Letters to the Editor
View(s):Sri Lanka running the risk of losing its entrepreneurs
From obtaining a birth certificate to opening a bank account, paying municipal taxes, or even changing an electricity meter, citizens are forced to a navigate slow, complicated and outdated processes that consume time, and energy.
The latest example is the growing complexity at the Registrar of Companies Sri Lanka.
What should be a straightforward process to registering a business has now become unnecessarily difficult. For years, Form 01 provided all essential details of directors and shareholders. Yet today, applicants are required to create additional log-ins and submit new Beneficial Ownership (BO) forms, repeating the same information multiple times.
If the objective was transparency, the logical step would have been to integrate Beneficial Ownership requirements into the existing Form 01. Instead, one system has been layered on top of another, creating confusion and delay.
The consequences are that business registration timelines have expanded from approximately three weeks to nearly two months. For an entrepreneur, this means lost momentum, lost income, and in many cases, lost opportunity.
Compare this with Singapore, where a private limited company can be registered within hours through a fully digital, integrated platform. The contrast is not merely technological; it reflects a difference in governance mindset. One system respects time. The other wastes it.
To be clear, global compliance standards do require transparency in ownership structures. Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the Financial Action Task Force encourage countries to adopt Beneficial Ownership frameworks to combat financial crimes.
But compliance should not translate into inefficiency.
The real failure lies in execution. Systems are not integrated. Processes are not streamlined. Even officials appear uncertain about the new requirements, leading to inconsistent guidance and further delays. Communication channels remain unreliable, and public access to the institution is restricted, despite it being a government service.
More troubling is the broader contradiction. While small business owners struggle through layers of paperwork, the country has witnessed large-scale financial irregularities, including major banking fraud and serious breaches in financial systems. This raises a fundamental question: who is this system really targeting?
Excessive bureaucracy does not eliminate corruption. It discourages legitimate economic activity while failing to address deeper systemic weaknesses.
Sri Lanka cannot afford this approach.
At a time when the country urgently needs investment, innovation, and job creation, placing additional burdens on those willing to start businesses is counterproductive. Economic recovery cannot be achieved by exhausting the very people who drive it.
The solution is not unattainable. Integrate all required information into a single digital submission. Eliminate duplication. Ensure proper training for officials. Provide accessible and accountable public service.
Until then, these so-called reforms will continue to send the wrong message.
In Sri Lanka, starting a business is not supported but it is obstructed.
And unless this changes, the country risks not just losing efficiency, but losing its entrepreneurs altogether.
Nipun Dias Via email
Underhand scams that will affect every citizen
In the past four to five months our country has had to face serious illicit deals, among them- releasing high risk containers; importing low grade coal; Rs.13.2 billion fraud at the NDB Bank; a 2.5 million dollar cyber-theft at the Treasury to name a few.
All these underhand deals will depress our economy and impact on the day-to-day life of every Sri Lankan. Every citizen will have to pay for all these losses.
International donors, the IMF, World Bank and other aid groups will think twice before helping us in financially.
So please employ educated, experienced and honest officers for the top posts in the Government sector and not political appointees who cannot provide explanations after an issue.
Don’t make our beautiful country a playground for international scammers and AI hackers.
Lal Kodituwakku Matale
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