Surfers galore
The World Windsurfing competition held at Arugam Bay, Ampara last week drew a sizable number of foreign competitors amidst tight security. Here a foreign participant rides the waves. Pic by Amila Gamage.
Tea factories on a shutdown spree
Several tea factories are closing down due to the falling prices of tea as most are finding it hard to survive in this sector where the production costs have shot up. “Every week one or two factories are closing down in the South of the country,” Hayleys Plantations Managing Director and former Planters Association President [...]
Rationalising high- rise construction costs
Rising demand by the affluent for an urban lifestyle with luxury apartments has led to calls to strip away policies that stand in the way of financing affordable housing for less affluent home buyers, officials say. “There are two challenges for builders and buyers which prohibit access to buying housing. The cost structure of development [...]
Tea for oil trade MOU this week
Sri Lanka and Iran will sign an agreement this week finalizing the terms of payment of Ceylon Tea exports. Plantation Minister Navin Dissanayake told the Business Times that a delegation from Iran was due to arrive in Sri Lanka on October 8 to finalise the agreement to buy Ceylon Tea against the oil import debts. [...]
Trade unions want more in national minimum wage
Trade unions, while acknowledging the increase in the recently approved National Minimum Wage by Rs.2,500 to Rs. 12,500 per month, say it’s not enough and needs periodic adjustments. Palitha Athukorala, Secretary of IndustriALL Sri Lanka Council, said that they have been campaigning for a long time for an increase in the National Minimum Wage with [...]
Tourism’s promo bureau to get revamped
In the backdrop of the recent setbacks in promoting Sri Lanka as a destination the tourism industry is eyeing a revamp of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) with possible changes to the 2005 Tourism Act. The industry has blamed authorities for the poor planning and management of tourism promotion in foreign markets which [...]
Tourism: Quality versus quantity
Kussi Amma Sera, Serapina and Mabel Rasthiyadu were at the gate on this bright and sunny Thursday morning watching the tradesmen pass by including the ‘Choon Paan Karaya’ with his noisy and ubiquitous melody. As they chatted, a three or four-year-old girl happily prancing on the road accompanied by her mother caught their attention. The [...]
Old wine in new bottles
Last Sunday evening, Siri Ranasinghe – Chief Editor of Lankadeepa, the Sinhala newspaper, called me over the phone. He asked me straight away: “Why don’t you write now about how to get there?” “How to get where?” It took a few seconds for me to understand what he meant. It was after reading last Sunday’s [...]
IPS organises 12th South Asian Economic Summit
The 2-day, 12th South Asian Economic Summit (SAES) organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) was held last week at the Colombo Hilton with the opening remarks being made by Dr. Dushni Weerakoon, Executive Director, IPS. The first Summit was held in Colombo in 2008 and so far 11 Summits have been held in [...]
Condo living in Sri Lanka should build community life
One thing is assured: People want to live in cities. And the only way to do this is go up! What is a city? What decides its specificity? The evolution of the modern-day city does not trail a linear movement while the inevitability of a city will always be vertical living. This is what emerged [...]
Altria Consulting partners with InfraBeat and Amazon Web Services for SAP & Analytics Event
“S/4HANA & Analytics on AWS”, an event on SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution and Data Analytics was held in Colombo recently. This event was organised collectively by Altria Consulting, InfraBeat Technologies and Amazon Web Services (AWS) with representatives of large enterprises in Sri Lanka from a wide range of industries such as manufacturing, engineering, [...]
Link Natural Products establishes world class R and D Centre
Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd, makers of renowned brands such as Samahan and Sudantha, has taken another pioneering step in establishing a world class Research and Development Centre in Dompe, Sri Lanka. This modern facility has a full range of state-of-the-art equipment and laboratory facilities required for high level basic and applied research. It is [...]
COYLE Sampath Bank Leadership Forum to showcase innovation, diversification and strength
The Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) will, for the sixth consecutive year, feature another exciting line-up of entrepreneurs who will share their success stories at its October 17 event. The three panellists are Ajith Tudawe, Chairman of Ceylon Hospitals PLC (Durdans Healthcare Group) and senior Director of Tudawe Holdings Ltd; Tushan Wickramasinghe, Chairman/CEO of [...]
Three Mahaweli Authority bankrupt companies face liquidation
Three limited liability companies affiliated to the Mahaweli Authority under President Maithripala Sirisena will be liquidated due to bankruptcy and liquidity problems. They are the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority-affiliated Natural Resources Management Service (Pvt) Ltd, Mahaweli Venture Capital (Pvt) Ltd and Mahaweli Engineering Services (Pvt) Ltd which have been incorporated under section 13(18) of the [...]
Cinnamon Life Office Tower to open early 2020
John Keells Properties this week announced a major milestone in Colombo’s landmark development project Cinnamon Life – that the office tower of the complex will officially open for business in early 2020. In May the real estate developer announced the completion of structural work on all towers of its skyline-transforming development; the office tower is [...]
BoC Thurunu Diriya achieves historic landmark of 1000 young entrepreneurs
Notwithstanding the challenges, the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) Thurunu Diriya scheme recently achieved a landmark – a 1000 young entrepreneurs benefitting from the scheme and many more in the pipeline. The scheme was launched over a year ago after the Prime Minister forwarded a research study of young entrepreneurs conducted in South Asian countries, including [...]
One Galle Face, Colombo’s first integrated development, opens its doors from Nov. 8
The Shangri-La Group last week announced that its One Galle Face integrated development will open its doors to the public from November 8 onwards. Joining The Residences at One Galle Face and Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo, which opened in 2018 and 2017 respectively, are the One Galle Face Mall and One Galle Face Tower. The entire [...]
LOLC wins Sri Lanka’s Most Admired Companies Award
Sri Lanka’s multi-geographic, multi-currency and multi-cultural financial conglomerate, LOLC Holdings PLC was selected among the top 10 Most Admired Companies in Sri Lanka. The award ceremony which was organised for the second consecutive year by the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to celebrate the best [...]
Sri Lanka’s Anti-Money laundering reforms continue successfully
Sri Lanka’s (AML/CFT) Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism reforms have begun and is being sustained official sources said. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global policy setter on AML/CFT has made the initial determination that Sri Lanka has completed its action plan and warrants an on-site assessment. The decision was taken [...]
Doc990 and Western Hospital partner to introduce ongoing number service for patients
Doc990, Sri Lanka’s pioneering digital health solutions service provider, recently announced its partnership with Western Hospital to facilitate an ongoing number service for patients. This latest and innovative new service offers updates on the live doctor channeling queue in real-time via the Doc990 mobile app or doc.lk website, resulting in unmatched convenience and efficient time [...]
Hatch hosts Sri Lanka’s first international start-up accelerator, Good Life X
Sri Lanka’s start-up culture is thriving at Hatch. Opened just over a year ago, Hatch’s 7-storey colonial building in the heart of Colombo is weaving in a unique culture and a breath of fresh air to the entrepreneurial landscape of the country. A partnership with iAccelerate signed this month and the Good Life Accelerator (GLX) [...]
“‘Major flaw: Colombo Port City Project sand mining licence not obtained as yet”
Responding to the comments of Prof. Naazima Kamardeen of the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Colombo that a sand mining licence had not been obtained as yet by the project proponent which were reported in Business Times of September 22 under the above title, leader of the Colombo Port City’s Environment Team [...]
Tourism value chain will empower rural women to uplift their livelihood
A 5-year Tourism Value Chain is to be set up in Sri Lanka with Canadian funding to uplift the local economy focusing on Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) schemes that impact the livelihood of rural women folk scattered around the country. This was stated by Samadani Kiriwandeniya, Director of SANSA International, at the Stakeholder Forum [...]
Xiteb’s CEO Dhanesh launches Ceylon Traveller Mobile App
At the recently held Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit organised by Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, Xiteb®’s CEO Dhanesh R. Jayathilaka presented the newly developed Ceylon Traveller Mobile App, which was the most recent CSR project handled by Xiteb®, to Kishu Gomes- Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board. Kishu Gomes- Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board, [...]
Seylan Bank offers Cheque Deposit Kiosks
Seylan Bank has become the first bank to introduce a network of 26 fully automated Cheque Deposit Kiosks (CDK) in Sri Lanka. The bank now offers their customers the convenience of depositing cheques 24/7 through its island-wide Cheque Deposit Kiosk facility, Seylan said in a media release. Commenting on this initiative, Head of Digital Banking, [...]
Automobile Association enhances its breakdown services islandwide
The Automobile Association of Ceylon (AAC) which offers a 24×7 breakdown service to its members, recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sri Lanka Automobile Service Providers Association (SLASPA) in order to offer a new line of extended mechanical service island-wide to its members. SLASPA members island-wide are owners of garages and they [...]
Amendment to the People’s Bank Act: Was it much ado about nothing?
The bill to amend the People’s Bank Act has been passed in Parliament despite the cliché ‘privatisation’ allegation associated with any change to the status quo of a public enterprise. The minister in charge of the subject dispelled these allegations as an attempt to gain political mileage with elections at the doorstep. Although, the passage [...]