Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and the Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre.
The free-market 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 by the World Bank from a previous upper middle income status.
His Excellency Mahinda Buddhadasa Samarasinghe, is a former MP and the current Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States of America, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. He was formerly a member of Parliament under Gotabaya Rajapaksa's Government, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna chief organiser for the Panadura Electorate in the Kalutara District.
Chandrasekera Rohitha Bandara Bogollagama is a Sri Lankan politician and ex Governor of Eastern Province. He was the former Sri Lanka Freedom Party chief organiser for the Kotte Electorate. He had also served as the Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 28 January 2007 until he was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament. He had a long career in law running from 1976 to 1999, before being elected to the Sri Lankan parliament in 2000 from the United National Party, and then crossed over to Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Nissanka Manodha Wijeyeratne was a former Politician, Government Minister, Coordinating Secretary to the President, Chairman of Road Accidents Prevention Authority, Member of United National Party and Sri Lanka Freedom Party chief organiser for the Dedigama Electorate in Kegalle District he was former Member of Parliament from Kegalle District.
Weerakumara Dissanayake is a Sri Lankan politician and former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He is a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and member of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA). He was deputy minister of Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development from 2010 to 2015. In 2017 he left the National Freedom Front (NFF) to join the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, MP, PC is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is a Member of Parliament for the Colombo District and currently holding Minister of Higher Education and Cultural Affairs portfolio. He is a former Minister of Justice and Buddasasana from 2015 to 2017 and Minister of State Banking Development from 2005 to 2006. He was the Prime Minister's nominee for the Constitutional Council In the 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis, He was the Minister of Education and Higher Education and his post was suspended by the court.
Weerasangilige Wimal Weerawansha is a Sri Lankan politician, Member of Parliament and leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF). He is the Minister of Industries since 2020. He was the Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply chain Management from 2019 to 2020, the Minister of Housing and Social Welfare in 2018 and the Minister of Construction and Housing from 2010 to 2015.
Poverty in Sri Lanka is 4%. Sri Lanka's life expectancy and literacy rate are nearly on par with those of developed countries, and even top the rankings for the South Asia region. While all these indicate that Sri Lanka should be experiencing a high standard of living, until recently it has only ranked in the medium category of the Human Development Index (HDI). This is despite the fact that Sri Lanka has been experiencing moderate growth in its GDP averaging 5.5 per annum between 2006 and 2009. One of the reasons is due to its relatively low GDP per capital;. The Sri Lankan government has been successful in reducing poverty from 15.2% on 2006 to 8.9% in 2010, urban poverty was reduced from 6.7 to 5.3% while rural poverty was reduced from 15.7 to 9.5%, and the nation has made significant progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
Saman Kelegama was a Sri Lankan economist, author and the executive director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).
The Ministry of State Resources and Enterprise Development is a ministry in the Government of Sri Lanka.
The Ministry of Sugar Industry Development is a Sri Lankan government ministry.
The Ministry of Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development is a ministry in the Government of Sri Lanka.
The Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment is the cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka with oversight of the environment and the Mahaweli Development programme, as well as the general development of the Mahaweli River, its environs and communities living within defined 'Mahaweli development zones'.
The Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms is the Sri Lankan government ministry responsible for the “rehabilitation of detainees and integration into the society and rehabilitation of victims of violence and effected properties and enterprises by following methodologies of good governance, using financial and human resources efficiently and productively and by proper supervision and co-ordination of the departments and other institutions under the ministry.”
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development is the Sri Lankan government ministry responsible “to build up a young generation capable of actively participating in national development endowed with skills and personality.”
The Ministry of Urban Development is the Sri Lankan government ministry responsible for planning and implementation of Economic social and physical development of the areas declared by the Minister-in-charge of the subject of Urban development. The ministry was established by an Act of parliament bearing No 41 of 1978. The Urban Development Authority is executively functioning under this ministry that is responsible for empowering to function as the key urban planning and implementing agency of the country.
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 1089 million in 2019.
In Sri Lanka, a Non-cabinet minister is politician who is a Minister, but not a member of the Cabinet of Ministers. A non-cabinet minister is ranked below a cabinet minister, but above a deputy minister. A non-cabinet minister can be in charge of a ministry, be attached a ministry of a cabinet minister or be without a ministry. A cabinet minister may hold another non-cabinet minister post with a different subject concurrently.
