Transport in Sri Lanka is based on its road network, which is centred on the country's commercial capital Colombo. A rail network handles a portion of Sri Lanka's transport needs. There are navigable waterways, harbours and three international airports: in Katunayake, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Colombo, in Hambantota, and in Jaffna.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.
Hambantota is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka.
The Southern Expressway is Sri Lanka's first expressway. The 222-kilometre-long (138 mi) highway links the Sri Lankan capital Colombo with Galle, Matara and Hambantota, major cities in the south of the island.
The Sri Lanka Railway Department is Sri Lanka's railway owner and primary operator. As part of the Sri Lankan government, it is overseen by the Ministry of Transport. Founded in 1858 as the Ceylon Government Railway, it operates the nation's railways and links Colombo with other population centres and tourist destinations.
The Port of Colombo Sinhala: කොළඹ වරාය, Tamil: கொழும்பு துறைமுகம் is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an important terminal in Asia due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. During the 1980s, the port underwent rapid modernization with the installation of cranes, gantries and other modern-day terminal requirements.
The Hambantota International Port is a deep water port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, notable for its 99-year lease to China Merchant Ports. Opened in 2010, it is Sri Lanka's second largest port, after Colombo. In 2020, the port handled 1.8 million tonnes of cargo.
Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is the eldest son of former President and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and a member of parliament. He was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 2020 to 2022.
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as CEYPETCO (CPC), is a Sri Lankan oil and gas company. Established in 1962 and wholly owned by the Government of Sri Lanka, it is the largest oil company in Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1961 by nationalisation and expropriation of all private oil companies in Sri Lanka at the time of its formation. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development headquartered in Colombo. It is the largest government owned company in the country, with an operational profit of Rs. 33.9 billion for the financial year 2020.
China–Sri Lanka relations are the bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China and Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. There is a Chinese embassy located in Colombo and a Sri Lankan embassy situated in Beijing. Historical and cultural ties between the two countries extend back hundreds of years.
The Rajapaksa family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) (Sinhala: මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, romanized: Mattala Rājapakṣa Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; Tamil: மத்தல ராஜபக்ஷ சர்வதேச விமானநிலையம், romanized: Mattala Rājapakṣa Carvatēca Vimāṉanilaiyam) (IATA: HRI, ICAO: VCRI) is an international airport serving southeast Sri Lanka. It is located in the town of Mattala, 18 km (11 mi) from Hambantota. It is the first greenfield airport and the third international airport in the country, after Ratmalana International Airport and Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.
Thisuri Wanniarachchi is a Sri Lankan author and public policy specialist. She is known for her books Colombo Streets, which won a 2009 State Literary Award, and The Terrorist's Daughter (2014) She is also known for her stint as President Maithripala Sirisena's Assistant Director of Sustainable Development and the National Coordinator of the "Vision 2030" Sustainable Development Policy Formulation Project. and her work for the World Bank. Wanniarachchi resigned from her position in the Sirisena Administration in the immediate aftermath of the unconstitutional coup of October 2018. She later served as the Secretary to the President's Expert Committee to Restructure SriLankan Airlines. Wanniarachchi also served as the Lead Analyst of the Ministry of Economic Reforms in the Government of Sri Lanka in 2019.
Information Technology in Sri Lanka refers to business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, software development, IT Services, and IT education in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is always ranked among the top 50 outsourcing destinations by AT Kearney, and Colombo and ranked among "Top 20 Emerging Cities" by Global Services Magazine. The export revenue of this industry grew from USD 213 million in 2007 to USD 1.2 billion in 2021.
People's Leasing & Finance PLC, sometimes called People's Leasing Company or commonly abbreviated PLC, is a licensed non-banking financial company in Sri Lanka. The company is ranked 30th in LMD 100, an annual list of leading listed companies in Sri Lanka. Brand Finance placed the company 21st amongst the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka. The company was incorporated in 1995 and in 2010 listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. 75% of the shares of the company is held by the People's Bank, one of the two government-held banks of Sri Lanka.
The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2022 in Sri Lanka.
Haycarb PLC is a coconut shell-based activated carbon manufacturing company in Sri Lanka. Haycarb was incorporated in 1973. The company controls 16% of the world's market share. Haycarb operates manufacturing plants in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, while marketing offices are located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
LAUGFS Gas PLC is a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) company based in Sri Lanka. The company commenced operations in 2001 and in 2010, was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange following an initial public offering. LAUGFS Gas expanded its operations to Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates. In 2019, the company opened an LPG terminal at the Hambantota International Port, the largest of its kind in South Asia. LAUGFS Gas is ranked 33rd in LMD 100, an annual list of Sri Lankan listed companies by revenue. The Sri Lankan economic crisis heavily affected the operations of the company. Difficulties in securing foreign exchange have resulted in the disruption of LPG imports, shortages in the market and long queues. The company controls a number of subsidiaries but divested its Bangladesh operations in November 2022.
Renuka Holdings PLC, also called Renuka Group, is a conglomerate company in Sri Lanka. Ceylonese businessman Alfred Thambiyah laid the foundations of the Renuka Group by acquiring the Crago Boat Dispatch Company in 1936 and establishing Renuka Hotel, named after his youngest daughter Indu Renuka in 1969. Indu Renuka Rajiyah founded Renuka Enterprises in 1975, and Renuka Holdings in 1979 marked the formal beginning of the group. Renuka Holdings went public in 2008 and following the listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange, the company pursued a growth strategy. Renuka Holdings is one of the LMD 100 companies in Sri Lanka and also one of the 20 largest conglomerates in Sri Lanka.
Rs 1.538 billion (2018) [2]