Sea energy idea ignored by Governments since ’80s
The current power crisis could have been averted if politicians had implemented a cheap and cost-effective method to harness wave power from the seas surrounding the island, according to hotelier-turned-inventor Duncan Wickramasinghe. Mr. Wickramasinghe, in an interview with the Business Times on Friday, charged successive governments with turning a blind eye to proposals brought by [...]
Lion Brewery says cheers to tax cuts
The Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC saw its volume bouncing back with better tax policies, after the unfair tax hike it faced four years ago. The company is just recovering from the 40 per cent volume drop it saw during 2015 onwards when beer excise duties were increased 70 per cent. In both mild and strong [...]
Crackdown on money launderers conniving with vehicle trade
Sri Lanka is to crackdown on money launderers engaged in cleaning drug money by passing it through layers of banks and businesses and mainly using it to buy luxury expensive cars, land and property, Presidential Secretariat sources disclosed. President Maithripala Sirisena has issued a directive to the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) to keep an eye [...]
Ceylon Tea loses flavour with buyers
Plantation companies are facing a crisis as about 25 per cent of stocks of Ceylon Tea particularly the western high growns during this peak season remain unsold at the auctions. About 20-25 per cent of the western high growns on certain auctions and about 35 per cent of particular grades of high growns on occasion [...]
IMF facility for Sri Lanka remains unchanged
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given an assurance to Sri Lanka that the Extended Fund Facility arrangement of around US$1.5 billion will remain unchanged, as approved in June 2016, IMF official sources said. The lending agency has arrived at this decision despite the setback in the Government’s commitment towards economic reforms during the 52-day [...]
Being honest
When the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), Director-General Sarath Jayamanne, and a Government delegation recently visited Bhutan for an anti-corruption conference, they met the country’s Prime Minister. As tradition requires and as a token of friendship in meetings of this nature, the delegation presented the Prime Minister with a souvenir. “The [...]
Ageing students in free education
In January this year, university students from South Asian countries gathered in Colombo. Once a year they gather in a city of a South Asian country to participate at their South Asian Economics Students’ Meet – an annual conference and get-together of Economics undergraduates in the region. This year the event was held in Colombo [...]
Keep your entrepreneurship ideas simple and work together, says Dr. Wijay
Keep your million-dollar idea, which will transform the world, simple. This is the sage advice Dr. Bandula Wijay, one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent inventors of medical devices, had to offer aspiring students from the Universities of Moratuwa and the Colombo Medical College hell-bent on becoming the new wave of entrepreneurs. With stars in their [...]
Abuse of orphans happens in most care-homes locally and abroad
In Sri Lanka and in most developed countries in the world the stories one hears at orphanages on neglect and abuse, including physical, verbal and sexual abuse of orphans by those who are entrusted to look after them is shocking, said the former President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, chief Guest at the Orphan [...]
Celebrating International Water Day
The International Water Day which fell on March 24 was marked by the Sunil Gamage Foundation along with Tsukuba Technical Promotions (Pvt) Ltd, an agency which trains and provides opportunities for local youth to obtain much needed technical knowledge and practical experience while working in Japanese organisations in Japan. The two organisations undertook a CSR [...]
SEC files action against powerful businessman Dr. Sena Yaddehige
Powerful businessman Dr. Sena Yaddehige has been charged with insider dealing by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) in a case filed on March 7 before the Fort Magistrate’s Court. The SEC said in a media statement on Sunday that the charge pertained to dealing in the shares of Kegalle Plantations PLC [...]
Power cut adversely affects SMEs, corporate sector
Power cuts effected through two time slots daily has created severe inconvenience to small and medium industries as well as corporate entities, the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka has said. Larger industries are not affected to an extent, because most of them have standby generators. It’s the small and medium scale businesses and [...]
PPP infrastructure project procurement undergoes reforms
Sri Lanka goes ahead with public procurement reform in the implementation of private sector mega infrastructure projects under Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis. A large sum of scarce resources has been wasted due to lack of procurement planning, contract management, and more significantly, disregarding the key principles of accountability, transparency, and value for money (VFM). [...]
BOC’s 2018 pre-tax profit of Rs. 31.9 bn, highest in the industry
Bank of Ceylon, having nearly completed 80 successful years, has closed 2018 with another record of Rs.31.9 billion Profit Before Tax (PBT) with a growth of 5 per cent along with the spearheaded growth reported across its balance sheet Its CEO/General Manager Senarath Bandara said that these notable achievements once again propagate the readiness of [...]
Financial Asset Management Company to resurrect ailing finance companies
Sri Lanka’s ailing licensed finance companies are to be resurrected by infusing fresh capital as liquidity support to manage their non-performing loans with state support. New regulations will be introduced by the Central Bank (CB) to safeguard the interests of depositors by taking prompt action against non-compliant, ailing and high risk finance companies, high official [...]
Sri Lankan Female Business Leader at US Fortune’s Mentorship Programme
Manohari Abeyesekera, Head of Strategic Business Development at Hayleys PLC, joined women leaders from 15 countries in the US last week for the Fortune-US Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership. Ms. Abeyesekera and 18 other participants will spend a month working with executives from the Fortune Most Powerful Women community to enhance their business [...]
Extraordinary growth by LankaProperty Web in 2019
Sri Lanka’s leading real estate website, LankaPropertyWeb.com, has recorded another successful year in 2018, showing an extraordinary growth in traffic and other vital metrics to the website. Buoyed by the demand for rentals, new developments and sales, the website has recorded a significant increase in the number of users, visits, duration of the visit and [...]
Call for anti-corruption policies in Sri Lanka’s corporates
While Sri Lanka is on the top of the grey list of countries where money laundering is concerned, corruption is the root cause for topping the list. Providing the knowledge and education of anti-corruption policies must begin within the corporate institutions, stressed a panel of experts at a recent discussion. The Sunday Times Business Club-hosted [...]
Innovate your Innovation!
In entrepreneurial contexts, innovation is generally seen as a development team producing a prototype that manufacturing and marketing teams will take to the market, ideally before the competition does. Admitting that there are situations where such simple strategies work, a holistic outlook and the application of novel concepts can help businesses generate winning products within [...]
‘RockStars – Growing Stellar Performers in the Organisation’ book launched in Australia
The book ‘RockStars – Growing Stellar Performers in the Organisation’ by Rozaine Cooray and Dr Pujitha Silva was launched in Australia on March 14 at The Grand Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria. The event was sponsored by Deakin University which is rated as one of the top universities globally. Deakin recognised the innovative practices, research and methodologies [...]
Aitken Spence Travels welcomes 200,000th visitor within a year
Aitken Spence Travels, the largest inbound tour operator in Sri Lanka, welcomed its 200,000th ‘happy visitor’ last week for the FY 2018/19. The company has recorded a growth of tourist arrivals, essentially building on its past performance of 178,000 visitors during its previous FY of 17/18. “Aitken Spence Travels generated more than 400,000 room nights [...]
Lakmini Wijesundara crowned ‘SAARC Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ for 2018
Lakmini Wijesundara, Co-founder and CEO of IronOne Technologies and BoardPAC in Sri Lanka, was recently chosen as the SAARC Woman Entrepreneur for the year 2018 from a pool of exemplary women entrepreneurs in the South Asian region at a glittering ceremony in Colombo. Aspiring to create strong role models in South Asia with the belief [...]
Coffee and dates portray a taste of Saudi Arabia on International Day
Guests at the Saudi Arabia stall at International Day held last Saturday at the Defence Military Academy in Kiribathgoda got a taste and feel for the Kingdom when they were treated to Arabic coffee and dates. The Sri Lanka Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC) celebrated International Day with overseas students from more than [...]
Sri Lanka performing below potential, says ADB chief economist
Sri Lanka is clearly underperforming as its growth rates and targets indicate but as a top Asian Development Bank (ADB) official stated if the country achieves its potential it could grow to over 5 per cent. However, under the current circumstances, the ADB in its outlook report forecasts a growth rate of 3.6 per cent [...]
Aussie’s ‘MyBudget’ to invest AU$4 m in Sri Lanka’s software development
While Sri Lankan software engineers and software architects have advanced tremendously in the technological spectrum in foreign countries, Australian company MyBudget, an institution that manages finances of an individual online, is eyeing to invest AU$4 million in Sri Lanka to recruit quality software engineers. The company recently set up its Software Development Centre in Sri [...]
DMS Electronics wins for Quest and Micro Focus business at Click’2019
DMS Electronics, (DMSE) one of Sri Lanka’s most respected IT System Integrators, clinched two coveted principal awards for Quest and Microfocus business at Click ’2019 – the annual partner event hosted by value added distributor EGuardian. It was held recently at the Jetwing Blue, Negombo . “As the longest standing System Integrator in Sri Lanka [...]
“Sri Lanka’s vehicles conundrum”
Reference to the Kussi Amma Sera column under the above title on March 24, it must be stated that, yes Sri Lankans deserve better train and bus services. The current riders suffer crowds, noise, pollution, and harassment. They have no choice. They will accept even a small improvement with pleasure. But, what is the level [...]
HNB’s SME awareness and capacity building in Uva/ Sabaragamuwa
HNB PLC, Sri Lankan pioneers in the field of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), successfully hosted an awareness and financial capacity building workshop for its SME customers in the Uva and Sabaragamuwa region, recently. The full day workshop was hosted under the theme of ‘Sustainable development to empower small and medium enterprise’ and focused on [...]
BOC Senior Citizen’s Account towards the golden years of life
The Bank of Ceylon (BOC), which has been able to assist people of all walks of life with products and services that are tailor made to cater each segment, says its senior citizen’s account aims to boost their confidence through multiple benefits within the account. Currently BOC Senior Citizen’s savings account, offers higher interest rate [...]
SriLankan Airlines formulates new 5-year Strategic Business Plan
SriLankan Airlines has formulated a new five-year Strategic Business Plan for the period 2019-24 with the objective of transforming itself into a financially viable organisation airline group with high brand visibility and a global reputation for excellence. In a media release on Thursday, the airline said the Strategic Business Plan, prepared by the airline management [...]
Ceylon Cold Stores supports combating vision impairment
Ceylon Cold Stores PLC (CCS) in collaboration with John Keells Foundation conducted three cataract camps during the financial year 2018/19 benefiting disadvantaged communities in Horowpathana (Anuradhapura District), Sooriyawewa (Hambantota district) and Kaduwela (Colombo District), as part of its Vision 2020 programme. A total of 448 persons were examined at the eye camps with the support [...]