Dr Sarath Obeysekera Japan’s decision to provide approximately US$3 billion (¥480 billion) in long-term support for the ACME Group–IHI Corporation Green Ammonia Project in Odisha is a significant milestone, not only for India but for the entire Asian region. It demonstrates how governments can work with the private sector to accelerate investment in emerging industries […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Quote Advertisement by EDB  Schedule of Requirement (SOR) PROMOTION OF SRI LANKA’S MARINE AND OFFSHORE SERVICES SECTORGLOBALLY THROUGH THE ENGAGEMENT OF A PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM 1. Background Quote  PROMOTION OF SRI LANKA’S MARINE AND OFFSHORE SERVICES SECTOR GLOBALLY THROUGH THE ENGAGEMENT OF A PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM 1. Background The Marine and Offshore […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Blue Economy advocate  1 Sri Lanka’s ancient reservoirs are a national asset 2. Which reservoirs generate hydropower? Only a relatively small number of the larger modern reservoirs are used primarily for hydropower, including: Most of the ancient reservoirs—including Parakrama Samudraya, Kala Wewa, Minneriya Tank, Kaudulla Tank and Nachchaduwa Tank—continue to serve mainly irrigation […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka’s investment policy framework needs to be fundamentally changed at the top level if the country is serious about attracting foreign direct investment and accelerating industrial growth.  At present, too many decisions are being shaped through committees that are heavily dominated by government officials, while the private sector is brought is […]

Sarath Obeysekera Chairman Advisory Board Marine and Offshore industry development Duminda Hulangamuwa ‘s extensive experience in finance, taxation, corporate governance, and economic policy, together with his close involvement in national economic reforms, gives renewed hope that the BOI can once again become the country’s premier investment promotion agency. His stated intention to restore the BOI’s authority and transform […]

Sarath Obeysekera During this Vesak season, I witnessed a scene that left me with mixed feelings.Near my home in a suburban neighbourhood, where middle-income, lower-middle-income and low-income families live side by side, I saw a long queue of people waiting patiently for a free kottu dansal. Entire families stood in line.There is nothing wrong with […]

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර මෙය ඉතා රසවත් ඓතිහාසික ප්‍රශ්නයක් වන අතර, ඉතිහාසඥයන් සහ භාෂා විද්වතුන් දීර්ඝ කාලයක් තිස්සේ මේ පිළිබඳව විවිධ අදහස් ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පුරාණ වංශකතාවක් වන මහාවංසය අනුව, අරහත් මහින්ද හිමියන් (සම්ප්‍රදාය අනුව අශෝක අධිරාජයාගේ පුත්‍රයා හෝ සමහර මූලාශ්‍ර අනුව සහෝදරයා) ක්‍රිස්තු පූර්ව තුන්වන සියවසේදී දේවානම්පියතිස්ස රජුගේ රාජ්‍ය සමයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැඩම […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://themorningtelegraph.com/45808 Answer to this post in morning telegraph  https://hirunews.lk/en/business/438866/closure-of-walkers-colombo-shipyard-a-national-loss-dr-obeysekera Closure of Walkers Colombo Shipyard a national loss – Dr. Obeysekera Share Post Walkers Colombo Shipyard (Pvt) Ltd has been closed down and urgent steps should be taken to reopen it, former founding Managing Director Dr Sarath Obeysekera said. He noted that Walkers […]

Submitted By: Boat Building Technology Improvement Institute- The association of Boat /ship builders By gamini Herath Submitted By: Boat Building Technology Improvement Institute- The association of Boat /ship builders By gamini Herath Posted by dr Sarath Obeysekera Boat and Ship Building Sector- Includes all types of sea going vessels and vessels used in internal waters […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera This is a fascinating historical question, and historians have debated it for a long time. According to the traditional Sri Lankan chronicle, the Mahavamsa, Mahinda Thera, the son (or, according to some traditions, brother) of Ashoka, arrived in Sri Lanka during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa around the 3rd century BCE. The […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka has no shortage of strategic advantages. Our location, skilled workforce, natural harbours, fertile land, and maritime heritage make us an attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Yet, time and again, promising investment opportunities have slipped through our fingers. Several years ago, a Saudi investor expressed serious interest in establishing […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://www.sundayobserver.lk/2026/06/28/business/79914/can-sri-lanka-afford-to-wait-for-trincomalee-port-development Critical overview  Trincomalee Must Become Sri Lanka’s Offshore Industry Capital – Not Just Another Commercial PortThe current debate on Trincomalee Port development has largely centred on logistics, container handling, oil storage, industrial zones, and real estate. While these sectors are important, they alone will not maximise the strategic and economic value […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Port-City-secures-600-m-new-investment-through-71-strategic-businesses-in-1H2026/44-793674# Quote  The announcement that Colombo Port City has secured over US$600 million in new investments through 71 strategically approved businesses is encouraging and reflects improving investor confidence in Sri Lanka’s economy. However, the composition of those investments deserves closer attention. Much of the current focus appears to be on real estate, […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), supported by energy and marine consultancy ABL, has completed the relocation of 44 jack-up rigs ahead of the monsoon season.The pre-monsoon rig moves were carried out between March 15 and May 31, with the rigs travelling a combined distance of more than 5,500 nautical miles […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Many leading educational thinkers and industrialists have argued that education should develop creativity, problem-solving, adaptability, and character rather than only memorization. Here are some of the best-known quotes and how they can inspire modern educational reforms. 1. Albert Einstein Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  What kind of education system best serves Sri Lanka’s long-term development? The issue is not whether Sri Lanka should have schools similar to prestigious British schools such as Harrow School, Merchant Taylors’ School, or The John Lyon School. The real question is whether our education system produces citizens who can create value […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera  Extract from AI  In many Buddhist schools, especially in the Theravāda tradition practiced in Sri Lanka, the state of mind at the moment of death (maranasanna citta or death-proximate consciousness”) is considered important because it can influence the next rebirth. For example: However, Buddhism does not generally teach that the final thought […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera In May 2020, during the most volatile period in the oil & gas sector in 40 years, Nigeria LNG Ltd (NLNG) signed a historic US$3 billion corporate loan to finance the construction of its seventh liquefied natural gas(LNG) train. The Nigeria LNG Train 7 project (Train 7), expected to boost Nigeria’s LNG output by close to a third, is seen […]

Sarath Obeysekera  Some business leaders and professionals are now lamenting that projects for FDI are not coming  They suggest privately that decision -makers who are cabinet ministers may be allowed to take an incentive rather than calling it bribery, so that FDI can grow in  Large infrastructure projects are often evaluated on their economic return. […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera I often reflect on my days as a young engineering student in the former Soviet Union. My mentor, a Russian Jew and a passionate patriot of Russia and its revolution, frequently spoke about how a nation becomes powerful through knowledge, discipline, and scientific inquiry.  Under leaders such as Stalin, he believed that […]

By Sarath Obeysekera The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) remains one of Sri Lanka’s most debated infrastructure projects. Built in 2013 at an estimated cost of US$209 million, with the majority financed through Chinese loans, the airport was originally designed to handle one million passengers and 50,000 tonnes of cargo annually. Unfortunately, traffic projections never […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera AI assisted to formulate following . Many of the world’s great advances came from exceptional individuals such as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Tim Berners-Lee, and countless scientists, engineers, and thinkers whose creativity changed civilization. Their inventions brought enormous benefits but also risks. Nuclear technology, for example, can generate electricity or destroy cities. Will […]

By Sarath Obeysekera As a child, my mother was an ardent devotee of the deity of Kataragama Temple. Before every important examination or milestone in my life, she would take me on a long journey by bus to Kataragama. In those days, it was an adventure in itself.We travelled for an entire day and stayed […]

By Sarath Obeysekera A New Paradigm for Infrastructure Financing Sri Lanka has historically financed large infrastructure projects through sovereign loans, bilateral financing, multilateral development banks, and foreign direct investment (FDI). While these mechanisms have delivered highways, ports, airports, and power plants, they have also contributed to high levels of external debt and fiscal vulnerability. The […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Investor Briefing for Policy Consideration The Trincomalee Marine Industrial Hub Tokenized Fund (TMT Fund) is a pioneering initiative designed to mobilize private and diaspora capital for the development of Sri Lanka’s proposed Marine Industrial and Offshore Repair Hub in Trincomalee. Using blockchain-based tokenization, the fund allows fractional investment and transparent participation in a Public–Private Partnership […]

By Sarath Obeysekera Quote  Sri Lanka opens Mattala Airport to local & foreign investors The Ministry of Ports & Civil Aviation, through Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Private) Limited (AASL), has invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) from investors to utilize resources at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in Hambantota. Submissions are due by 09 […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera The argument that Trincomalee lacks economic potential because it is not directly on the main East-West shipping route is an overly narrow interpretation of port development.  The world’s most successful heavy engineering and offshore industrial ports did not necessarily become successful because of their immediate proximity to shipping lanes.  They succeeded because […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera News Sri Lanka looks for international investors for 108 acres near southern port” Tuesday June 16, 2026 2:51 pm The Government’s decision to invite international investors to develop 108 acres of land near the Hambantota International Port (HIP) through a 50-year lease is both timely and significant. With global shipping patterns being […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera https://www.srilankabusiness.com/ebooks/national-export-strategy-of-sri-lanka.pdf Sri Lanka’s National Export Development Plan (NEDP) rightly focuses on transforming the country into a competitive logistics and export hub and prioritises marine-based industries and high-value manufacturing. However, the strategy does not adequately address one of Sri Lanka’s most significant untapped opportunities—the development of an offshore and heavy industrial hub in […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera There  are numerous online betting websites accessible in Sri Lanka, such as platforms branded for local users like Mostbet, MelBet, 1xBet, and others. Most operate under offshore licenses, mainly from Curaçao, and offer deposits and withdrawals in Sri Lankan Rupees.   Regarding Chinese operators, there have been reports and public discussions suggesting […]