President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to promptly resolve outstanding issues relating to the proposed contributory pension scheme for Sri Lankan migrant workers and ensure its inclusion in this year’s Budget proposals.

Highlighting that overseas workers remain one of the country’s largest sources of foreign exchange earnings, the President stressed the need for a structured and sustainable pension scheme to safeguard their future. He called for swift action to implement the initiative without delay.

The directive was issued while chairing a review of projects implemented under the 2026 budget allocations and the 2027 pre‑budget discussion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, held at the Presidential Secretariat today (16).

Beyond migrant worker welfare, the President also addressed several other areas:

• Tourism funding: Financial allocations for tourism development projects are to be transferred directly to District Secretaries, enabling faster implementation through coordination between District Development Committees and Tourism Committees.
• Integrated development: Programmes proposed by the Road Development Authority around Sigiriya, Galewela and Trincomalee will be jointly implemented with the Ministry of Tourism and the Department of Archaeology to save time and resources.
• Procurement reforms: Officials were instructed to adopt the new procurement framework introduced by the Ministry of Finance, allowing activities to commence from the first week of January each year, with separate interventions for specialised projects such as tourism construction.
• Tourism promotion: Upcoming programmes include the Asian Broadcasters’ Conference, alongside digitalisation initiatives with the Ministry of Digital Affairs to enhance consular services.
• Asset reporting: The President noted that no comprehensive report on assets and lands under the Ministry of Tourism had been prepared previously and directed officials to expedite its completion.
• Workforce training: With the tourism sector expected to require around 800,000 workers by 2030, plans are underway to expand training programmes through hotel schools to meet future demand. (Newswire)

The post Seven key directives from President’s pre‑budget review appeared first on Newswire.