Sri Lanka

Women's Policy Action Network: Closing the Divide on Women's Access through Women's Access to Finance

The Women’s Policy Action Network hosted a conference on the 20th of March 2024, at Courtyard by Marriott on the topic Closing the Divide on Women's Access through Women's Access to Finance. The conference featured a panel discussion on the above topic with panelists who are experts in the relative conversations. The panel discussion covered topics such as the regulation of the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka, and the importance of financial consumer protection.

This discussion was supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and facilitated by the Advocata Institute.


Video to the full discussion can be accessed here

The policy brief on Closing The Divide Through Women’s Access To Finance can be accessed here

The presentation can be accessed here

WPAN Policy Brief : Closing The Divide through Women's Access to Finance

Financial inclusion is the access individuals and businesses have to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs, such as for transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance. They also must be delivered in a responsible and sustainable way promoting engagement in the formal financial sector.  Access to affordable finance aims to enhance living standards, increase income, stimulate business investment, reduce unemployment, and foster economic growth by expanding financial networks and reducing barriers to entry. 

Here is the link to the WPAN Policy Brief on Closing the Divide through Women’s Access to Finance

Media Coverage on Tax Free Periods: Call for the Removal of Taxes on Menstrual Products

Putting the period on ‘taxing’ the period

The imposition of taxes on menstrual hygiene products, needed by women and girls due to a biological process naturally occurring in their body, has been subjected to fair criticism from many parties. While there have been great demands for the Government to remove the taxes imposed on menstrual products and the raw materials needed to manufacture such, such items are currently subjected to a tax rate of 51.07%, and it continues to restrict the access of those menstruating to sanitary products.
Read the full article here

Half number of girls, women do not include sanitary napkins in household expenditures

Due to the affordability of sanitary napkins half the number of girls and women in Sri Lanka do not include sanitary napkins in their household expenditures, the Advocata Institute said. They said the affordability of sanitary napkins and its significant impact on the welfare of girls and women in Sri Lanka has become more pronounced in recent years. This is particularly evident due to the decline in their purchasing powers stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis. .

Read the full article here

Advocata Policy Brief : Tax Free Periods: Call for the Removal of Taxes on Menstrual Products

The affordability of sanitary napkins and its significant impact on the welfare of girls and women in Sri Lanka has become more pronounced in recent years. This is particularly evident due to the decline in purchasing power stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis. Approximately 4 million Sri Lankans have descended into poverty since 2019, making the total number of Sri Lankans living in poverty approximately 7 million. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the ramifications of the lack of affordability of sanitary napkins which is worsened by the imposition of high taxes on sanitary napkins.

Here is the link to Advocata’s Policy Brief on Tax Free Periods: Call for the Removal of Taxes on Menstrual Products

Ep 3 | Moving The Needle On Gender Parity | WPAN | Nirmali Ameresekere | Dinali Peiris

Welcome back to another episode of the WPAN podcast discussion series!

The Women's Policy Action Network is hosting its latest podcast discussion series, facilitated by the Advocata Institute, supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands. This discussion series delve into crucial topics including empowering women in the labor force via policy adjustments and labor laws, enhancing digital infrastructure, and advocating for social reform in Sri Lanka.

This episode features Nirmali Ameresekere (Researcher, Advocata Institute) and Dinali Peiris (Director - Group Human Resources, MAS Holdings). They discussed about the Women Go Beyond program at MAS, and its significant contributions to empowering women locally and globally. The discussion addresses garment worker rights and the importance of parental leave which includes both parental and maternal leave, for working women.

Media Coverage on A Deep Dive into the Market Competitiveness of Ceylon Tea

Advocata Institute unveils insights on enhancing market competitiveness of Ceylon tea

Advocata Institute Research Consultant Sudaraka Ariyarathna shed light on the discrepancy between recommended replanting rate and the actual rate, mentioning that “while the recommended replanting rate stands at 2.5%, our research indicates a significantly lower actual rate,” highlighting the impact on Sri Lanka’s tea production yields compared to other black tea producing nations. This was the opening to “A deep dive into the market competitiveness of Ceylon tea” organised by Advocata Institute which was on 29 February.
Read the full article here

Importance of strengthening estate workers’ economy stressed

The challenges encountered by the upcountry Tamil community is beyond mere daily wages, said Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development, Jeevan Thondaman.

He was speaking at a discussion on “A Deep Dive into the market competitiveness of Ceylon Tea” organised by Advocata Institute at the BMICH on Thursday.

He stressed the importance of enhancing their quality of life by addressing various facets such as housing, land, education, health, and infrastructure.

Read the full article here

ADVOCATA INSTITUTE

Unveils Insights on Enhancing Market Competitiveness of Ceylon Tea

The Ceylon tea industry faces significant challenges which threaten its competitiveness and sustainability in the global market. High labour costs, labour shortages, and inefficiencies in land management are hindering productivity and profitability, while issues pertaining to quality control and the lack of a premiumisation strategy posse further obstacles to unlocking the true potential of Ceylon tea.

Read the full article here

Optimism over securing EU protection for Ceylon Tea

Sri Lanka expressed optimism about securing European Union(EU) protection for Ceylon tea within the next 12-18 months.

Chairman of the Tea Board, Niraj De Mel, emphasised the need to prioritise quality over volume, advocating for a return to basics to improve prices.

Read the full article here

Ep 2 | Empowering Women in E- Commerce| WPAN | Akhila Randeniya | Anishka De Zylva

Welcome back to another episode of the WPAN podcast discussion series!

The Women's Policy Action Network is hosting its latest podcast discussion series, facilitated by the Advocata Institute, supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands. This discussion series delve into crucial topics including empowering women in the labor force via policy adjustments and labor laws, enhancing digital infrastructure, and advocating for social reform in Sri Lanka.

In this episode Akhila Randeniya (Research Analyst, Advocata Institute) and Anishka De Zylva (Head of Corporate Affairs, Public Policy & ESG at Daraz). They discuss Sri Lanka's ecommerce growth hindered by slow adoption of digital payments and limited logistics connections. The discussion also addresses Sri Lanka's ecommerce growth hindered by slow adoption of digital payments and limited logistics connections.

A Deep Dive into the Market Competitiveness of Ceylon Tea

Advocata Institute hosted an event titled ‘A Deep Dive into the Market Competitiveness of Ceylon Tea’ to launch the report on "Market Competitiveness of the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka" authored by Sudaraka Ariyaratne (Research Consultant, Advocata Institute) The conference consisted of a panel discussion on Land & Labour Reforms : Efficiency Through Liberalisation and Quality Control & Premiumisation : Unlocking the True Potential of Ceylon Tea

Session on 'Land & Labour Reforms : Efficiency Through Liberalisation

The session commenced with a presentation by Sudaraka Ariyaratne, followed by a panel discussion with Hon. Jeevan Thondaman (Cabinet Minister, Water Supply & Estate Infrastructure Development), Dr Roshan Rajadurai (Managing Director, Hayleys Plantation Sector), Dr Romesh Bandaranaike (Former Director, Plantation Management Monitoring Division), moderated by Murtaza Jafferjee (Chair, Advocata Institute)

Session on 'Quality Control & Premiumisation : Unlocking the True Potential of Ceylon Tea’

The session continued on with another presentation by Sudaraka Ariyaratne, followed by a panel discussion with Niraj de Mel (Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tea Board), Dilhan C. Fernando (Chief Executive Officer, Ceylon Tea Services PLC), Dasarath Dassanayake (Former Head, Manufacture High Grown, John Keells PLC Consultant) moderated by Rehana Thowfeek (Research Consultant, Advocata Institute)

The presentation on Land and Labour Reforms: Efficiency Through Liberalisation by Sudaraka Ariyaratne can be accessed here

The presentation on Quality Control and Premiumisation: Unlocking the True Potential of Ceylon Tea by Sudaraka Ariyaratne can be accessed here

Both discussions will be available on our YouTube channel shortly.

Women's Policy Action Network Podcast Series

Welcome to the WPAN Podcast Series!

The Women's Policy Action Network is hosting its latest podcast discussion series, facilitated by the Advocata Institute, supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands. This discussion series delve into crucial topics including empowering women in the labor force via policy adjustments and labor laws, enhancing digital infrastructure, and advocating for social reform in Sri Lanka.

This is our introductory episode where Thathsarani Siriwardana and Akhila Randeniya introduce the series by discussing the events hosted by WPAN and also the launches of the policy brief. They also give insights to the discussions for future podcast episodes.

Check out our first episode where Thathsarani Siriwardana and Isuru Gunasekera give insights on parental leave policies in Sri Lanka. They also touch upon such topics that include implementing parental leave policy in a large organization and childcare outsourcing and maternity benefits in the private sector.

Sir Roger Owen Douglas on Advocata Conversations | Ep.10 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Sir Roger Douglas

We are back with our tenth episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. This episode is between Sir Roger Owen Douglas, Former Minister of Finance, New Zealand and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee. In this conversation Sir Roger speaks about his political leadership, policy-making, and legacy. He also discusses the political and economic reforms in New Zealand and addresses tax reforms and the importance of transparency.

Check out our previous episode with Prof Chin-Huat Wong, Deputy Head (Strategy) UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Asia Headquarters, Sunway University

South Asia Economic Outlook: World Bank | Infrastructure Challenges & Economic Growth | Murtaza Jafferjee | Maurizio Bussolo

In this episode of Advocata Studio, Advocata Chair, Murtaza Jafferjee is joined by Maurizio Bussolo, (Lead Economist, Chief Economist Office for South Asia, The World Bank). In this video he discusses with Murtaza Jafferjee on trade, gender inequality, and economic growth in South Asia, and its impact on productivity. He also addresses the South Asia's economic growth and infrastructure challenges.

Watch the full discussion here:

Maurizio Bussolo, (Lead Economist, Chief Economist Office for South Asia, The World Bank) also presents a report on South Asia's economic outlook, highlighting slowing growth and challenges such as weak private investment and fiscal position.

The presentation by Maurizio on South Asia Development Update: Toward faster, Cleaner Growth can be accessed here

ආර්ථික නිදහස් සමුළුව 2024 : ධනවත් රටක් හදන ආර්ථික නිදහස

ආර්ථික නිදහස් සමුළුව 2024 : ධනවත් රටක් හදන ආර්ථික නිදහස

ප්‍රධාන දේශනය - ආචාර්ය හර්ෂ ද සිල්වා (පාර්ලිමෙන්තු මන්ත්‍රී, සභාපති රජයේ මුදල් පිළිබඳ කාරක සභාව) අදහස් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම - තාරක බාලසූරිය (රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය,විදේශ කටයුතු) අදහස් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම- මහාචාර්ය සිරිමල් අබේරත්න ( උපදේශක, Advocata Institute ) ආර්ථික නිදහස පිළිබද ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම - ධනනාත් ප්‍රනාන්දු (ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිළධාරී, Advocata Institute) මෙහෙයවීම- හසලක තුෂාර (Content Creator)

The Advocata Institute hosted an event on ' ධනවත් රටක් හදන ආර්ථික නිදහස) on Monday 29th, at Jasmine Hall, BMICH. The keynote speech was given by Dr. Harsha de Silva (Member of Parliament & Chairman, Committee on Public Finance). The panel for the discussion included Dr Harsha de Silva, Tharaka Balasuriya (State Minister, Foreign Affairs), Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne (Advisor, Advocata Institute), and the moderator was Hasalaka Thushara (Content Creator)

A presentation was 'Economic Freedom' - Dhananath Fernando (Chief Executive Officer)

Access the presentation by Dhananath Fernando here

The full video can be accessed here

Advocata Economic Freedom Summit 24: Economic freedom & its pathway to prosperity

The Advocata Economic Freedom Summit 2024 brings together leading thinkers and doers to deliberate on the state of economic freedom in Sri Lanka. In two separate events, in two different locations they discussed, debated and contemplated on ideas on how to improve levels of economic freedom in Sri Lanka and to provide audit of Sri Lanka's ratings on the acclaimed Economic Freedom of the World Index.

The Advocata Institute's Economic Freedom Summit 2024, commenced on January 29th at Marriott Courtyard, with a breakfast forum on 'Economic Freedom & its Pathway to Prosperity'

The keynote speaker for this session was Thilan Wijesinghe (Chairman & CEO, TWCorp (Pvt) Ltd)

The speakers for the session included Fred McMahon (Resident Fellow, Fraser Institute), Dr. Tom G. Palmer (Executive Vice President, International Programs, Atlas Network), Dr.Harsha de Silva (Member of Parliament & Chairman, Committee on Public Finance), Daniel Alphonsus (Director, Advocata Institute) and Thilan Wijesinghe.

The session was moderated by Prof. Rohan Samarajiva (Board of Advisor, Advocata Institute)
The full video can be accessed here

The presentation by Key note speaker Thilan Wijesinghe can be accessed here.

Access the presentation by Fred McMahon here

Following the Morning session, a discussion on 'ධනවත් රටක් හදන ආර්ථික නිදහස' took place at BMICH. Watch the full panel discussion here and access the presentations from this session here

IMF in Sri Lanka: Supporting Governance Reforms | Murtaza Jafferjee | Peter Breuer | Joel Turkewitz

In this episode of Advocata Studio, Advocata Chair, Murtaza Jafferjee is joined by representatives from the International Monetary Fund, Peter Breuer (Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, International Monetary Fund) & Joel Turkewitz (Deputy Division Chief in the Legal Department, International Monetary Fund)

The Sri Lanka Technical Assistance Report - Governance Diagnostic Assessment can be accessed here.

Prof Chin-Huat Wong on Advocata Conversations | Ep.09 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Prof Chin-Huat Wong

We are back with our ninth episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. Our ninth episode is between Prof Chin-Huat Wong, Deputy Head (Strategy) UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Asia Headquarters, Sunway University and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee. He has been a keen observer of Malaysian politics for more than 25 years, and was active in the civil society-based Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) for 17 years after his recent retired.

Check out our previous episode with Iain Rennie, Managing Director of Iain Rennie Consulting and the Former State Services Commissioner of New Zealand

Market Competitiveness of the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka

Advocata Institute launches its latest report titled “Market Competitiveness of the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka” The report is written by Sudaraka Ariyaratne, Research Consultant at Advocata Institute.

The report begins with an introductory chapter that details the historical evolution of the island’s tea industry. The report finds that the present standing of the industry in the context of the international market is not too grim, but argues that issues related to the labour market, capital investment, value addition, and quality control limit the industry’s competitiveness in the global stage. The rest of the report takes the form of four discussion papers, each on the four areas of concern listed above, that present an economic theory-based lens to approach these issues, and discuss potential solutions.

You can access the report on ‘Market Competitiveness of the Tea Industry of Sri Lanka’ here

Housing For All: The Role of Competition Policy In Construction

The Advocata Institute hosted a conference on December 13th at the Lavender Hall, BMICH on the topic Housing For All: The Role of Competition Policy In Construction. The conference facilitated two separate discussion sessions on Trade and Competition Policy: Impact on Affordable Housing in Sri Lanka and Regional Housing Crisis: The Role of Competition in Construction Markets, with panelists who are experts in the relative conversations. This event was in partnership with the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

The agenda for the sessions can be found here

Access the presentation by Dr Roshan Perera here

Policy Briefs:

Access the policy brief on Unshackling Markets: The Case Against Import Controls and Price Controls in Sri Lanka by Advocata Institute

Access the policy brief on Impact of Anti- Competitive Practices in the Construction Industry on Housing for the Urban Poor in India

Access the policy brief on Impact of Anti-competitive Practices in the Construction Industry on Housing for the Urban Poor in Pakistan

Access the policy brief Impact of Anti-competitive Practices in the Construction Industry on Housing for the Urban Poor in Bangladesh

Iain Rennie on Advocata Conversations | Ep.08 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Iain RennieI

We are back with our eight episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. Our eight episode is between Iain Rennie, Managing Director of Iain Rennie Consulting and the Former State Services Commissioner of New Zealand and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee.

Check out our previous episode with Dr Irvin Studin, founder, editor-in-chief, publisher of Global Brief magazine, & the president of The Institute for 21st Century Questions, a leading Canadian think tank

Advocata Policy Brief : Minimum Room Rates

The proposed minimum room rates seek to place a rate of USD 100 on 5 star hotels, USD 75 for 4 star hotels, USD 50 for 3 star hotels, USD 35 for 2 star hotels, and USD 20 for 1 star hotels within the city of Colombo, effective from October 1, 2023. This will, in effect, act as a price control, ensuring that hotels within these star classifications located within the city of Colombo cannot price their rooms at rates lower than those prescribed by the government. The below policy brief will explore the dynamics of the hotel industry and provide a critical analysis of the potential consequences and challenges of implementing this scheme. By critically evaluating these effects, we aim to provide policymakers and stakeholders with a holistic perspective to inform their decisions.

Here is a link to Advocata’s Policy Brief on Sri Lanka’s Minimum Room Rates

Dr Irvin Studin on Advocata Conversations | Ep.07 | Murtaza Jafferjee | Dr Irvin Studin

We are back with our seventh episode of 'Advocata Conversations!'

This is a series of discussions, where we converse with esteemed industry leaders on policy and economy! With Advocata Conversations we aim to capture insights from experienced policymakers on policy reforms and their impact. Our seventh episode is between Dr Irvin Studin, founder, editor-in-chief, publisher of Global Brief magazine, & the president of The Institute for 21st Century Questions, a leading Canadian think tank and the Chair of Advocata, Murtaza Jafferjee.

Note that this is the audio of the conversation between Murtaza & Dr Studin.

Check out our previous episode with Dr Swarnim Waglé, an Elected Member of Federal Parliament of Nepal and former Chief Economic Advisor at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) in New York