Open letter to AKD on Budget 2026, investments and growth optimisation

Good governance activists and former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne has written an open letter to President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake with several submissions on Budget 2026 and investments and growth optimisation taking account of the sustainable long-term interests of the Government, Sri Lanka and its people.

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The letter has been copied to the Prime Minister, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, Secretary to the President, Secretary to the Treasury, Governor Central Bank, Senior Advisor to the President, Chairman, Board of Investment, Chairman, Committee on Public Finance, and Country Director, IMF.

THE Budget speech 2026 recently delivered by you highlighted with much emphasis the critical need for visionary thought leadership driven timely change management; leading optimisation of investments, sustainable growth of at least seven percent per annum and the assurance of corruption and waste eliminated equitable good governance; optimising factor productivity and enhancing greater value addition to benefit all citizens in all parts of the country in the long term.

It appears, however, that little or no emphasis, nor even a reference, was made to the most obvious sector of the economy to be focused on in strategically and effectively implementing with leadership commitment, to secure in the longer-term the greatest opportunities for sustainable growth, investments and significant economic and social value creation.

Therefore, it is recommended that You, the Cabinet and your advisors strategically address urgently, the challenges in optimising the sustainable exploitation of undersea untapped resources in a manner compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (which Convention sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out).

Sri Lanka can inter alia exploit all valuable sea resources within its territorial jurisdictional rights, including those secured under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which paves the way for the rights of nations to exploit undersea resources, of course varying by maritime zones.