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More
tourists from India and Malaysia Tourist arrivals
from Malaysia more than doubled in the first half of the year to
5,022 from 2,410. The government
is trying to attract Malaysian investments in the island. Last Sunday,
Malaysian Airlines launched flights to Colombo. It was the first
international airline to launch new flights after the Tamil Tiger
terrorist attack on the Katunayake international airport last July.
On Monday,
Malaysia's Minister of Works and Public Utilities S. Samy Vellu
arrived for a two-day visit during which he discussed investments
in infrastructure like ports and airports. The number
of tourists arriving from India increased by 72 percent to 33,873
from 19,653 in the period up to June, the Tourist Board said. India
now accounts for the largest number of tourists visiting the island. The increase
in Indian tourists came as a result of the special promotion campaign
launched by the Tourist Board and the national carrier SriLankan
Airlines last year. Region-wise,
Western Europe accounted for the largest number of tourists - over
83,000 - with the bulk of them coming from the United Kingdom and
Germany. However, the
numbers coming from Europe were down more than 40 percent compared
with the first half of last year. Overall, total tourist arrivals - at 173,136 - was almost a quarter less than the numbers in the same period last year. Warner
Bros movies via ETV Tony Cornish,
Director Sales Asia Pacific, Warner Brothers (Australia) Pty. who
was on one of his regular territorial visits here, said that they
had reached an understanding with ETV to provide high profile programming
content. Warner Brothers have been having a Sri Lankan presence
for almost two decades with the government television channel being
aggressive in programming content a few years ago. However, of late
the private channels have become their biggest customers. Lakshman Bandaranayake,
Managing Director of Vanguard, the managing company of ETV said
that in recent years the television industry had been hit both by
the economic setbacks and the power crisis. He said there is a revival
of advertising by consumer durables and that this is a sign of growth
beginning to set in. With this ETV is re-emphasising its philosophy
towards quality entertainment. Their choice
in Warner Brothers is due to the quality of American programming
which has been having a proven track record in Sri Lanka, driven
by international exposure and aspirations of the local viewers. Warner Brothers
is one of the premier television programme production companies
in the USA and is rated number one in the Asian region. The company this year has 95 EMI award nominations to its credit with leading programmes like Friends, 7th Heaven, ER, etc. (AA) Loss-making
Tristar disposes of eight of its 30 factories The company
was reacting to reports that trade unions have said eight more factories
of the company were to be closed so that operations could be shifted
to countries like Uganda and Botswana. "We have
no intention of closing any of the (22) factories. Our intention
is to make the company financially viable and strong so that it
could face the stiff challenges the garment industry faces in the
years ahead particularly from African states where most nations
enjoy quota free and duty free exports to the USA," the statement
from Tristar Senior Deputy Chairman Sarath de Silva said. The company
said it was compelled to temporarily cease operations in eight of
the 30 factories three months ago with the approval of the labour
commissioner. Employees were paid 50 percent of their wages though
not working and their EPF and ETF contributions too paid up, according
to the agreement. "The company
was forced to take this course of action as it had no other alternative
in the face of intense pressure from the banks to close down these
loss making factories and dispose of them to settle the dues to
the banks," it said. Tristar said
its interests in Uganda and Botswana have no relation to the situation
of its factories in Sri Lanka because in those countries, the group
had invested only in the provision of technical know-how and training
while the governments in those countries provided the manpower and
infrastructure including payment of wages to employees. De Silva said if adequate quotas are released to the eight factories which are closed, the company would be able to resume operations on a viable footing. "However, at the present juncture the company has no other alternative than to dispose of the eight factories for which the company has called for quotations from bidders," he said. Indian
Oil Corporation to supply bunkers in Trinco The IOC, which
will enter the Sri Lankan market under a Memorandum of Understanding
signed between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments, has submitted
its plans to the Board of Investment and the government's energy
committee. It has also
asked for concessions on port charges for the coastal movement of
its tankers that will move petroleum products from Trincomalee to
Jaffna, government officials said. The Indian
oil major will lease the oil tank farm in China Bay, Trincomalee
and spend about three billion rupees in a phased programme to develop
the tank farm, jetty and pumping facility, and retail outlets. It will initially
spend about Rs. 220 million to refurbish and use about 10-15 tanks
in China Bay to store product for distribution in the north and
east and later market the rest to other players. Petroleum products
would be shipped from the IOC's refinery in Chennai, India. |
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