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Sri Lanka has bounced back fast in ‘digital transformation process”

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Sri Lanka fell back rapidly on its ‘digital transformation process’ due to the economic issues the country faced but have bounced back very fast, said Chairman for Asia Pacific, Visa, Chris Clark at a special event yesterday to mark Visa’s 35th anniversary in Sri Lanka. He said that the whole South Asian region fell back due to the COVID Pandemic but other countries caught up soon after but Sri Lanka lagged behind due to the economic issues the country faced.

“But today we observed that Sri Lanka has made rapid progress in the digital payment sector. “We expect the current digital payments which are also around USD 7 billion to increase to USD 14 billion by 2027. We also expect the e-commerce which is currently at 2.5 billion to grow up to USD 10.7 billion by 2027.”

He said that Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is one key player that is driving this growth and they expect tourism arrivals to reach the pre COVID levels next year. He said that Visa is now in Sri Lanka for the past 35 years and has helped the country in numerous ways towards creating a digital society. “We helped to introduce ATM, credit and debit cards in 1988 helping people to move from cash to plastic and now online. We’re thrilled to launch Visa Government Solutions in the market, while also strengthening our dedication to local small businesses in Sri Lanka,” said Group Country Manager for India and South Asia at Visa Sandeep Ghosh.

“Visa aims to partner with the government to modernize its payment systems, promoting efficiency in making and receiving payments, reducing fraud, and supporting the overarching goal of building a digitized economic framework. By introducing Visa Government Solutions to the country, we aim to further strengthen our relationship with the Sri Lankan government. By helping improve government payment systems, we will continue to demonstrate our commitment to helping the nation’s digital transformation agenda.”

He said that they are now working closely with the government and public sector institutions towards this. “We are very close to seeing this being implemented in transport specially railway ticketing and also in highway exit points.”

“With tourism picking and people more keen to pay from their cards and online many SME sector institutions are eager in adopting and accepting credit and debit cards and also moving online. “We are also closely working with SME merchants to shift towards this segment.”

Celebrating the 35 year milestone, Visa also announced a pledge of Rs. 13 million to the Asia Foundation to help support women-led small businesses in Sri Lanka.

“In partnership with The Asia Foundation, Visa will provide seed funding to a group of selected women-led SMBs. In addition, funding will also aid skills development, knowledge sharing and collaboration, as well as promote financial inclusion among women-led small businesses,” said Avanthi Colombage, Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives at Visa.

“With continued support and guidance from the Government of Sri Lanka and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, we stand ready to play an expanded role in the nation’s progress.”

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