SLT-Mobitel has taken a major initiative towards transforming Sri Lanka to a smart nation further improving strategically important services and sectors while digitally empowering the people.

This was disclosed by Sri Lanka Telcom Group Chairman Rohan Fernando when he announced a national proposal to introduce the new system change of SLT-Mobitel to digitally empower citizens with digitalisation of identities and strong digital security and privacy.

He was addressing ceremony held in Colombo to unveil this plan of the SLT-Mobitel as the building block for new technological innovations that can strengthen digital commerce and e-governance in all aspects of operations critical to the county.

SLT-Mobitel has identified healthcare, education, transportation, agriculture, tourism, Judiciary and banking and finance as critical services and sectors that can thrive under this new system, more efficiently and transparently.

Mr Fernado noted that key issues currently facing the country can be addressed and critical sectors and services can be transformed into highly efficient, transparent, and profitable systems which in turn can transform people’s lives.

“The is to move the country towards e-governance and digital commerce he said adding that Mobitel has the broadest presence across the value chain and unparalleled capacity to meet the needs of tech companies, large cooperates, public and state institutions

The proposal by SLT-Mobitel aims to digitalise the healthcare sector and will revolutionise the industry.

It offers access to real-time information, remote patient monitoring, preventative care, timely assistance, healthcare analysis, and overall better patient care with data privacy and security.

SLT-Mobitel has outlined the steps to digitalise Sri Lanka’s education sector pointing out that the 10,000+ schools in the country can be provided high-speed internet access through the company’s expansive fibre network.

The processes can be automated through the introduction of digital tools and technology, while libraries can be digitised for inclusive and continued access officials said.


SLT-Mobitel proposes the digitalisation of the country’s transportation sector. From multi-modal tour plans, online ticket reservations, tracking apps for public transportation such as buses and trains, providing onsite WiFi and enabling cashless payments, Sri Lanka’s transportation sector has tremendous potential to be more efficient and productive.

T-Mobitel is driving the digitalization of Sri Lanka’s agri value-chain with the Helaviru Digital Economic Centre, a platform that will provide farmers easy access to information and insights, as well as a trading platform for transparent transactions.

The company is also accelerating digital adoption of farming communities through capacity building programmes and by introducing smart farming solutions.


It is currently developing a single web portal for all potential tourists to digitally enable the country’s tourism sector.

This platform will be a centralized tourism hub, providing tourists with the information they need to plan their own stays or connect them with tour operators who have pre-planned options.

This platform will also provide much needed data and insights on the visiting tourists, which can be used to further develop the industry.

SLT-Mobitel’s proposed solution is to fully digitalise the Sri Lankan judiciary system. From establishing a digitised record keeping process, to an automated platform to set hearing dates in commercial high courts, a virtual solution for court hearings when logistics become an obstacle, and the digital integration across other entities

. SLT-Mobitel’s vision in transforming the current banking and finance sector to meet the demands of this future will see the digitalisation of this critical sector, so it is able to support cashless transactions and become a catalyst to promote e-commerce in Sri Lanka.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China, while the island state’s government seeks a financing loan from the Washington-based fund.

“China is a big creditor, and Sri Lanka has to engage proactively with it on a debt restructuring,” Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

The island of 22 million is currently engulfed by its most severe economic and political crisis in recent history.

Six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was recently appointed as president after a popular uprising ousted his predecessor following months of severe shortages of fuel, food and medicines.

The government recently decided to restrict fuel imports for 12 months.

The country owes Beijing some $6.5 billion in financing including development bank loans and a central bank swap, according to data from the Institute of International Finance (IFF).

The world’s second-largest economy has invested in projects such as highways, a port, an airport and a coal power plant. Japan and India are also bilateral creditors to Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka has to engage with its creditors, both private and official bilateral, on a debt workout to ensure debt sustainability is restored,” Srinivasan said, as he pointed out that technical talks on a new IMF program are ongoing with both officials from the finance ministry and the central bank.

Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry and central bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s embassy in Sri Lanka did not immediately respond.

The South Asian nation has requested an IMF rescue plan to overcome its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. The country defaulted on a bond payment debt earlier this year on its $12 billion overseas debt with private creditors, as it struggles to pay for imports of basic goods.

“There are some areas where we need to make further progress,” Srinivasan added, but declined to specify the top reforms Sri Lanka should address in other to reach an agreement.

An Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme from the IMF, which would be the fund’s 17th plan for the nation, requires countries to make structural economic reforms.

Maldives and Laos are other examples of countries in the region that are facing onerous debt situations.

Srinivasan said the fund is advising countries to “spend more in alleviating the impact on the poor and vulnerable but keeping budget neutral by reducing expenditures elsewhere or raising revenues where feasible.”

“It’s not just public debt, but also corporate debt and household debt – and that has implications for policy making,” he said. “The debt issue is very significant.