Sri Lanka is quickly emerging as an economic and political powerhouse. Since the end of the civil war in 2009, the Sri Lankan government has focused on good governance, sustainable development, and greater integration across the nation. Sri Lanka’s geostrategic location has helped it emerge as a critical stakeholder in the Indo-Pacific region.
Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo is one of the busiest transit points in the region. More than 60,000 ships travel through Sri Lanka annually, carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil and half of all container shipments. With 15 percent annual growth in transshipments, the Port of Colombo is already exceeding projections for the freight industry in the Asia-Pacific.
To discuss Sri Lanka and its growing role as an economic hub in the Indo-Pacific, Hudson Institute’s South Asia program hosted a discussion with H.E. Prasad Kariyawasam, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States. The talk was moderated by Ambassador Husain Haqqani, director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute. This talk was part of the South Asia program’s ambassadorial lecture series.
