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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s address to the United Nations 80th General Assembly session and his address to a large gathering of Sri Lankans in New York would elicit responses among Sri Lankans according to their political biases.

UN Speech

As in the past, the President’s address to the UNGA was an occasion to showcase Sri Lanka’s achievements rather than a strong statement of the country’s foreign policy.

Some former prime ministers and presidents used the occasion to prove their oratorical skills. President Dissanayake, speaking in Sinhala, relied on interpreters to convey his message in other languages.

Key issue

The President did not address the key global issue, even though Sri Lanka has been for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. There was only a passing reference to our commitment to the two-state arrangement with Israel and Palestine existing side by side in peace and harmony.

Empty chamber

Furthermore, when most delegates left the Chamber during the Israeli prime minister’s speech, one Sri Lankan official remained in the almost empty assembly.

This stance was prudent in the economic interests of the country. In the current context of international tensions and tariff wars, President Dissanayake was careful to not offend the US and face high US tariffs that we discussed in last Sunday’s column. The President kept to a carefully prepared script.

Expenditure

Another aspect of our delegation’s trip to New York was its modest expenditure. This was quite a contrast to the visit of a former president who took 150 persons, including family members.

Address to diaspora

The President’s address to the Sri Lankan diaspora in the US at the Centre for the Arts College, in Staten Island, New York, was eloquent and inspirational. He urged Sri Lankans living in the US to play an active role in Sri Lanka’s development. He said that collaborative programmes could be organised in partnership with the embassy, enabling active engagement with Sri Lanka rather than their remaining distant observers.

Tourism

He urged the Sri Lankan diaspora to actively promote tourism and boost investment to contribute to the country’s economic progress. He sought their participation not as charity, but as investment and engagement in which they could make a substantial contribution.

Achievements

The President gave a comprehensive account of the government’s achievements in its first year in office. He said the government was delivering on its mandate to build a corruption-free state and restore faith in justice. He reiterated the government’s commitment to ending impunity and restoring public confidence in justice.

“No one in Sri Lanka is beyond the reach of the law. Both high-profile corruption and past political crimes are under investigation. They are not politically motivated and are conducted by independent institutions like the Bribery or Corruption Commission and the Criminal Investigation Department,” he said, adding that people expected that those guilty of fraud and corruption would be punished.

He said justice must be served for the assassinations and abductions that stained our country’s reputation in the international sphere.

No waste

President Dissanayake said the country is witnessing a government that does not waste a single cent of the people’s money, while simultaneously ensuring accountability for past corruption, fraud and human rights violations through independent investigations.

Economy

The President predicted that the country would return to its pre-crisis economic levels, specifically its 2019 status, by next year. He said the country, which defaulted in 2022, expects to resume debt repayments confidently by 2028.

Record growth

A critical factor in this recovery, he said, was the record growth in all four main sectors of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Tourism in particular, he said, has surged, with 2.5 million tourist arrivals expected in 2025, the highest ever for Sri Lanka.

Reflecting on the dire state of the nation in 2022, when Sri Lanka officially defaulted on its debt and plunged into economic collapse, the President said that since assuming office in September 2024, the country had seen a “decisive turnaround” in key areas including economic stability, public sector efficiency, anti-corruption efforts, and international credibility.

Escape

The President said the country has managed to escape the full impact of its bankruptcy faster than global financial analysts predicted. “Economists say a country loses a decade after a collapse. We are recovering in just two years,” he said.

Foreign remittances

The President noted that foreign remittances have also reached an all-time high in 2025, contributing significantly to resolving the country’s previous foreign reserves crisis.

Direct investment

The President said the government had secured $1 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year along with an additional $1.4 billion for the Colombo Port City project. He claimed that the largest inflow of foreign investment was this year and attributed it to investor confidence in the country’s new political and economic direction.

Fiscal achievement

The President said that 2025 was the first time that government revenue exceeded the annual budget projections. He pointed out that for the first time the country had met the revenue targets while not overspending. This year saw higher-than-expected revenues and not only a reduction in the usual overspending, thereby establishing “a degree of economic stability”.

Stability

However, stability, he noted, is only the beginning. The next phase is ensuring that these economic gains “flow down to the ordinary people.”

The budget for 2026, he said, is being designed specifically with this aim in mind, prioritising support for agriculture, fisheries, small and medium enterprises, and the creation of new economic opportunities.

Inefficiencies

The President also addressed the longstanding inefficiencies in the public sector, acknowledging that political appointments and neglect had left critical institutions weakened. He said the government has initiated a major recruitment drive, bringing in 70,000 new employees. Alongside this, it has implemented the largest public sector salary hike in the nation’s history, allocating Rs. 110 billion in 2025, with the same amount earmarked for 2026 and 2027, a total of Rs. 330 billion over three years.

Whether these and other measures, such as digitalisation, would achieve the intended objectives remains to be seen. Changing the values and attitudes of our employees is a Herculean challenge. As the President himself stated, institutional reform extends beyond digitalisation. Citing the inefficiencies of the Ceylon Electricity Board, he said outdated structures are being restructured to improve performance.

Conclusion

The country’s future depends very much on the realisation of the government’s idealistic and holistic vision. Will the country’s social and cultural values enable the realisation of the President’s vision of a just, efficient and equitable society?