Sri Lanka’s Alternative in World Mobility and Funding Migration

Sri Lanka’s World Mobility Dilemma: In in the present day’s world, the place mobility defines affect, Sri Lanka finds itself at a crossroads. In line with the CEOWORLD journal’s World Passport Energy Rating 2025, the nation at the moment sits at 89th place, on par with Burundi and solely eleven spots forward of North Korea. That rating underscores each a problem and a chance.

Sri Lankan passport holders require visas for 141 locations worldwide. Examine that with Singapore’s 23 visa necessities or the United Arab Emirates’ 19, and the hole is putting. Pakistan and Bangladesh fare worse—153 and 148 visa necessities respectively—however Sri Lanka stays removed from the worldwide elite.

The absence of visa-free entry to the European Union, the UK, Canada, and the USA additional limits Sri Lankans’ world mobility. For executives, buyers, and professionals, this restriction hampers not simply private comfort but additionally cross-border enterprise alternatives.

“Sri Lanka is just not visa-free to Europe, the UK, Canada, or the US. It doesn’t rank within the high tier of passports. Nonetheless, the ability of the passport will be elevated,” explains Caroline Mtr., JD, Esq, Chief Economist & Government Director of World and Strategic Initiatives at CEOWORLD journal.

She notes that with fastidiously designed funding migration applications, international locations can improve world mobility for residents whereas attracting much-needed capital. For Sri Lanka, such reforms might rework its passport from a limiting issue right into a strategic asset—strengthening financial resilience and opening new alternatives for buyers and world residents alike.

The World Benchmark

The World Passport Energy Rating types passports by their Mobility Rating (MS)—a composite that features visa-free entry, visa-on-arrival choices, digital journey authorizations (eTA), and expedited eVisa processes. The upper the MS rating, the larger the worldwide mobility.

On the very high sits the United Arab Emirates, with visa-free entry to 133 international locations, plus 46 extra by way of visa-on-arrival, eTA, or eVisa. Stability, visionary policymaking, and a foreign money board–like financial system make the UAE an funding magnet and a mobility powerhouse.

Sri Lanka, in the meantime, struggles with financial instability—critics level to extreme cash printing, charge cuts, and trade controls which have triggered repeated foreign money crises. Mixed with heavy outmigration (typically by unofficial channels), the state of affairs presents each threat and urgency.

Funding Migration: A Strategic Lever

CEOWORLD journal has lengthy suggested governments on the right way to improve passport power whereas concurrently attracting funding. The important thing device? Funding migration applications—structured pathways to citizenship or residency in trade for capital inflows.

“Secure international locations, particularly these with low tax charges, can entice overseas buyers by funding and residency schemes,” explains Caroline. “We suggest investing in citizenship and residency schemes for overseas buyers, enabling them an additional citizenship in case of insecurity of their house nation, to have the ability to relocate or to journey to a rustic like Sri Lanka, which their very own preliminary passport doesn’t enable them to do.”

Residency in Sri Lanka might enchantment to buyers who see strategic tax advantages or need to set up a base in South Asia. The island nation’s distinctive geographic place—straddling key Indian Ocean commerce routes—might additionally give it a aggressive benefit.

Nonetheless, Sri Lanka could be getting into a crowded discipline. Singapore, Dubai, and Hong Kong already dominate with low taxes, investor-friendly frameworks, and globally revered passports. To draw critical buyers, Sri Lanka should carve out a singular area of interest.

Focusing on New Demographics: Retirees & World Residents

Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads, with the twin problem of bettering its world passport rating and attracting overseas funding. For a nation navigating financial uncertainty, the trail ahead could lie in a technique already embraced by many forward-looking economies: funding migration applications.

In line with Prof. Dr. Amarendra Bhushan Dhiraj, CEOWORLD journal’s Government Chair, CEO, and Editorial Director, Sri Lanka has a real alternative to reposition itself on the worldwide stage.

“Sri Lanka’s passport rating in the present day displays restricted mobility, which restricts each residents and buyers. By fastidiously designing and implementing residency and citizenship-by-investment applications, the nation can strengthen its world standing whereas concurrently securing much-needed overseas capital. This twin profit—enhanced passport energy and capital inflows—can change into a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s long-term progress technique.

To enhance its rating, Sri Lanka should interact in bilateral agreements with key economies, guaranteeing broader visa-free entry for its residents. Parallel to this, structured funding migration schemes will be developed to channel overseas capital into precedence sectors equivalent to actual property, agriculture, and infrastructure. A program tied to flagship tasks like Colombo Port Metropolis might instantly entice high-net-worth people in search of second residency or citizenship choices.

World buyers in the present day are usually not simply searching for mobility; they’re in search of stability, way of life benefits, and tax efficiencies. Sri Lanka can place itself as a strategic hub in South Asia by providing clear, credible, and aggressive pathways to residency. With the best governance, due diligence, and incentive constructions, Sri Lanka might rival established locations that already dominate this house.

Bettering passport power is just not merely about journey comfort. It indicators to the world {that a} nation is open, steady, and globally built-in. Coupled with a well-executed funding residency program, Sri Lanka can create a virtuous cycle—enhancing its worldwide repute, attracting overseas direct funding, and providing residents and buyers alike larger world entry.”

For Sri Lanka, the stakes couldn’t be increased. A stronger passport and a reputable funding residency framework wouldn’t solely usher in capital but additionally restore confidence, rework the nation’s world picture, and unlock a brand new period of financial alternative.

Funding residency applications are usually not nearly entrepreneurs and hedge fund managers. Nations throughout Asia—from Thailand to Malaysia—have efficiently focused retirees searching for cost-effective but high-quality dwelling choices.

“The identical will be mentioned for individuals who could need to relocate whereas on a retirement scheme, just like those that flock to Thailand or Malaysia,” Caroline notes.

For Sri Lanka, this might imply positioning itself as a retirement haven for high-net-worth people (HNWIs) in search of tranquility, cultural richness, and favorable tax therapy. A fastidiously designed program might faucet right into a multi-billion-dollar world market of retirees in search of new existence overseas.

Sri Lanka’s Debt Disaster and the Funding Crucial

Sri Lanka is at the moment navigating a extreme debt disaster, with restricted fiscal flexibility. In line with Prof. Dr. Amarendra Bhushan Dhiraj, CEOWORLD journal’s Government Chair, CEO, and Editorial Director, funding residency applications might function a lifeline.

“Sri Lankans might additionally profit from such applications. With Sri Lanka in a debt disaster, funding residency schemes might assist the nation get funding,” he mentioned.

The alternatives lie in actual property, agriculture, and the formidable Colombo Port Metropolis mission. By structuring these sectors into residency or citizenship-by-investment applications, Sri Lanka might unlock contemporary streams of overseas capital.

Actual Property: From Port Metropolis to Nationwide Potential

Actual property improvement is a pure candidate for funding migration. All over the world, applications typically enable overseas buyers to buy property in trade for residency rights.

“If a property developer has concepts for tasks in Port Metropolis that they want to deliver to market, we might assist them with that and construction their mission as a part of the nation’s citizenship by funding program for overseas buyers,” Caroline defined.

This mannequin has labored elsewhere. From Portugal’s Golden Visa to Greece’s property-linked residency schemes, overseas capital has flowed in, creating new progress engines for actual property, hospitality, and infrastructure.

Agriculture: A Modernization Play

Past actual property, Sri Lanka has untapped potential in agriculture. The nation’s fertile land and favorable local weather supply pure benefits, however entry to fashionable expertise stays restricted.

“From my statement of the agricultural sector, there’s an absence of entry to the newest expertise. I feel that might be an avenue for the federal government to have a look at to direct funds into,” Caroline mentioned.

By integrating agriculture into residency applications—whether or not by agri-tech funding, export-oriented farms, or climate-resilient tasks—Sri Lanka might entice each capital and experience.

Competing on the World Stage

Sri Lanka is just not alone in pursuing this path. World competitors for cell wealth is fierce. The success tales—Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong—share three vital traits:

• Low or aggressive tax regimes
• Sturdy world mobility by highly effective passports
• Secure, investor-friendly political and financial environments

For Sri Lanka, attaining all three can be difficult however not unattainable. A fastidiously structured program, mixed with real reforms in fiscal coverage and governance, might rework the nation’s place within the world wealth migration panorama.

Government Takeaway

Sri Lanka could rank close to the underside of the worldwide passport hierarchy in the present day, however its story is just not static. By embracing funding migration applications, the nation might improve passport power, entice contemporary inflows of overseas capital, and place itself as a strategic hub within the Indian Ocean.

For buyers, the enchantment could be twofold: a possible tax benefit and entry to one in all Asia’s most strategically positioned markets. For Sri Lanka, the payoff might be transformative—unlocking progress in actual property, agriculture, and infrastructure whereas stabilizing its fragile fiscal outlook.

The problem is pressing, however so is the chance. If Sri Lanka takes decisive motion, its passport might change into greater than a journey doc—it might evolve right into a gateway for world capital and financial revival.

Have you ever learn?
The World’s Greatest Medical Faculties.
The World’s Greatest Universities.
The World’s Greatest Worldwide Excessive Faculties.
World Mobility and Wealth Safety: Why Citizenship by Funding (CBI) and Residency by Funding (RBI) Packages Are Important for World Executives and Excessive-Web-Price People.