Unified approach
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The daily news segment of a local television station has a slot for what is called ‘happy news’ which features fun and happy stories. Borrowing from this concept, my contribution today for this segment is the news that Sri Lanka has been established as a country with the lowest terror threat in the world.Happy news indeed, when considering that not so long ago (before 2009), the country was labelled as a dangerous place to visit owing to a brutal war which had killed hundreds of people and secured the unenviable label of having the worst terrorist organisation in the world! At that time – among other fears – parents were scared to send their children to school, worried about terrorist bombs that were exploding in the capital, Colombo.
Those days are gone, thankfully and much due to the efforts of the then governing party to crush the rebels, though the UN Human Rights Council continues to sanction Colombo for human rights violations during the 30-year conflict, particularly during the last stages of the war.
I woke up to this news when Arty, the intrepid entrepreneur, called on Thursday morning. The conversation was, however, not about entrepreneurship…….it was on another topic.
“I say……there was some good news this week about Sri Lanka being among the countries with the lowest terrorist threat,” he said. “Yes……I too read this statement. Wonderful!” I said.
“Do you recall how Colombo was occasionally bombed by the LTTE and in one of the worst attacks, how the Central Bank was targeted,” he asked. “We remember those days vividly as parents were not sure whether their school-going children were safe and working couples were not sure when and where the next bomb would strike in Colombo,” I said.
“We must be thankful to the Rajapaksa brothers, then army commander Sarath Fonseka and the armed forces for helping end the war,” he said. “Yes I agree,” I said.
The ‘good’ news came when the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in its annual Global Terrorism Index 2025, ranked Sri Lanka as 100th with a score of zero and the classification as a country with ‘no impact’ of terrorism. The report, published in local newspapers, revealed that Sri Lanka has significantly improved, dropping 64 spots in the index within a year, thereby, lowering the risk of terror threats within the island nation.
The index measures the level of terrorist activity within a country by the number of terrorist attacks that have occurred, the number of deaths and injuries and the level of material damage. The higher the ranking, the higher the risk of terrorist attacks in a given country.
“Despite the deterioration this year, which was driven primarily by Pakistan, terrorism has significantly declined compared to a decade ago, with all South Asian countries recording an improvement. This improvement is largely attributed to a decline in terrorist activity in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka,” the report said.
There is a flow of ‘good and feel-good’ news these days, strengthening the country’s progress as a safe place to visit and providing a tremendous boost not only to tourism but also investments – the government is seeking to achieve 3 million tourist arrivals this year and attract an ambitious US$3 billion in foreign direct investments in 2025. Another target is to reach $14 billion in export income this year, from $12.7 billion in 2024.
The country has been receiving a plethora of ‘good’ news on the tourism front from foreign publications – one of the best train journeys in the world (Kandy-Badulla route through the famous Ella nine-arch bridge), best southern coastal destination and so on.
This week, according to reputed travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller, Sri Lanka has been recognised as the ‘most family-friendly country’ for 2025, securing the top spot in the magazine’s widely-accepted ranking. The island nation received high marks for its education system and affordable childcare, solidifying its reputation as a prime destination for families. Sri Lanka came in first place with the island nation achieving an impressive score for its education system (0.7 out of 1.0) and a low annual childcare cost of $354.60 per year (compared to $16,439.40 in the US, which ranked in 10th place).
“It’s no surprise that Sri Lanka ranked so highly in this list – in fact, we named the country one of our favourite places to go for multi-gen megatrips in 2025, due to its welcoming nature, focus on outdoor activities and family-friendly Sri Lankan hotels. The country is home to some incredible wildlife, from vast national parks and sprawling beaches, plus there is fascinating history, creative coastlines, delicious food and an excellent shopping scene,” the magazine said.
Before I venture into offering some advice on how Sri Lanka can use this good news to promote tourism and also foreign investments, I walked to the kitchen as I got a pleasant smell of freshly-baked items. There in the kitchen was not only a plate of ‘maalu paan’ but also some ‘kimbula bunis’, my favourite food. Grabbing a ‘maalu paan’ and a ‘kimbula bunis’, I was going past the window when I spotted the trio in conversation under the margosa tree.
“Parlimentu chandey hondatama paradila, den virudda paksha hadanawa palath chandey jaya ganna (After having lost the parliamentary election badly, the opposition parties are trying to win the local government elections),” said Kussi Amma Sera. “Egollo hadanawa aandu pakshaya kiyapu dema copy karanna – sudusukam thiyena ayawa daanawa kiyala (They are trying to copy the ruling party by saying they want to put forward ‘qualified’ candidates),” added Mabel Rasthiyadu.
“Mama, magey handunumpatha gamey thiyala avilla. Eka genna ganna oney, mokada chandey danna oney-nae (I left my ID card in the village. I must get it because I want to vote),” noted Serapina.
Coming back to the subject of ‘good news’ being experienced in Sri Lanka, there was a time – some years back – when the authorities considered having a unified approach in attracting tourists, foreign investments, garments, gems, as an IT base and increasing exports. This is a good proposal to put money into one kitty and jointly promote these sectors. After all, when promoting tourism and investments, it is the country that is promoted first and then the sectors.
Many decades back, the Ceylon Tea Centre in London (where beauty queen, former mayor and a former high commissioner Rosy Senanayake once worked) was a popular place to promote the country’s tea and also other attractions. That centre was scrapped owing to a lack of funds or lack of political will.
While the tourism authorities are gearing for a global promotion campaign, this is the best time to do it and such a campaign should be fast-tracked. Sri Lanka’s foreign missions, which have failed miserably to help in promoting the country to attract tourists, foreign investment among others, need to be fine-tuned towards these initiatives. What have our trade counsellors in embassies been doing all this time?
There was also a proposal once to appoint professional business persons to these positions on short-term assignments. The Colombo Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka are organising an investment forum in Colombo on March 27-28. Maybe some of these earlier suggestions could be plugged into this conference.
Well….my time is up! Here’s hoping Sri Lankan ruling politicians and policymakers consider the suggestion for a unified approach to tourism, foreign investments and exports, instead of individual promotion, which would save buckets of money. The country doesn’t have an abundance of financial resources.
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