Loss-making stockbrokers may not last six months
With the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) indices at historic lows, certain stockbroking houses will have to close shop in the next six months, market analysts say. This is because the brokers’ commissions are not enough to segregate between 24 stockbrokers and on top of that the low money circulation has put them in a spot. [...]
Lanka’s Rs.1 trillion revenue collection target, a distant dream
Sri Lanka’s revenue collection target of Rs.1 trillion by 2019/2020 through the expansion of the tax payer base in the country, while adjusting indirect and direct tax has become a distant dream owing to weak tax administration at present, official forecast revealed. In a damning exposure, the Auditor General’s Department disclosed that as a result [...]
Iconic Salu Sala shut on Maithripala’s orders
Sri Lanka’s state owned handloom textile wholesale and retail giant in the 1960s, Lanka Salu Sala is no more with the President’s latest decision to close down the iconic institution. He has directed the Industries and Commerce Ministry Secretary to release the company’s Jawatta branch land belonging to it to the Police Department and ordered [...]
Industry reps removed from key tea promo committee
With the Sri Lanka tea industry just months away from launching its much-awaited global promotional campaign in September, a number of stakeholder representatives have been removed from the Promotion and Marketing Committee (PMC) said to be due to certain “structural changes” required by authorities. Plantations Minister Navin Dissanayake on June 7 had informed the respective [...]
STBC discusses tourism crisis
Challenges in tourism in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday carnage will be the theme of this month’s topic at the Sunday Times Business Club. The discussion will be held on June 25 at the Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo which is the club’s host hotel.The three speakers for the event are Ms. Shiromal Cooray – Chairperson [...]
Theatrics in the ‘Kussiya”
In the past two to three years, various characters have sprung to life in this column, discussing the vagaries of the weather, gossip in the village, political happenings to – last but not least – the health of the economy and business developments. Through conversations with these individuals, the column has brought to the fore [...]
Lament of the middle class
Recently, I received a phone call from a friend who was known to me since my childhood. For the past 40 years, however, I hadn’t met him more than a couple of times. Let’s call him Piyal, which is not his real name. Born as the eldest in a poor family with five more siblings, [...]
Ditching the cruelty and cholesterol
It’s comforting that many are dumping the clichéd lists of vegan-myths such as being malnourished, long-haired, or a flower child. Now veganism is increasingly turning into one of the trendiest diets around the world and it has caught on in Colombo. So Soul Food, owned by husband and wife duo – Saliya Perera and Ina [...]
Sampath Bank signs MOU with Rajarata University for R&D
Sampath Bank, taking yet another momentous step towards supporting youth pursuing tertiary education, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Faculty of Management Studies of the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. Sampath Bank’s partnership with Rajarata University aims to promote the faculty’s research and development as well as training aspects pertaining to the subjects [...]
Community service projects by Ceylon Biscuits gathers momentum
Galenbindunuwewa, a remote area in North Central Sri Lanka, in the Anuradhapura district, home to a community of about 120 families, was the most recent beneficiary of the ‘Munchee Samaga Gamata Sarana’ community programme designed to uplift the living standards of our rural people. Munchee, the flagship brand of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd (CBL), has been [...]
Three Sri Lankan start-ups at Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), Netherlands
1,200 investors and entrepreneurs from across the world attended the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) that took place from June 3-6 at The Hague, Netherlands. Takas.lk, Busbookings.lk and Saaraketha were among the Sri Lankan companies selected to attend this selected summit representing the ground-breaking work that they are doing in technology and organic farming. The US [...]
Fuss over Colombo Port East Container Terminal
The East Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port has been brought into attention by the politicians in the Parliament in the recent past stating that it has been sold to Japan and India. But the governing side has denied that charge. What is ECT? The Colombo Port has been in operation for over 130 [...]
Financial sector slow to grant state tourism relief
With only four banks making good progress on the relief package granted by the government to the tourism industry, some at the peripherals seem to have been left out in the process even as other financial institutions are yet to fall in line. During a media briefing in Colombo on Thursday, Economic Reforms and Public [...]
National Digital Roadmap launched in Colombo
Advancement in new digital technology has forced many businesses to re-think their business modules in order to survive as Sri Lanka strives to become a digital hub in South Asia, said Priyantha Fernandez the Chief Operating Officer and the Chief Technology Officer of Sri Lanka Telecom. Speaking at the launch of the National Digital Roadmap [...]
eChannelling introduces Sri Lanka’s first AI-based Chatbot
eChannelling, the largest doctor channelling network in Sri Lanka, has launched the Chatbot for the first time in Sri Lanka’s healthcare industry. To provide this convenient method to its customers, eChannelling has joined hands with Autochatic, creators of the world’s only no-coding, context-aware multilingual Chatbot building platform. Autochatic is headquartered in Paris and has operations [...]
How risky is your risk management
“Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing,” says Warren Buffet. That’s why we need the right grasp and the right guidance to be in the know before acting. A seasoned enterprise risk advisor will not only tell you how to avoid risks, but also tell you how to take risks, calculated or uncalculated, [...]
Global union fears Counter Terrorism Act will affect TU rights
IndustriALL Global Union, a global trade union, has urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene in an issue in Sri Lanka which threatens the rights of trade unions. The letter has been sent by Valter Sanches, IndustriALL General Secretary to Mona Rishmawi, Chief of the Rule of Law Section of the UN [...]
24/7 access to free doctor consultations from oDoc for AIA policyholders
AIA Insurance Lanka, a leader in pensions, life and health insurance, has partnered, Sri Lanka’s leading telemedicine provider, oDoc, to deliver unlimited doctor consultations to AIA policyholders and their family members. A first in the insurance industry in Sri Lanka, this service, made available through the oDoc app, gives select AIA Insurance customers ready access [...]
Shangri-La Hotel reopens on Wednesday
Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, badly damaged by the Easter Sunday April 21 attacks, reopened on Wednesday, June 12. The hotel, one out of three that were attacked in Colombo, was closed for repairs after the blast which killed guests and others. The Cinnamon Grand and the Kingsbury, also attacked by Islamic extremist bombs, were re-opened a [...]
The Veranda Offices starts weaving creative magic in Colombo 2
Sri Lanka’s stunning The Veranda Offices, an innovative Colombo 2 mixed use office space that stands out with its eye-catching gridded façade based on local weaving patterns, is currently nearing completion. This one-of-a-kind project is spearheaded by Moot Manor Ltd (M2M), with office space currently on display to prospective tenants, the company said in a [...]
Sri Lanka’s Amal Ratnayake FCMA, CGMA elected as 86th CIMA President
Canadian finance leader, Sri Lankan-born Amal Ratnayake FCMA, CGMA has been named 86th President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the highest volunteer post of the world’s leading professional body for management accountants. In May, Mr. Ratnayake was also confirmed as Chairman of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), the [...]
Intellectual Property Office expedites the issuance of patent and trade marks
Sri Lanka’s National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) is working tirelessly with limited resources to clear the backlog of all pending applications for registration of patents and trademarks over the next 18 months. The easing of the procedures for appraisal/grant of intellectual property rights (IPRs), has resulted in a quicker disposal of applications and reduced the [...]
Vendol Lanka builds Ayurvedic primary health care units at grass root level
Ayurvedic primary health care units are to be set up in rural areas with the aim of addressing the emerging health challenges with the increasing of aged population in the country. Vendol Lanka Company (Pvt) in association with its manufacturing arm Godakanda Herbals (Pvt) Ltd Ltd is spearheading this indigenous medicinal venture focusing attention on [...]
NSB- HelpAge partnership benefits less privileged senior citizens
The National Savings Bank (NSB) conducted its 45th Mobile Medical and Eye Camp in collaboration with HelpAge Sri Lanka at Dampe, Piliyandala on Vesak Full Moon Poya Day. This is another step taken by NSB through its CSR initiative to conduct a free Medical and Eye Camp for less privileged senior citizens. In a media [...]
Hambantota International Port show-cased at top exhibition in Munich
Hambantota International Port (HIP), was a key participant at ‘Transport Logistics 2019’, the world’s premier transport and logistics exhibition held in Munich, Germany last week. The port which is the newest addition to the international maritime map was an important feature at the prestigious exposition of international logistical services which had 2,374 exhibitors and around [...]
Stax Inc. Insights-as-a-service (IAAS) helps businesses improve decision-making
Stax Inc., Sri Lanka’s leading management consulting firm, helps both local and international clients to make better sense of their internal data with its Insights-as-a-service (IAAS), resulting in greater profitability, growth and employee engagement. As more companies become data-savvy and use data-driven approaches to make important decisions, companies that proactively adopt Insights-as-a-service is able to [...]
Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency (Pvt) Ltd loses steam
Sri Lanka’s only state-owned manpower recruiting entity, the Foreign Employment Agency (Pvt) Ltd is losing its market share owing to management weakness and lack of dynamism in the face of high competition from mushrooming job agencies. Around 1,000 foreign employment agencies are functioning countrywide forcing stiff completion to the state agency but only 350 have [...]
EFL launches exclusive charter to Pittsburgh, US
Global logistics provider EFL recently launched an exclusive weekly charter to Pittsburgh, US as part of its continuous efforts to develop innovative solutions for global brands. The inaugural shipment of over 90 tonnes was moved on a Boeing 777 freighter operated by Qatar Airways Cargo from Doha to Pittsburgh International Airport in Moon, Pennsylvania. EFL’s [...]
HNB, ICCSL launch exclusive co-branded corporate credit cards
HNB PLC has announced the launch of co-branded corporate credit cards in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL). The new co-branded corporate credit card will be made available to all ICCSL members and bundled with a slew of exclusive discounts, offers, and promotions. The launch was commemorated with a special ceremony [...]