A preliminary discussion on modernising Sri Lanka Post was held on Friday afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat between Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake and officials of the Department of Posts.
The President’s Media Division said the meeting followed directives issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the 2027 pre-Budget discussion of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on 9 July. It focused on identifying the obstacles to modernisation and on turning the postal service into a more efficient and financially sustainable operation.
Parcels the growth area
Postmaster General S. R. W. M. R. P. Sathkumara said the department currently operates across three main areas: financial services delivered in partnership with banks and insurance institutions, traditional postal services, and parcel delivery.
Parcel delivery “has significant potential and a growing market,” he said, with the department serving an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of the available market — leaving considerable room to expand.
The Postmaster General said reform was needed in two areas in particular: strengthening the department’s business decision-making capacity, and improving remuneration for staff engaged in revenue-generating services. A study on those reforms is under way in collaboration with the Treasury.
Restructuring for a smaller letter business
Dr. Kumanayake said postal services worldwide had evolved alongside technological and economic change by adopting modern features and continuously adapting their operations.
While traditional postal services are gradually declining, he said, new opportunities are emerging through e-commerce and internet-based parcel delivery — and the scale of those opportunities is greater than the decline in traditional operations.
He said the department’s workforce and infrastructure would need to be restructured to capitalise on them, and pointed to the potential for the Department of Posts to support national and international trade through digitalisation.
