President of Sri Lanka plans to create tourism hub – Driving the economy through foreign visits

Sri Lanka’s President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, emphasized the importance of developing regional tourism markets and forming a unified regional tourism bloc to capitalize on the economic shift towards Asia. Speaking at the ‘YPO Colombo Experience: Rediscover the Pearl,’ he highlighted the need for selective integration to overcome country-specific geopolitical challenges while identifying untapped tourism potential along Sri Lanka’s east coast and proposed collaboration with other South Asian nations to create a regional economy.

Additionally, Sri Lanka has applied to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and is actively seeking comprehensive economic partnerships with India and Bangladesh to foster regional economic cooperation, while in pursuit of economic partnerships, Sri Lanka signed a free trade agreement with Singapore and is exploring agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. As the host of various Pasikuda beach resorts such as the Amethyst Resort, the tourism in Sri Lanka is vibrant, but could benefit from partnerships with other countries.