Rare appearance by Paski at Colombo forum
Sri Lanka’s private sector progress has been hampered by lack of coordination between state agencies, delay in decision-making by top officials and difficulty in arriving at a consensus on business matters by the two ruling political parties, a powerful advisor of the Government has said. However, R. Paskaralingam, advisor and close aide to Prime Minister [...]
CIC group changes its agri-sector model
The CIC group is bringing in a major change in its agri-domain, moving towards high-tech solutions and innovations. This plan is aimed at guiding the company business and organisational structure to a more agile and high tech direction, says Samantha Ranatunga, the Group Managing Director/CEO who is spearheading this initiative. In order to facilitate this [...]
“Continue free health,” SLMA urges
Sri Lanka should continue its free, tax-funded health scheme while any new health insurance scheme must only be a complementary strategy to free medical care, the country’s main body of medical professionals has said. The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), the apex medical association in the country, offered this piece of advice to the Government [...]
Visionary City sets the agenda for the CIFC
Recognising the need to face future changes and challenges in the financial service industry, the government has embarked on creating an eco system for high end, top 10 highly competitive services, transforming the Colombo International Financial City (CIFC) to a ‘Visionary City’. This development will have financial services, professionals, entrepreneurs, innovations, Fintech companies, and service-related [...]
Rs.350 mln tourism ad bill settled
Sri Lanka has settled its debts amounting to Rs.350 million in arrears to three international media channels following which the digital media campaign would kick off in January next year. Christian Affairs and Tourism Minister John Amaratunga told the Business Times that the digital advertising campaign is expected to kick off in January and the [...]
File ‘horas’
During the early 1980s, a journalist colleague of mine at the old Daily Mirror editorial office in Fort was adept at ‘lifting’ important files from the desks of senior government officials, quietly sneaking them into his black briefcase. This senior, pint-sized, tie-wearing journalist was affectionately known as ‘file hora’ and loved it, often breezing into [...]
Asian start-up event features speakers from 10 countries
Next month’s Asian Business Angel Forum (ABAF) 2017 in Colombo will feature prominent speakers from Silicon Valley (US), Australia, UK, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Israel, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka won the chance to host this prestigious event for the first time, beating out many Asian countries for the honour, local organisers [...]
UK PR association expels Bell Pottinger for ‘bringing industry into disrepute’
LONDON, Sept. 4 — The UK trade association for PR firms (PRCA) has this week expelled Bell Pottinger from its ranks following an investigation into the PR firm’s work for South Africa’s controversial Gupta family. As forecast by the Holmes Report last week, the PRCA opted for the harshest possible sanction, after UK-based Bell Pottinger [...]
Lanka Hydraulic reaches new heights under the present guard
Lanka Hydraulic Institute Ltd (LHI), a leading Sri Lankan engineering consultancy firm, has reached new heights by completing 22 local and international projects out of 33 this year with current expertise in ocean/coastal engineering and inland water hydraulics. The man behind the new ‘advancement’ of LHI by securing 33 new projects both locally and internationally, [...]
Study on eco-friendly paint for the construction industry
Shearmal Lihinikadu, who works at Lankem Ceylon Ltd, has published a research that deals with factors that influence consumer buying of eco-friendly paint products. He has said that many paint manufacturers offer solutions without elaborating on chemical reaction of those paints to humans, environment and buildings in the longer run. This research investigates the sources [...]
Int’l logistics sector contribution to SL GDP to double by 2025
While the contribution of the international logistics industry to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is less than 2.5 per cent as of today, the figure is expected to double by 2025, says Rohan Masakorala, CEO of Shippers Academy Colombo. Speaking at a media briefing organised to announce the 9th ‘Colombo International Yarn and Fabric [...]
Trade pact soon between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
A draft trade agreement between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka is under preparation. “We have already received the approved draft agreement from the Afghanistan government and are looking forward to sign the agreement with the Sri Lankan government,” said Munir Ghisy, Charge’d affairs of the Embassy of Afghanistan at a discussion held at the National Chamber [...]
Ceylon Index Fund top performing fund in 1H 2017
The Ceylon Index Fund (CIF) which invests in blue chip, liquid companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has emerged as the top performing Unit Trust out of all 78 mutual funds in Sri Lanka during the first half of 2017. The fund reported a performance of 15.57 per cent during the first six [...]
Retail discount culture worries top tea brand, Dilmah
A top Sri Lankan branded tea producer has raised concerns over what it calls “the prevailing discount culture in the retail industry’, arguing this has destroyed quality in most product categories. “Discounts to the extent most retailers demand now, come at a significant cost to customers and similarly to producers. The perceived short term benefit [...]
Development Lotteries chairman removed through gazette
Romesh Jayawardena, chairman of the Development Lotteries Board, has been removed by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera through a gazette notification issued on Monday, September 4. The decision dated August 31 was made by the minister under section 5 of the Development Lotteries Board Act, No. 20 of 1997. The lotteries segment in the Government has [...]
Amadeus to reach 65% market share in the region
While technologically enhancing the travel trade with modern tools and providing a global platform in the travel industry, Amadeus is aiming to reach 60 to 65 per cent market share in the Indian subcontinent, a top official from Amadeus India stated. The company while celebrating 20 years of presence in Sri Lanka, has already captured [...]
Ceylinco General Insurance post-tax profit surges in 2Q 2017
Sri Lanka’s insurance giant, Ceylinco General Insurance Ltd has reported a phenomenal surge in post-tax profit for the second quarter of 2017. In a media release, Ajith Gunawardena, company CEO, said the company recorded a premium income of Rs. 8.7 billion, up by 11.4 per cent from the corresponding quarter in 2016. The company recorded [...]
Malith, new Country Rep of Institution of Civil Engineers UK
Chartered Engineer Malith Mendis has been appointed Country Representative of the Institution of Civil Engineers UK, joining his illustrious predecessors, well-known Dr. A.N.S. Kulasinghe and Prof. Dayantha Wijeyesekera in this position. Mr. Mendis is a civil engineer with more than 35 years’ experience, a Fellow of the ICE and a Fellow of the Institution of [...]
Government unveils V2025 to make Sri Lanka rich
The Government’s economic vision 2025 to promote a knowledge-based highly competitive social market economy towards a rich country was launched in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at a ceremony which was organised devoid of traditional presentations and key note speeches, at the BMICH in Colombo on Monday. ‘Vision 2025’ [...]
Sri Lanka tipped to become a hot spot for retail industry
Sri Lanka remains favourable for retail trading being placed at 12 according to the Global Index report with even some developed countries like the Philippines below. Developed markets are looking at developing markets such as the Sri Lanka market. Sri Lanka’s total retail trade was US$31 billion in 2015 but came down in 2016 to [...]
Acer: Emerging tech to be the digital fabric connecting the new world
Our world is bursting with screens. This is what comes to mind when entering the Taiwanese multinational hardware and electronics corporation, Acer Inc.’s global press conference in Berlin on August 29. As Acer, which specialises in advanced electronics technology shows so lucidly at its avant-garde press conference bringing hundreds of global press together, it’s more [...]
Stuck in the Stone Age: Digital Payments in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is lagging behind when it comes to digital payments in a very big way. This has a severe impact on how Sri Lanka does business both internally and with the rest of the world. There also seems to be no push at policy level to address this issue and respond in a proactive [...]
Information found during an iPhone Forensics Investigation
According to Gartner, the worldwide total installed base for smartphones is currently around 7 billion units. The end-user spending has continued to shift from low-cost “utility” phones toward higher priced “basic” and “premium” smartphones. Cybercrime is defined as “unlawful acts wherein a computer is either a tool or a target or both and include tampering [...]
New book on National Economic Development
The latest addition to the literature on economic development strategies is a book by development economist, Lloyd F Yapa. Titled “Export Competitiveness and Alleviation of Poverty in South Asia, with special reference to Sri Lanka”, the book deals with the formulation of development strategies, an enabling environment for attracting investment, the structure and performance of [...]
CDL bags shipbuilding contracts
Sri Lanka has forayed into new avenues in shipbuilding with Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDL) bagging the first ever Japanese order to construct a vessel for telecommunication cable laying purposes of 5000 tonnes at a cost of US$53 million. Selected over a Japanese shipyard, the Kokusai Cable Ship Co. Ltd. in Japan preferred CDL latest designs [...]
Now ‘Nano’ homes from SL’s newest developer
A textile designer and a children’s furniture and toys designer for the last 30 years, Ms. Neelangani Hapangama who has excelled in exports to Australian and European markets, is now engaged in the property development business in Sri Lanka with sustainable real estate solutions and a global presence. The announcement of the launch of Landmark [...]
SAP to enhance transparency, job skills in Sri Lanka
Aimed at improving technological skills required to enter the future workplace, SAP will be introducing an educational programme for undergraduates and students outside colleges to gain employability as part of the government’s plans to create one million jobs. SAP Managing Director for India and Sri Lanka Deb Deep Sengupta in an interview with the Business [...]
Alliance Finance Co. Plc signs global pledge on sustainable finance
Delegates to the 7th Global Sustainable Finance Conference (GSFC 7) held in late July, supporting the U.N.-backed sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21), collectively referred to as “Agenda 2030”, have signed the “Karlsruhe Resolution” at the City Hall, Karlsruhe, Germany. The signing ceremony drew over 200 delegates from over 30 countries [...]
HNB/EDB announces new SME Export Credit facility
HNB PLC, working closely with the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB), has announced the launch of HNB SME Export Credit, a pioneering new facility designed to meet the requirements and aspirations of SMEs. “Over many years that HNB has been actively engaged in the SME sector, we have developed extensive and lasting relationships [...]
6 real estate start-ups poised to disrupt the industry
Silicon Valley may be the technology hub of the United States, but there are exciting things happening in tech around the country as well, including several real estate start-ups cropping up in New York that could have national implications. With CBRE’s acquisition of Floored in January, I noted that real estate start-ups are beginning to [...]
Colombo bourse to create avenues for real estate investors
The Colombo stock market provides many opportunities to investors to buy real estate through Sri Lanka’s capital market. Furthermore the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) sensing the interest shown by the Sri Lankans in such investments, is currently working on a real estate investment class to facilitate this kind of investment initiatives, improving the infrastructure to [...]
RIL prepares for READYWEAR bldg
Commercial space owners, RIL Property PLC will complete its READYWEAR building within a year to mirror the success of its PARKLAND commercial building, officials say. “READYWEAR building has 59,000 square feet of rentable space and we’re getting a lot of interest from prestigious local and foreign corporates,” Hiroshini Fernando CEO RIL told the Business Times. [...]
Colombo Property Show 2017 today
The MICE section of Lankians Travels and Tours (Pvt) Ltd is organising what is called the inaugural “Colombo Property Show” currently on this weekend (September 9-10) at the Berjaya Colombo Hotel. In a pre-event media release, the organisers said that the show was exhibiting stalls from apartments, newly built houses, lands and commercial property. Apart [...]
Lankan developers compete at Asian real estate competition in Singapore in Nov
PropertyGuru, Asia’s foremost online property company, has named the final shortlist of nominees for the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Sri Lanka) 2017 across the condominium, residential and commercial categories. Sri Lanka joins the esteemed PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards series for the first time in its 12-year-history as the programme expands to emerging markets this year [...]
CIC Group ventures into greenhouse farming
Sri Lanka’s long-standing conglomerate in agriculture, the CIC Group has ventured into modern agriculture practices in a big way. The company now promotes the cultivation of vegetables in greenhouses using the latest technology, Samantha Ranatunga, the Group Managing Director/CEO told the Business Times. High value vegetables will be grown for export supporting the country’s export [...]
Indian tour operator’s convention to lure more MICE
The arrival of Indian tour operators for their convention next month in Colombo was important to Sri Lanka as it would mean more MICE events being attracted to the country, according to Tourism Minister John Amaratunga This is the first time that Sri Lanka Tourism has been able to attract the Indian Association of Tour [...]