Tikiri Toys wins top UK award
Tikiri Toys, a successful Sri Lankan brand of locally-designed and produced toys for toddlers by DSL Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, was awarded the prestigious ‘Ethical Gift of the Year’ title at the recently held NEC Spring Fair in Birmingham, UK. DSL CEO Mano Sheriff was present at the awards ceremony in London to receive this award. [...]
SL firms successfully grow in alien lands
By taking products or services international, a Sri Lankan business is replicating its model for another set of circumstances, a different locale and culture, with a different market, demands, needs and expectations. At least nine companies and banks from Sri Lanka have manoeuvred unchartered waters like this, quite successfully. The LOLC Group has by far [...]
ETF keeps its asset base intact
The Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF), a non-contributory benefit scheme where only the employer makes a contribution on behalf of the employee, has made investments in government securities thereby stabilising the money market at 7 per cent interest rate on a government directive, official sources said. The asset base of the fund is intact as it [...]
Sri Lanka to lure Asian visitors as Europe closes
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is seeking to attract short haul travelers mainly from Asian markets as some of country’s key markets are closing the borders due to a possible second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the circumstances the authorities are hoping to attract at least Asian countries in short haul travel, Sri Lanka Tourism [...]
Industrial Asphalts to assist in coating roads
Increased investments in highways and roads related infrastructure by the state is opening up opportunities for the oldest bitumen-producing company in the country. In a bid to participate in the nation’s infrastructure revival, Industrial Asphalts (Ceylon) PLC (IAC), an investment holding company and originally specialised in manufacture and distribution of specialised bituminous products, distribution of [...]
Tourism industry can’t pay back loans
Tourists have not been visiting Sri Lanka since March this year and the tourism industry that is surviving on loans now want the government to assist them by extending the payback period by two years. With the moratorium on the loans provided post pandemic due to end in September, the tourism industry wants more state [...]
Business chambers welcome election result
The National Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Sri Lanka welcomed the election of a new government which will be able to meet the economic challenges in the aftermath of COVID-19. The country needs structural and other reforms necessary which are critical to unlocking impediments to growth, chamber officials said. The NCC noted that the government should [...]
Sliding economy
“The numbers have come in,” exclaimed Arthika, my nonsensical economist friend better known as ‘good-for-nothing Somey’, on Friday morning. He woke me up with his call after I had spent a long night listening to the parliamentary election results in which the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) swept the polls, while the once-dominant United National [...]
Sri Lanka’s aviation sector flies through economic turbulence
Sri Lanka’s coronavirus-wrecked aviation sector is flying through its biggest economic turbulence in modern history with the country’s five international airports being almost at a standstill. “It is virtually a struggle for survival now before the resumption of normal operations at Katunayake (BIA) and Mattala International airports,” an official source said. The shutdown in the [...]
Port City Colombo’s new competition for university students
Port City Colombo is marking yet another milestone event in the country in its next phase of development. The project recently launched ‘Envision the Future’ a sculpture design competition to design a beach sculpture and an interactive wall targeted at budding local designers. The iconic sculptures and first of its kind interactive wall that will [...]
Great expectations from new rulers, women’s chamber says
The Women’s Chamber of Industry & Commerce (WCIC) has welcomed the result of the parliamentary election saying that with great victories come ‘great expectations’. Its chairperson Chathuri Ranasinghe said in a statement that the convincing landslide is an expression of the great hopes of the people for a new era of peace, growth and stability. [...]
State assists only registered smallholders hit by drought
Government plans to assist tea smallholders affected by the drought with replanting are insufficient since allocations are made for only those registered amounting to just six million plants on 480 hectares. Tea Smallholders Development Authority (TSHDA) officials told the Business Times that allocations are made to assist only 8160 farmers impacted by the drought who [...]
Tragedy of depositors of finance companies
Allow me to add a ‘footnote’ to the Letter to the Editor, by “Depositor in a Finance Company”, appearing in the Business Times of July 5. The Central Bank (CB-which was a highly respected institution during its founding in the 1950s and through to the 1960s, during which time only experienced economists held policy- making [...]
4AXIS – Finding cash in art
One of the hottest start-ups isn’t located in Silicon Valley—it’s in Colombo – Kollupitiya, to be exact. It started with four friends – all between 22 and 23 years banding together as they all thought that nothing beats working for yourself. Even when you love your job and think that it’s rewarding, the satisfaction you [...]
Sri Lanka’s WSO2, a global software company, turns 15
WSO2, a software company that began in Sri Lanka in 2005, marks 15 years of business operations in August. Starting with just 10 employees, WSO2 now has over 650 employees spread across offices in Sri Lanka, US, UK, Germany, Brazil, and Australia. Headquartered in Sri Lanka, nearly 90 per cent of WSO2’s employees are based [...]
Sri Lanka on an international platform at Hilton Colombo
The weekday lunch buffet at Hilton Colombo’s Graze Kitchen is coming back strong with the chefs going global with local ingredients. The subtle use of local spices with vegetables, grains, fruit, meats and seafood will bring patrons a refreshingly sophisticated international experience from August 10 onwards. Hotel Executive Chef Robert Mujagic said, “Sri Lanka has [...]
NDB awarded with five accolades by Global Banking and Finance Review
NDB was recently felicitated with five accolades by the Global Banking and Finance Magazine of UK for the bank’s exceptional performance in various categories such as SME, Project Financing, Retail and Digital Innovation. Accordingly, NDB was felicitated with awards for “Best Retail Bank Sri Lanka 2020” , “Best SME Bank Sri Lanka 2020”, “Best Bank [...]
Ceylinco Life’s Green Club collects 990 kgs of waste
Employees of Ceylinco Life and their families kept 990 kg of potentially toxic electronic waste from harming the planet, thanks to an ‘E-waste Collection Day’ initiative of the Company’s Green Club which saw abandoned and malfunctioning electronic equipment being responsibly recycled. Among the discarded devices collected from Ceylinco Life offices and homes of employees were [...]
DirectFN refurbishes Colombo East Base Hospital lounge area
The lounge area of the Colombo East Base Hospital, Mulleriyawa was renovated and expanded recently initiated by DirectFN, a leading ICT company in the country, to coincide with its 20th anniversary celebrations. It was declared open by hospital directors, DirectFN team and the officers of Sri Lanka Army, the company said in a media release. [...]
More liquidity from BOC to revive sagging local industries
The Bank of Ceylon (BOC), to address concerns of the government and to ensure adequate circulation of money in the market, has initiated new schemes beyond the normal banking practices, where it has given the Central Bank Rs.15.5 billion to increase liquidity in the market place. Every year the BOC maintains a 40 percent input [...]
Sri Lankan gold buffer stocks depleted as other countries buy gold
Sri Lanka has reduced its gold buffer stock from 19 tons to 6.7 tonnes this February from stocks sold by the Central Bank. Many countries in the world are transforming their financial assets into buying gold that has seen gold prices rise from US$1500 from February this year. All central banks – other than the [...]
Havelock City completes ‘topping out’ at 50-storey Mireka Tower
The Havelock City mixed-use development has marked the completion up to the roof slab of its 50-storey office tower at a topping out ceremony held onsite. The LEED Gold certified office tower was designed by the Singapore based Palmer & Turner Group and construction work was done by the globally renowned China Harbour Engineering Company, [...]
Vidullanka’s second project in Africa
Vidullanka PLC, a forerunner in the Sri Lankan renewable energy industry, has taken its second gigantic leap in Africa by commissioning the 6.5MW Bukinda Small Hydro power project in Uganda. In a media release, Vidullanka PLC’s CEO, Riyaz Sangani said, “The plant will help generate clean electricity, ushering in a new era of socio-economic potential [...]
Beyond COVID-19: Three key priorities for engineering and construction companies
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the engineering and construction industry is unprecedented. Based on our discussions with clients, construction projects are expected to be delayed or cancelled. Global as well as local supply chains are under pressure whilst the health and safety of employees is a concern. Most importantly with many construction and [...]
More challenges in line for the new government
While the country witnessed the much awaited and delayed Parliamentary election last Wednesday, many challenges are in line for the new government, regardless of who comes into power. Growth and debt challenges lie on one side, while the COVID-19 impact and recovery plans lies on the other. The Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) last [...]
Government ban hurts dealers of imported furniture
Sri Lanka’s ban on furniture imports while directing state institutions to procure all office chairs and furniture from domestic suppliers manufacturing will hit around 30 local firms, affecting the employment of 2000 people, industry sources divulged. Furniture imports other than exclusive furniture for flagship projects have been banned and the procurement of government office furniture [...]
Chamith, Director of Isobar and Response at Dentsu, in judging panel for ‘Drum Digital Advertising Awards’
Chamith Buthgumwa, Director of Isobar and Response at Dentsu Aegis Network Sri Lanka has been invited to act as a Jury Member for the Drum Digital APAC Advertising Awards 2021, a key annual event in the global advertising industry, organised by The Drum, one of the world’s largest marketing platforms. The Drum Awards run throughout [...]
People’s Bank makes compensation payments to ETI, The Finance and Swarnamahal Financial Services depositors
People’s Bank has distributed Rs.9,278 million in compensation payments to 69,078 depositors of The Finance Company, Rs.3,338 million paid to 8,536 depositors of ETI and Rs.309 million paid to 773 depositors of Swarnamahal Financial Services as at July 20. All payments were made via People’s Bank’s islandwide branch network, the bank said in a media [...]
Sustainable Corporate Governance: First Steps
If sustainability is the corporate buzzword for today, why is it that corporates are slow in moving towards it? The shop floor finds sustainability attractive and would like to make the world safer and cleaner for their children; the management wants to drive it – they want to be part of what makes industry good [...]