|
||||
|
Lanka
woos Indian investors The country's
first major trade, culture and investment festival at the OAT stadium
in Chennai on February 16 comes two weeks before Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe visits India for a fourth time - since assuming
power in December 2001- from February 28 to March 1, to address
a business conference which would also be attended by former US
President Bill Clinton. The Chennai
event will include trade stalls, a hawker-street type food festival
in which major hotels from Colombo will take part and a musical
show featuring Sri Lankan musicians and dancers. Last year 68,796
Indians visited Sri Lanka, double the number of 33,924 who visited
the country in 2001. This year's target - 100,000. India, buoyed
by the peace process, visa-on arrival facilities plus attractive
holiday packages, has taken over from traditional markets like Britain
and Germany, as the largest tourist-generating country. Next month
the Export Development Board (EDB) hopes to open its own 15,000
square foot display centre for Sri Lankan products in the posh Spencer
Plaza complex in Chennai. "We want
to have a continuous presence in India showcasing Sri Lankan products
instead of ad hoc promotion in the past," noted EDB chairman
Ratna Sivaratnam. The Board of
Investment (BOI) is cobbling together an investment promotion budget
for India that would benefit all segments of the Sri Lankan promotion
campaign to investors and visitors. Emphasis would be on a combined
campaign unlike in the past where Sri Lankan agencies involved in
tourism, investment promotion or trade, worked separately. In a departure
from the past, the BOI is also planning to use a different strategy
this year to attract Indian investors - targeting individual, potential
investors instead of the routine seminars or workshops promoting
the country. "That
hasn't worked in the past. We now want to target Indian companies,"
said the BOI chief Arjunna Mahendran. His agency is working with
Dun and Bradstreet which has a database of 500 Indian companies. Commerce Minister
Ravi Karunanayake who is pushing trade and investment under the
FTA with India, has another vision - create Colombo as a shoppers'
paradise in the region competing with the likes of Singapore or
Dubai. He is planning
to set up duty free shopping complexes in Colombo and at Katunayake
of around 150,000 to 300,00 square feet each, with shops selling
anything and everything including all the major international brands
in clothing or perfumeries. "We want
Indians to shop in Colombo instead of going to Singapore or any
other shopping destinations, and will provide all the facilities
and attractions for this venture," the Commerce Minister said. While hundreds
of Indians are visiting Sri Lanka, the reverse is also happening,
according to G.T. Jayaseelan, SriLankan Airlines' head of commercial
operations. "We are an important market to India too. Sri Lankans
represent the fourth largest category of visitors to India after
the US and UK. If we take out US and UK nationals of Indian origin
visiting there, Sri Lankans may top the list of visitors to that
country." SriLankan Airlines CEO Peter Hill said that with increasing passenger loads from India, the airline is considering leasing two more aircraft this year. "There are attractive offers for used aircraft in the market now. Airlines have downsized while others have gone out of business. We should take advantage of much lower rates currently being offered. It's a good time to buy or lease aircraft," he added. Singapore
eyes Colombo Port PSA Corp officials
have visited Colombo on a fact-finding mission and held talks with
industry officials although no formal proposal has been made to
the government. Shipping experts
said they believe PSA Corp wants to invest in Colombo's main transshipment
terminal in the same way the multi-port operator runs a string of
container terminals around the globe. PSA Corp is
probably keen on "locking in" cargo volumes from the sub-continent
in the face of stiff competition from emerging Malaysian ports across
the Malacca Straits to which it lost two big clients, Maersk Sealand
and Evergreen, they said. The government,
under pressure from industry to privatise JCT, has corporatised
the terminal to make it more efficient and better able to compete
with the private terminal at the Queen Elizabeth Quay, across the
harbour basin, run by a consortium led by P&O Ports, another
global multi-port operator. Industry officials
said the government might not entertain an unsolicited proposal
from PSA Corp but have an open tender giving all interested parties
an equal opportunity to bid for any potential contract to run JCT.
Already, Japan's Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line has said it wants to take over JCT if the government decides to privatise the transshipment facility. IOC
set to take over CPC sheds "We plan
to take over the retail outlets and pay the advance instalment in
about a week," said M. Nageswaran, managing director of Lanka
IOC. "We will take over the outlets before February 15." IOC has been
given a 10-year tax holiday and other Board of Investment concessions
such as duty free imports of plant and machinery on the strength
of its investment, he said. It intends
to invest $62 million in the first phase of its project here and
$38 million in the second phase. The Indian oil major will lease the oil tank farm in China Bay, Trincomalee and develop the tank farm, jetty and pumping facility, as well as retail outlets islandwide. Controversy
over Libyan tea tender But exporters
maintained that the market was down because of increased competition
for the Libyan order of 20 million kg this year and reduced shipments
to key Middle Eastern markets owing to fears of a war in the Gulf. In recent years
exports of Ceylon tea had virtually been monopolized by a consortium
called Selimpex Ltd, consisting of Stassen Exports, Akbar Bros,
Fern Tea, Sri Lanka-Libya Agricultural and Livestock Development
Company Ltd, and the Libyan-Arab Foreign Investment Company. Libya
floated a tender last October for this year's supplies, which was
opened to other exporters as well. Most exporters quoted about Euro
2.20 a kilo. The Selimpex
consortium quoted the lowest at Euro 1.90 per kg and was allocated
more than half the 20 million kg tender, with others sharing smaller
amounts. This tender
was subsequently cancelled and fresh tenders were called again last
month at which teas were sold at euro 1.70 a kilo. Producers allege
the country lost a big sum of money as a result of this tender going
for a lower price, which they say is below the cost of production
of some of their teas. Exporters denied
there was a cartel and that some exporters had "sold low"
to bring the market down since at least 5-6,000 tonnes had already
been bought ex-stock. This means that the requirements up to at
least April were already in the pipeline of exporters. "Previously,
the Libyans gave a good price to Selimpex because the competition
was less," one big exporter said. "Today, when the market
is open, competition sets in and naturally, since everybody wants
a piece of the cake they offer lower prices." Producers said demand and prices at the auction had fallen further since the tender was signed. The
Magnetic Brassiere "Woman
across Asia love push-up bras. We just decided to add an extra sense
of excitement to them. Whenever you put on or take off the bra,
the magnets snap into place. Of course regular clasps are fine,
but why not try something a bit more modern, fun and durable?"
explains Harald Hinderberger, Regional Product Manager Asia, Triumph. Besides the
tell tale snapping sound of the magnets, the new magnetic bra also
offers increased comfort through high quality fabrics and design,
the makers promise. The patented button-sized magnets remain clasped under heavy pressure and are not affected by temperature change or conditions related to water or dryness. The first Magnetic Bra will be available in Sri Lanka at the Triumph Boutiques - Majestic City and Singer Mega this month, ready for Valentine's Day! Confusion
over SL's new telecom policy "We are
not opposed to the liberalisation policy. We just have reservations
on some aspects," an official at one of the telecom firms said. Concerns raised
by the operators arise over the technicalities of international
call terminations and its rates. Part of the proposed rates for
incoming foreign calls go to a Rural Infrastructure Fund thus reducing
the amount payable to the local operator. Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe is reported to have approved the new policy
and said the government will go ahead with its legislation though
telecom operators including Sri Lankan Telecom have raised concerns.
Themiya Hurulle,
Director General of the Telecom Regulatory Commission (TRC), confirmed
that there was a dispute over rates expressed by the local operators.
The issues were due to be discussed late on Friday between the government
and the industry. Official sources
said the government is confident about its stand as none of the
prospective new external gateway operators has expressed reservations
on the rates. Hurulle said that the government is "very certain"
about its policy and is keen to bring down call rates. He added that
the revision of local call charges to benefit the consumer is also
on the cards in the second phase of liberalization. Asked about
the issue of payments made by Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) to two of
its competitors, Suntel and Lanka Bell, totalling about Rs. 1 billion
a year to make sure they use the SLT gateway, Hurulle said that
payments are being made under an illegal memorandum of understanding
which is an anti-competitive practice. This practice would amount
to a criminal offence under the proposed telecom legislation. Hugo
Cederschiold, Head of Suntel, said that the payments were promoted
by the then government and supported by the Treasury with a view
to preventing those small-time call termination operations that
bypass the current licensed external gateway operator, SLT. However, there
was no documentary evidence to support the view that the former
government was responsible for initiating this payment, he added. The TRC acknowledged
that the two operators have made this known and that it is currently
inquiring into the matter. Hurulle added that the intention of bringing down the international call rates was also an indirect method of bypassing these small-time, unlicensed termination operators. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
