Peek into the future
The Sunday Times Business Club on Tuesday organised an interesting discussion on “Sri Lanka: Life in the future” at the Movenpick Hotel in Colombo. From left: Ants Global (Pvt) Ltd owner, Tilak Dissanayake (speaking); MAS Holdings Chief Growth Officer, Nathan Sivagananathan; Vega Innovations Director, Dr. Beshan Kulapala and Balmond Studio Managing Director, John Balmond were [...]
China delays Hambantota Port deal’s final tranche
The Chinese company-lessee of Hambantota Port is refusing to release the final lease rent of US$585 million to the Sri Lankan Government unless a man-made island – which has been built as an entertainment facility off Hambantota – is also given, as part of the deal. In a related development, this time from the Sri [...]
Amazon to cash in on Lankan clothing
Amazon, one of the largest online shopping portals has been in town and held a round of talks with the apparel industry on Thursday targeting some of the big names in the industry to sell their products on the digital platform. Officials from Amazon India which is in proximity to Sri Lanka has been in [...]
Bureaucratic bungling drags SLT into crisis
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), the national telecommunication service provider, is facing another crisis as some of its key divisions are likely to be closed down, with workers moved to other sections, amidst allegations by trade unions that the company was conducting politically influenced countrywide recruitment drive under the guise of restructuring. Discussions are underway [...]
EU’s long winters dampen apparel exports in Q 1
Retail demand in the European Union for Sri Lankan apparel was at a mere 5 per cent increase in the first quarter of this year compared to 2017. This was a drop in expectations on the back of the GSP plus trade facility that resumed in July 2017. Sri Lanka Exporters Association (SLEA) President Felix [...]
Calm before the storm
“Budu ammo, Mahattaya … onna enawa … onna enawa (my God, sir, it’s coming… there it’s coming),” shouted Kussi Amma Sera as she ran into the house, with clattering “chatti” pots in tow. She had been cleaning them outside on a bright Thursday morning when the clouds suddenly turned dark and, sensing danger or the [...]
Allergic to “Foreign Talents”
If you want to grow, you should be encircled by people who can challenge you; put it in other words, if you are the “smart”one in your own circle, it would be difficult for you to grow. This is a profound statement that can be applied to the progress of our children or our people [...]
People’s Insurance services available at the click of a button
Buying insurance will be made available for the people at the click of a button by People’s Insurance Plc through its latest digital innovation strategy, a top official of the People’s Bank’s flagship subsidiary said. Chief Executive Officer of People’s Insurance PLC Deepal Abeysekera told the Business Times that they are forging ahead with its [...]
AIA first SL insurer to win an IQA for ‘Growth in the World’
AIA Insurance has been recognised as one of LIMRA’s 2018 Top 5 Companies for the ‘Advisor International Quality Award (IQA) – growth in the world’. This new award recognises companies who have experienced the highest year- on- year growth percentage of over 20 per cent of IQA qualifiers for the last two years, the company [...]
Epic milestone from local company
“We are considered as an international player offering world class solutions to financial services including digitalising process of many banks in Sri Lanka. We have taken our technology to the region and started operations in Japan, Singapore and Malaysia to make Epic a global brand,” said Dr. Nayana Dehigama, Executive Chairman / Managing Director of [...]
Unfair taxation on entrepreneurs versus large companies
The new Inland Revenue Act (IRA) could badly affect individual Sri Lankans or rather those involved in business like in agriculture for instance. While they are taxed at 24 per cent for running a business, the same business performed by a company is taxed at only 14 per cent, a tax expert noted. Kapila Athukorala, [...]
Teejay Lanka doubles capacity of India plant with $15 million expansion
Teejay Lanka, one of the region’s largest textile manufacturers, has announced a doubling of capacity of its Indian mill, following the completion of an expansion project involving an investment of US$ 15 million (more than Rs 2.3 billion at current rates). Located within the 1,000-acre Brandix India Apparel City (BIAC) in Vizag, Andra Pradesh, Teejay [...]
Top property hot-spots around Colombo
A recent study done by LankaPropertyWeb.com reveals the average residential land prices around Colombo and which areas the prices have gone up. In one of the most comprehensive studies done on land for sale asking prices (for-sale prices) around Colombo listed on their website, the suburbs of Nawala, Dehiwala and Rajagiriya have topped the list [...]
Bringing quality ideas to real life is about winning an Effie award
While advertising plays a significant role in building a brand’s success, bringing out the qualitative and quantitative ideas to real life makes it exceptional, to stand out the best from the rest. ‘Effie awards’ is one such platform that recognises creative ideas that makes an enormous impact in a society. In continuing to raise the [...]
SLT Rainbow Pages National Business Directory now comes out annually
SLT Rainbow Pages National Business Directory (Western Province) 2018/19 is now being published annually instead of once in two years, Chief Executive Officer of the SLT Digital Services (Pvt) Ltd Malraj Balapitiya told the Business Times. Free distribution of this comprehensive directory to all government institutions countrywide and all business organisations in the Western Province [...]
Hayleys Group crosses US$ 1 bn turnover in FY2017/18
Building on a strong momentum gathered over the final quarter of FY 2017/18, Sri Lanka’s leading diversified conglomerate, Hayleys PLC says it ended the year with “a record breaking top-line performance” as revenue expanded by 47 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs. 163.2 billion in the 12 months ending March 2018. The group posted strong [...]
OBG’s view on Sri Lankan economy
Sri Lanka’s plans to transition into a high-income, knowledge-based economy through ambitious fiscal reforms, new trade deals and added-value exports are contained in a new report from the global research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG). The “Report: Sri Lanka 2018” tracks growth in the tradable sector as the country targets US$20 billion in [...]
Aitken Spence posts 22 % growth in pre-tax profit for 2017/18
Aitken Spence PLC recorded a steady financial performance for the financial year ending March 2018 with a 22 per cent year-on-year growth in profit-before-tax to Rs. 6.4 billion, its highest ever, from Rs. 5.2 billion. In a media release, the leading conglomerate said it recorded an increase in its annual revenue by 14.9 per cent [...]
Ceylinco Life’s 2017 net profit grows to Rs. 9.4 bn
Ceylinco Life has announced that its net profit for the year ending 31st December 2017 is Rs. 9.467 billion. This, the company said in a media release, includes a one-off surplus of Rs. 3.456 billion generated by a change in the basis of the valuation of Life Funds under Section 96A of the Regulation of [...]
Kleptocrats, from all sides, ruining Sri Lanka
The Sunday Times in a front-page story on May 6 headlined “Kantale Sugar Factory Bribery scam: Top officials’ deals exposed”, reported on the alleged corruption of two top public officials – the President’s Chief of Staff and a Corporation Chairman cum ex-Presidential high official. A similar event was reported in the Sunday Times in September [...]
Former Chevron Lanka MD/CEO carving out a new life
Former Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC’s long-standing Managing Director/CEO Kishu Gomes, who suddenly stepped down on Wednesday after a long ‘innings’ at two multinationals, is aiming to carve out a new future: Inspiring young people and helping society through his proven skills and ability. When Mr. Gomes resigned after 22 years at Chevron of which 18 [...]
Sega Nagendra honoured with CMI lifetime award
Sega Nagendra, former Senior Director of Carson Cumberbatch PLC and who still continues to hold many non Executive Director posts in companies engaged in diverse business activities, was recently awarded the CMI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017. The Chartered Management Institute, UK – Sri Lanka Branch held its awards presentation ceremony in Colombo recently. In [...]
KleenPark gifted to employees by ‘reincarnated’ Ranjan Ratnasena
DUMBFOUNDED IN DEHIWELA: What else would you expect on hearing that an owner of a company has gifted, yes GIFTED, his business to his employees. In today’s world of avarice and greed, this is indeed a remarkable story of a man, who given a second chance in life, has showed that the well-being of people [...]
Cyaniq.social hosts SL’s First Instagram Collaborator Forum on June 22
With the rising popularity of the Instagram platform in Sri Lanka, Cyaniq.social, a premier proponent of the platform, has announced plans to host the platform’s first Collaborator Forum in Sri Lanka on June 22 at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo. Over the past year, Instagram has seen a rapid rise in popularity with the youth [...]
Singer to partner with US furniture maker
The Singer Group is eyeing partnerships with local and foreign firms to grow their furniture business exponentially with a wider selection available to customers in a larger range of showrooms, officials say. “For starters we want to partner with Domus Vita, an American furniture manufacturer with new models and designs,” an official told the Business [...]
Poultry producers urge Government intervention to regulate maize distribution
Sri Lanka’s poultry industry has warned that a “staggering” 250,000 MT shortfall in domestic maize production, continues to drastically hamper industry growth. In a media statement, President of the All Island Poultry Association (AIPA) Ajith Gunasekara listed notable repercussions for the national economy if such trends continue unabated. Given that maize is the primary ingredient [...]
Sri Lanka Tourism has naïve slogans, uncompetitive strategies, policy mismatches
The whole world is talking about Sri Lanka Tourism the Government talks of it as one of the key economic drivers for us in the next 10 – 15 years. However, the big players are running away and most new players are bleeding. This is an oxymoron to say the least. My simple assessment is [...]
Tourism confident of promo campaign schedules
The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) seems to be gung-ho about the upcoming CNN campaign – a three month long schedule – expected to kick off next week. SLTPB Managing Director Sutheash Balasubramaniam assured that following the approvals for the campaign received by Cabinet the conditions that had been placed were normal and would [...]
West Asian traffic slows down
The tourism industry is faced with a reduction in West Asian traffic which is likely to drop by about 20-30 per cent this year mainly due to the riots and attacks on Muslims in Kandy early this year, industry officials said. Compared to last year this market will see a reduction by about 20-30 per [...]
Santani on profitable footing
Santani, a fully-fledged wellness resort in Sri Lanka located in the village of Werapitiya in the foothills of Knuckles Mountains, just 12 km off Teldeniya on the main Kandy – Mahiyangana road, has cashed in on profits in its first year of operations. Santani has 20 rooms, a healthy fine dining restaurant, a destination spa [...]
Hotels in IQCY show income growth with better arrivals
Sri Lanka’s hotels sector in 1Q CY18 have benefitted somewhat from the better tourist arrivals in the January to March period with their top line performing reasonably well, analysts say. “The Kandy riots happened in early March, so there would’ve been only a marginal impact on the results. Also, 1Q CY17 (same quarter last year) [...]
Hotels impacted by soil erosion in the South
The Coast Conservation Department (CCD) has been working on assisting hotels and other establishments affected by the erosion taking place in the South. CCD Director General Prabhath Chandrakeerthi told the Business Times on Thursday that they were assisting hotels that have been in touch with them over the soil erosion problem in the south. He [...]
Sri Lanka’s 4th Decent Work Country Programme launched
Sri Lanka’s fourth Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) was launched in Colombo last week, following a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Labour and Trade Union Relations, the ILO and organisations representing the workers and employers. It was signed by the Ministry, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC); the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya [...]
Robots and AI to replace people in another 50 years, industry experts affirm
While technology is driving the world, making everyone’s lives convenient day-by-day, robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are likely to replace people in Sri Lanka in the next 50 years. Industry experts from the apparel, travel, property and innovation sectors asserted that technology has already taken away some of the work people have been doing. The [...]
Prof. Ken Kahn highlights importance of coding culture for youngsters
Create Lab’s Academic Board Member, Prof. Ken Kahn from Oxford, was in Colombo recently conducting special computational thinking, artificial intelligence and technology enhanced learning workshops for students at Create Lab. Prof. Kahn, after earning a doctorate in computer science from MIT, spent over 30 years as a researcher in programming languages, artificial intelligence, computer animation, [...]
Health related activities 2.3 % of GDP in 3Q 2017
Human health activities, residential care and social work activities sub sector accounted for 2.3 per cent of the country’s GDP as per 3rd quarter estimates for 2017, reflecting an increase of 10 per cent over 3Q in 2016, a recent report states. Changes in Sri Lanka’s demography and epidemiology, that is, an ageing population and [...]