley was founded by N. Chandrababu Naidu then Chief Minister of the Andhra Pradesh state in December 2016 with the goal of enhancing Visakhapatnam City as a financial technology capital in Andhra Pradesh.
Tenity is a startup incubator, accelerator and early-stage VC founded in 2016 in Zürich focused primarily on Fintech, Insurtech, Regtech and Deeptech. It provides incubation and acceleration programs helping startups to connect with corporates, experts, mentors, and investors for early stage venture and late stage venture investing, and collaboration opportunities. The company currently has operating hubs in Zürich, Singapore, Madrid, and Tallinn.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka bond scandal which is also referred as CBSL bond scam was a financial laundering scam which happened on 27 February 2015 and caused losses of more than US$ 11 million to the nation. The bond scam is also regarded as the largest reported financial scam in Sri Lanka despite the country's reputation of having a solid visionary banking system over the years. This was a major blow to the Sri Lankan economy and was also major setback to the newly elected government under the leadership of Maithripala Sirisena which commenced its first term as of 8 January 2015. Arjuna Mahendran was appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka replacing Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
Christopher Hui Ching-yu is a Hong Kong politician and government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.
The Wireless Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is a non-profit trade association based in Hong Kong to promote the development, usage and awareness of wireless technology applications in Hong Kong; and to enhance communication and partnership between different types of companies in the wireless technology industry.
Douglas W. Arner is a Kerry Holdings Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) is the largest FinTech festival in the world and a knowledge platform for the global FinTech community.
Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL) is a Think-Tank attached to the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong(HKU).
P. Nandalal Weerasinghe is a Sri Lankan economist and banker who is also currently serving as the 17th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. A career officer in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, serving as its chief economist and senior deputy governor. He has also served as an alternative executive director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC representing the countries such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India and Bangladesh from January 2010 to August 2012. He has also previously acted as a chairman of the monetary policy committee and foreign reserve management committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Airwallex is a multinational financial technology company offering financial services and software as a service (SaaS). Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia and currently based in Singapore, the company is a financial technology platform providing cross-border payments and financial services to businesses through a proprietary banking network and its API. It also provides services and products such as business accounts, expense cards, and payroll, among others. It was Australia's third technology unicorn company overall. With a valuation of US$5.5 billion, as of 2022, the company processed $50 billion in annualized transactions.
