Chinese dig N’Eliya’s ‘Hela Bojun Hala’ cuisine
A group of Chinese tourists enjoying local delicacies at the ‘Hela Bojun Hala’ in Nuwara Eliya. This restaurant offers all kinds of local food. Pic by Shelton Hettiarachchi, Nuwara Eliya correspondent.
Japan firm eyes Pulmoddai rare earth mineral deposit
With the aim of adding value to Sri Lanka mineral exports, a leading Japanese conglomerate headed by a billionaire businessman has finalised a deal with local authorities to soon take over strategic mineral production, especially ilmenite at the Pulmoddai deposit. Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd (LMSL) will be restructured under a public private partnership with this [...]
State machinery runs without cog wheels
Sri Lanka’s state-run institutions and statutory boards coming under 12 ministries are functioning without heads or board of directors including Chairmen/Chairpersons due to the delay in ratifying the names proposed by relevant ministers to the President. A Presidential Committee headed by senior presidential advisor W. J. S. Karunaratne has been entrusted with the task of [...]
Banks’ low profitability keeps foreign investors away
Sri Lanka’s banking sector is faced with a serious profitability crisis on the back of large government taxes while slapped with new accounting standards that require them to adopt more impairment costs on loans, experts say. Unlike other companies, barring tobacco and liquor firms, the banks and finance companies pay nearly 60 per cent in [...]
LAUGFS Gas initiating big plans for this year
LAUGFS Gas PLC is looking forward to operating its spanking new Hambantota Terminal while gearing to go public with three of its companies, and commissioning a hydro and two solar plants this year. The company has established a LPG storage complex with a capacity of 30,000 metric tonnes in Hambantota Port at a cost of [...]
Sri Lanka mulls new policy on expatriate staff in banks
The Sri Lanka government will be introducing a broad- based policy on the employment of expatriate staff in local and foreign banks, considering the requirements for external expert contribution. The Central Bank will devise a new regulatory framework, to ensure that treasury operations of licensed banks are carried out prudently and in line with international [...]
That magic $5 bn mark
So we have hit the 5-billion dollar mark in garments exports for 2018! Five billion dollars seems to be a magical figure in Sri Lanka’s economy, particularly in the area of exports and export services income. While it was garments that have now reached this figure, the next two targets on the horizon are achieving [...]
Tourism: Flying without wings
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have been rising fast since the end of the war. Last year, the number of tourists who came to Sri Lanka was over 2.3 million. Ten years ago in 2009, it was less than half a million. Even with such an impressive growth of tourist arrival numbers, I believe that [...]
Hatch launches business incubator in Fort
Hatch, one of Sri Lanka’s largest co-working office space and business incubator, was launched this week. “It was 18 years ago that the idea of launching a start-up dawned upon me and was very excited about it,” said Jeevan Gnanam, co-founder of the project at the launch of Hatch in Colombo Fort Last week. He [...]
SEC charges individual for not showing up for inquiry
In a rare move, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged an employee of a stockbroking firm for failing to ‘show up’ for an inquiry. The SEC had summoned the said individual to record a statement pertaining to a stock market offence. He had evaded coming over to the SEC for a long period. The [...]
Encouraging social enterprises in Sri Lanka
While social enterprises are becoming an economic and social force in the world, they are considered as alternative ways of generating wealth, creating employment promoting economic development, tackling poverty and social exclusion among others. In measuring the social entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka, the Social Enterprise Sri Lanka (SESL) in partnership with the British Council conducted [...]
Sri Lanka diversifies exports into fast-growing Commonwealth economies
Sri Lanka is set to diversify exports into fast-growing economies in the Commonwealth amidst dwindling demand in major export markets, Ministry of Industry and Commerce sources said. There are 53 Commonwealth member states including the UK, with a combined population of 2.4 billion. The Commonwealth Secretariat has identified 40 new products and 15 new markets [...]
Outward Bound Sri Lanka endorsed
Sri Lanka’s Outward Bound Trust was issued a “Certificate of Endorsement” by Outward Bound International (OBI), on meeting the Licensing Requirements of Outward Bound International, valid until December 2020. This happened at the recently concluded OBI World Conference, held at Muscat, in the Sultanate of Oman, from January 14 to 17. This follows the bi-annual, [...]
Losses rise at SriLankan Airlines, Rs. 40 bn in 9mths to Dec. 2018 vs Rs. 11 bn earlier
SriLankan Airlines says it has recorded a significant improvement in its performance, for the nine months ending December 2018 against the corresponding period in the previous year. But, the airline said in a media release on Wednesday, the national carrier’s net loss for this 9-month period was US$135 million (Rs. 40 billion) against a loss [...]
SriLankan Airlines and the case for privatisation
The government’s policy document ‘Vision 2025: A Country Enriched’ positions Sri Lanka as a knowledge based, highly competitive, social market economy; and much of the content of the document is in line with increasing competition, productivity and efficiency. The state of SriLankan Airlines, however, is in the antithesis of efficiency and productivity. The airline has [...]
Political upheaval can derail development of the country
Owing to the political turmoil that prevailed in the country during the past two months, potential lending agencies were reluctant to lend any money to Sri Lanka. The Staff level Agreement that was reached with the IMF on October 26 last year fell apart due to political upheavals in Sri Lanka and the Minister of [...]
“Committees and committees”
Ajith Dias, former chairman of SriLankan Airlines has written with reference to the January 13 column of “Kussi Amma Sera” under the above headline. Mr. Dias does not dispute the losses of Srilankan Airlines that were reported, according to the annual reports and comparisons of the losses in 2015/16 and 2016/17 with those of 2008/09. [...]
NDB: First Sri Lankan company to obtain Global Gender Equality Certification
EDGE – Economic Dividends for Gender Equality – is the leading global standard for gender equality which has assessed NDB’s policies, practices and numbers in five different areas: Equal pay for equivalent work, recruitment and promotion, leadership development training and mentoring, flexible working and company culture. As a result, NDB said in a media release [...]
Time to tell the world Sri Lanka’s the best
It was just the other day that I was asked about how recent endorsements Sri Lanka has been bagging has created a talking point among most people. Thinking about it I noticed that a trend has picked up for Sri Lanka to become one of the most endorsed travel destinations which I believe we need [...]
Sri Lanka drives on Rs.5 bn promo spend in 2019
Sri Lanka will be driving promotions this year with an allocation of Rs.5 billion, the state promotion bureau officials said. The allocations made for tourism promotion for this year of Rs.5 billion has been set aside for a number of areas in promoting the destination, officials told the Business Times on Thursday. About 37 per [...]
Tourism Hotel School on major upgrade,revamp
Sri Lanka’s premier training institute for the students of the hotel industry is about to undergo a complete overhaul with a revamp of the building itself and improving the quality of the education. The industry requires a quick training programme that would help build a career path and which needs certification, the newly appointed Sri [...]
Sri Lanka Army prepares for culinary feat
The Sri Lanka Army is gearing up to bag some awards at a culinary competition held later this year — taking the task very seriously. A group established as the International Volunteers Association of Sri Lanka with the current Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) Chairman Dilip De Silva and former Senior [...]
Daily flights to Colombo by Thai Lion Air
Thai Lion Air will start direct, daily flights from Colombo to Bangkok from January 30. The flight is scheduled to take off from Colombo at 9.30 am and arrive at Don Mueang Airport (Bangkok) at (local time) 14:45 pm. Capt. Darsito Hendro Seputro, Chairman of the Board, Thai Lion Air said Thai Lion Air is [...]
Public awaits Ministry response to CoE report
The Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade is yet to make public its counter submissions and observations on startling revelations made by the 5-member Presidential Committee of Experts (CoE) in its 286- page report released recently on the Sri Lanka Singapore FTA. A top level ministry official last week confirmed to the Business Times [...]
Trust promotes trade and trade promotes trust, says CB Governor
A cross country analysis shows that when there is trust among people, economies do well. Trust promotes trade and trade promotes trust and these two characters are mutually enforcing, says Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy. Delivering his keynote address at the inauguration of the 15th South Asian Economics Students [...]
Hell on the Highway: What the morning commute does to your day
Amali walks into office on a Monday morning disgruntled. The time reads 9.05 am, and she already feels exhausted. She takes a moment to register the slight pulse of a headache, the gnawing sense of irritation in her mind, and the feeling of fatigue and burden on her shoulders. As she sits down at her [...]
University of Moratuwa’s MechX-2019 showcases local talent
WIND-BLOWN IN MORATUWA: Not only did Dinusha Silva have to reach into his pocket to fund his final year project for the annual exhibition to showcase the talents of undergraduates emerging from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Moratuwa, but he also had to suffer an injury in the pursuit of his [...]
ComBank helps build Lanka’s first vocational training centre for Autistic youth
The construction of Sri Lanka’s first model vocational training centre for children and youth with Autism was recently completed with financial support from the CSR Unit of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon and the Lions Club District 306-C-1. This Development Centre for Children and Youth with Autism was built in Pilimathalawa, Kandy, in response to [...]
Royal Aeronautical Society awards Johanne Jayaratne
The Royal Aeronautical Society has awarded Sri Lanka’s former Airport and Aviation Services Executive Director Johanne Jayaratne the Society’s Global Silver Medal 2018 in recognition of his significant contributions to the aerospace and aviation industries. Also known as the RAeS, the society is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. It [...]
Students returning back to Sri Lanka after higher education have dropped drastically
While on one hand educational exhibitions have become platforms for core business models in Sri Lanka, students leaving overseas for higher studies and not returning back to the country has increased. Last week one of the recognised education exhibitions in Sri Lanka, EDEX Expo had a media briefing at the Royal College in Colombo. The [...]
Presidential Committee of Experts silenced SLSFTA trumpet blast
Despite the trumpet blast with which the government introduced the Sri Lanka Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA), no tangible benefits could be reaped from the accord, the Presidential Committee of Experts (CoE) has said in concluding their report. Sri Lanka’s balance of payments is likely to weaken as a result of the SLSFTA due to [...]
Local trio to pitch new mind-reading tech at Microsoft Imagine Cup Regional Finals
A team, comprising M.R. Sajeer Ahamed, M.I. Inzamam and Saif A.C. from the University of Moratuwa will represent Sri Lanka at the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2019 Regional Finals. The trio were the only participants from the South East Asia New Markets to be selected. The team from Sri Lanka (named The Straw Hats) will compete [...]
CNN Travel selects Santani as one of the Best Wellness Retreats for 2019
CNN Travel, one of the top travel publishers, has selected 11 wellness retreats across the world as the top retreats to visit in 2019, this time including a Sri Lankan resort – Santani. In a media release, Vickum Nawagamuwage, CEO and the Founder of Santani stated “Global accolades of this nature are extremely important not [...]
Jaffna international trade fair ends today
The Jaffna International Trade Fair(JITF), the multi-faceted gateway to the north which brings together some of Sri Lanka’s favorite brands and services, got underway on Friday and ends today (January 27). The 10th edition of JITF, named “The Gateway to the North”, is an event and meeting hotspot for traders and business, both local and [...]
‘STAX Digital Customer Experience Audit’ helps better understand your digital maturity
STAX’s Digital Customer Experience Audit, which has been developed taking into account 20+ years of global corporate growth experience, helps identify critical areas of improvement while benchmarking a company’s digital footprint with peers. In a comprehensive island-wide survey conducted by STAX, a global management consulting firm, it was revealed that seven out of 10 Sri [...]
Selyn recognised by IFC in offering employer-supported childcare
Selyn, Sri Lanka’s only fair-trade guaranteed handloom company, has been recognised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as one of 15 organisations to offer employer-supported childcare in the country. Selyn currently employees over 1,000 workers of which 90 per cent are women, leading the company to prioritise providing an enabling work environment to retain its [...]