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SL
plans to raise $220 mln selling assets, minister says "I'm looking
at a situation where we encourage foreign investors to come here,''
Economic Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda said in a recent interview.
"If people can make money in a market, they'll come to invest.''
Before committing
money, investors say they want to see the outcome of talks between
the eight-month-old government and separatist Tamil guerillas, scheduled
to start in Thailand this month. Sri Lanka's opposition parties
are trying to scupper the talks, and the asset sale plan, by organising
street protests among a people tired of the economic slump. Ninety percent
of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corp. is up for grabs, the minister said,
without breaking down the overall fund-raising target. A 15 percent
stake in Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd will be sold to individual investors
in October and the Ceylon Petroleum Corp. will sell some of its
gas stations to overseas investors, he said. The civil war
made Sri Lanka a risky place for business. In 1996, militants tried
to ram the central bank with an explosives-filled truck. Last year,
SriLankan Airlines, which is two-fifths owned by Emirates airlines,
lost two of its six Airbus SAS A330 jets in an attack on the airport
in Colombo. "We are
hopeful for prospects of peace,'' said Patricia Chua, a Singapore-based
spokeswoman for Royal Dutch/Shell. "We're interested in participating
in the market.'' Tea and
Cinnamon Sri Lanka has
potential for global companies. It's the world's biggest exporter
of tea and cinnamon and among the biggest producers of natural rubber.
Its 19.4 million population has a per capita income of $850 a year,
compared with $450 in India. Literacy levels are above 90 percent,
the second highest in Asia. Already, lingerie
label Victoria's Secret and U.K. department-store chain BHS Ltd
source from factories located in free trade zones near Colombo.
The government
offers investors tax breaks of between 5 and 15 years and has opened
most areas of the economy for foreign investment. A free-trade agreement
with India has opened a market of one billion people for Sri Lankan-made
garments, food products and other goods. Arjuna Mahendran,
chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, forecasts foreign
investment on the island may rise to $300 million in 2002, almost
a fourfold rise from $80 million last year. All that hasn't
stopped the economy shrinking 1.4 percent last year after growing
6 percent in 2000. Street Protests
Privatisation
has seen some success. The government last month sold a 90 percent
stake in Lanka Marine Services Ltd, the monopoly bunker fuel provider
to John Keells Holdings Ltd, the island's biggest business group,
for $12.5 million. Yet Moragoda's
plans are already under fire from opposition politicians and workers.
The opposition People's Alliance staged a rally of 5,000 protesters
in Colombo in May. It vowed to carry out similar demonstrations
across the island - in protest against both privatisation and the
Norwegian-brokered peace plan. Worker unions at Sri Lanka Insurance
Corp. have called for public support to defeat the sale of the "national
treasure". It's hard for
the government to convince Sri Lankans of the benefits of asset
sales, since private owners are likely to cut jobs before improved
efficiency contributes to economic growth. That could shake the
popularity of a coalition government that has a two-seat majority
in Parliament. Four percent
of the population depends on jobs in state- controlled companies
- twice the average in neighboring India, according to the International
Labor Organisation. The government
of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, elected in snap polls last
December, must also contend with President Chandrika Kumaratunga,
who belongs to the People's Alliance. Kumaratunga, daughter of two
former prime ministers, was elected for a second six-year term in
1999. "The biggest challenge to market privatisation is the people of Sri Lanka,'' Moragoda said. "They don't necessarily see the connection between privatisation and their own well-being.'' UK
university offers schols to John Keells Institute These scholarships
are offered for the September 2002 intake for students joining the
final-year top-up BSc (Hons) Degree in Applied Computing. The University of Northumbria has recognised the BTEC-Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computing offered by JKI and will provide a two-year exemption to JKI HND students allowing them to gain final-year entry to the university's BSC (Hons) Degree in Applied Computing. In addition to this recognition, the university is now offering two scholarships at £3,000 each and eight scholarships at £1,500 each to JKI students for the September 2002 intake. Pakistan
economy to benefit from Free Trade Agreement with Sri Lanka Dawood, who
accompanied the Pakistani president during his visit to Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka and China, said the trip had been a success in terms of
increasing trade and economic relations. Addressing a news conference
in Islamabad on August 3, he said that he would now be meeting exporters
and importers to increase Pakistan's trade relations with Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka. "One of
our goals is to balance trade which is currently in our favour,"
he added. Sri Lanka is
interested in exporting tea, rubber and coconut oil to Pakistan. Pakistan is
already exporting yarn to Sri Lanka and will focus on exporting
engineering goods and chemicals. "There
will be an additional $100 million trade turnover annually between
Pakistan and Sri Lanka thanks to the FTA and we plan to sign a similar
agreement with Bangladesh as well," he said. The FTA is
a binding agreement with implementation planned in three phases
over a three-year period. To maximise
trade opportunities, Dawood said Pakistan would need to improve
its shipping lines. Shipping lines had to be increased and made more direct, since currently a number of consignments were reaching Bangladesh via Singapore. Otara
wins Zonta's "Woman of Achievement" award The award was
presented to her by two eminent chief guests - Professor Lalitha
Mendis, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo,
and Professor Kusuma Karunaratne, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate
Studies, University of Kelaniya, an ODEL press release said. The latest
in an illustrious list of past award-winners that reads like a who's
who of women achievers in the legal, political, economic, and the
educational arena, Chandiram's entrepreneurial accomplishment in
building Odel into a mega store and thus setting a benchmark for
the retail industry in Sri Lanka was duly appreciated She has, in
the past, been a source of inspiration and encouragement for other
women entrepreneurs waiting to test their wings. Today, Odel Unlimited
shines like a beacon even within the South Asian region, and can
proudly compete against other well-known retail stores worldwide,
the statement said. The "Woman of Achievement" awards ceremony is held once every two years to recognise women who have strived hard in their respective professional spheres, and who have achieved recognition as well as contributed to Sri Lanka as a whole. Namal
Fund's 1st interim distribution for 2002 The fund distributes
its income to its investors every six months in July and January
on a continuous basis. The investors in this fund have the option
to take cash or reinvest to accumulate savings for the future, said
S. Jeyavarman, CEO of NAMAL. NIFs performance since its launch in 1997 has steadily improved in a volatile interest rate environment. In the last 11 1/2 years the yield on one-year treasury bills fluctuated between 9.3 percent and 21.6 percent. NAMAL also manages National Equity Fund, NAMAL Growth Fund and NAMAL Optima Fund. NAMAL is owned by DFCC Bank, People's Bank, the Employees' Trust Fund Board and the Asian Development Bank. CWE
stake, management offered to private sector He said that
40 percent of the shares would be offered to the private sector
which would also be allowed to run the chain while the majority
stake would remain with the government. "We have
inherited a CWE which has been in a mess," Karunanayake told
his monthly press conference last week. He said the
CWE is now making some profits from all outlets under the new management.
Dealing with
the perennial problem of high drug prices, the minister said pharmaceutical
items are likely to remain high as it is a taxable item under VAT
but the ministry was trying to work with the authorities to provide
some relief to consumers here. A. Wickramanayake,
Managing Director at Mundo Gas, told the same press conference that
they are planning to supply gas to the domestic market well below
the existing market price. He said Mundo gas would be available in three weeks' time at between Rs. 300 to Rs. 325 and consumers can use any cylinder for this purpose. Vietnamese
ministerial delegation visits CTC At the end
of the visit the team said they would like a greater exchange of
knowledge between the two countries. The team led
by Madame Chau Hue Cam, Vice Minister of Industry includes Nguyen
Nam Hai, Director-General, Vietnam National Tobacco Corp, Madame
Ho Thi Bach Yen, Deputy Director General, Planning and Investment
Dept, Ministry of Industry, Vietnam, Phan Trong Tiem, Deputy Director
General, International Co-operation Dept., Ministry of Industry,
Phung Huu Son, Head of Administration Sector, Ministry of Industry,
Nguyen Huu Nam, Government Relations Manager, BAT Vietnam and Le
Viet Duoc, Deputy Dir. Gen. Vietnam National Tobacco Corp. |
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