Positive environment for start-ups
Start-ups are gaining traction in Sri Lanka and are showing positive growth amid the pandemic. In an article on Page 4, a start-up investor says Sri Lanka has the potential to become an Asian hub for start-ups. Above is a file picture of the workplace of a start-up firm (Calcey Technologies).
Finance Ministry mulls reduction of milk powder taxes
Milk powder importers are to be been given a tax relief of Rs.35 per kg to maintain their present selling price as a remedy to the issue of incurring losses as a result of global price escalation during the past six months. The Finance Ministry will issue a gazette notification removing Income tax of Rs.15 [...]
Heavy arbitraging to compel CB’s intervention
The Central Bank is seriously considering intervening in the open market operations amidst heavy arbitraging by both the formal and informal financial sectors in the wake of the foreign exchange crisis. Despite the Central Bank’s published exchange rate of Rs. 200 per US dollar the banks are selling dollars above this rate, an importer told [...]
Tourism industry wants due recognition in new Act
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has raised their voice insisting that due recognition be given to them as a sector mainly run by the private sector in the adoption of a proposed new Tourism Act. Having reached the deadline for submitting the proposals, the industry as a “One Voice” collective has agreed to the amalgamation of [...]
550 sugar containers released from Customs detention
Around 1000 essential commodity container congestion at Colombo Port for several weeks appears to be easing following their clearance making maximum use of manpower with minimum number of workers, the Sri Lanka Customs Chief said. A heavy container backlog had been created at the port due to the detention of 550 sugar containers on an [...]
Govt. to adopt new mechanism to fast-track FDIs
Sri Lanka is set to adopt a vibrant mechanism to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amid concern that the authorities are likely to fall short of the target of US$2.5 billion this year. According to latest official projections, FDI is expected to be subdued to a level of $800 million in 2021, little over $670 [...]
Pandemic blues
Veteran singer and entertainer Sunil Perera, who is recovering after contracting the COVID-19 virus, made a pithy remark during a recent TV interview. He said: “When I was growing up (in the 1960s) it was said that Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) is a Third World country. Now, when I am (in my old age), Sri [...]
Tale of two educated villagers
Senevirathna and Piyarathna are the sons of Ukku Banda who came with his family to the North Central Province after receiving a few acres of agricultural land from the government. The village they resided, which was called “Padikaramaduwa”, was created under the Huruluwewa colonisation scheme in the 1950s. Calendar from Colombo Ukku Banda planted his [...]
Tourists to be or not to be at Esala Perahera
Tourism authorities are considering allowing tourists to witness the Esala Dalada Maliga Perahera that commenced on Thursday and ends on August 22. Despite the Kandy Perahera being out of bounds to the general public the tourism authorities, according to a source at Sri Lanka Tourism, are hoping that tourists already in the country will be [...]
Organic fertiliser
This letter is with reference to the news item that appeared in the Business Times last week under the heading “Govt. to procure organic inputs for Maha season”. It was stated there that the importation of minerals required for the preparation of composed organic fertiliser to the country is to be undertaken shortly. It is [...]
BPPL gearing for third phase expansion
BPPL Holdings PLC, makers of sanitary and janitorial products, having completed its second phase of expansion is gearing for the next phase to set up a factory within the next 18 months. “We want to set up a factory for yarn and brush manufacturing in one of the industrial zones,” BPPL Managing Director Dr. Anush [...]
SL’s potential in becoming Asia’s next Start-up and Innovation Hub
Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem has grown significantly over the past 15 years, benefitting greatly from a fast growing ICT sector, high rates of literacy, the brain gain of highly qualified ICT professionals returning home, etc. As a result, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is today well positioned to take advantage of the major opportunities [...]
ComBank reaches 3rd Rs 1 Trillion mark in strong Q2 2020
A strong second quarter, during which its loan book crossed the milestone of Rs. 1 trillion has generated commendable growth in key indicators for the Commercial Bank of Ceylon Group for the six months ended 30th June 2021, the bank said in a media release. The group reported gross income of Rs. 79.931 billion for [...]
NTB shows 12% growth in loans in1H 2021
Nations Trust Bank has seen an increase of 12 percent to Rs. 26 billion in its loan portfolio for the first half (January-June) of 2021, compared to the same period last year, despite the challenging business environment. “While continuing to provide working capital loans under the ‘Saubagya’ scheme introduced by the government, the bank disbursed [...]
Strong growth from Aitken Spence in 1Q from non-tourism sectors
Aitken Spence PLC has made a comeback in the first quarter ending 30th June 2021 by recording a 145 percent increase in Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 1.2 billion compared to Rs. 513 million in the previous year from the non-tourism sectors, the company said in a media release. The group’s non-tourism sectors recorded [...]
Pan Asia Bank post-tax profit up by 50% in 1H 2021
Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC has reported impressive gains in the first half of 2021, posting a 50 percent growth in post-tax profit to Rs. 1,356 million compared to the same 2020 period. Its pre-tax profit rose by 27 percent to Rs. 1,822 million “The bank’s performance was characterised by strength and resilience despite the [...]
Maldivian yacht builders to establish facility in Hambantota Port
Sea Horse Yachts (Pvt) Ltd recently entered into an agreement with the Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) to set up a state-of-the-art yacht building facility at the port. The agreement was signed by Johnson Liu, CEO, HIPG and Ali Hussain Didi, President, Sea Horse Yachts (Pvt) Ltd. at a signing ceremony held this week in [...]
Hotel care centres reach max capacity
Sri Lankans are currently on the waiting lists of hospitals seeking a bed in hotels to be quarantined as the hotels are running to full capacity at present since the beginning of this month as more open up increasing the number of beds in intermediate care centres (ICC-hotels). At present almost all 4000 hotel beds [...]
Dialog Enterprise launches MiHCM Lite for small and medium enterprises
Dialog Enterprise, the corporate solutions arm of Dialog Axiata PLC, with the objective of offering a dedicated HR solution to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, recently partnered MiHCM (Pvt) Ltd to launch MiHCM Lite, a comprehensive and agile solution to manage the HR processes conveniently and cost effectively on the cloud, [...]
CPC awards long term fuel supply tenders amidst dollar crisis
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has entered into several long term contracts with international suppliers to maintain a steady fuel supply amidst a depletion of stocks. It is also ready for spot purchases buying dollars from the market amidst the present foreign exchange constraints and losses of the CPC, a high ranking official of the [...]
M2C – Military to Corporate Conversion holds its second graduation
Military to Corporate Entrepreneurship Capsule (M2C) – the second batch of 24 serving officers comprising 12 Major Generals, three Brigadiers, four Rear Admirals and five Commodores / Air Commodores – which guides the transformation of serving and retired military officers to a role in the corporate sector, held its graduation this week at the Water’s [...]
Eastern Province to use plastic mixed asphalt road paving
The Eastern Province Secretariat has signed an agreement for the use of an additive to conventional asphalt for paving roads through innovative green technology pioneered by AGC Innovate (Pvt) Ltd. This was made possible through the initiative of the Eastern Province (EP) Governor Anuradha Yahampath who is keen on a sustainable solution to the ever-increasing [...]
Sunshine Holdings, helped by acquisitions, records 54% top-line growth in 1Q 2021/22
Sunshine Holdings PLC, helped by acquisitions, is continuing to demonstrate resilience amidst prevailing macro-economic conditions, reporting an impressive top-line growth of 54 percent YoY for the first quarter of 2021/22. The Group recorded consolidated revenue of Rs. 7.3 billion during the first quarter of the current financial year while Profit after Tax (PAT) grew 88 [...]
ICCSL streamlines e-Certificate of Origin issuance for exporters
ICCSL (the International Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka), a pioneer in the issuance of a digital certificate of origin has commenced a 24/7 service to support export industries. The digital certificate issuance of the Certificate of Origin (COO) was started by ICCSL during the lockdown in 2020, the chamber said in a media release [...]
Netherlands Embassy to release latest report on opportunities for SL’s horticulture sector
The Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Sri Lanka will be unveiling its latest report on the Sri Lankan horticultural sector tomorrow August 16 which would be available on the embassy website www.netherlandsandyou.nl, according to those assigned to handle the study, many from Lanka Impact Investing Network (LIIN). The study was conducted with the [...]
Creating niche markets for Sri Lanka’s exports
Providing a niche market is an ideal avenue to promote and expand Sri Lankan exports with the country’s most successful apparel buyers being in a niche market and at the top of the value chain, according to Suresh de Mel, Chairman/CEO, Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB). He was making a presentation at a [...]
EU-WHO provide critical COVID-19 equipment support to Sri Lanka
Critical emergency medical equipment has been made available to 78 hospitals across Sri Lanka under the COVID-19 response through a partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU). These include high dependency unit (HDU) beds, finger pulse oximeters, oxygen concentrators, oxygen jumbo cylinders, and other urgent supplies, the EU said in [...]
Sampath Bank offers upto 7% interest for Special Deposit Accounts
Sampath Bank, inviting individuals and organisations around the world to invest their foreign currency savings in Sri Lanka and earn greater returns, is offering highly attractive rates of up to 7 percent through the government’s Special Deposit Account scheme. A media release from the bank said that Sampath Bank is offering an interest rate of [...]
Six mid-market firms selected for Sri Lanka@100 Advisory Services
The Sri Lanka@100 platform has announced the selection of six high-potential, mid-market firms to receive cutting-edge business advisory services to accelerate their growth. This is the second group of companies on-boarded to Sri Lanka@100, a platform supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by Stax, a global management consulting firm, [...]