Tourism slowly on the rise
Sri Lankan authorities held a MICE trade fair in Colombo this week to promote business and events tourism in the country. It attracted a large contingent of Indian businesses. Picture by Indika Handuwala shows a business-to-business discussion underway.
Dollar crisis has ended, asserts Central Bank governor
Amidst the appreciation of the rupee, has the US dollar crisis ended? “It has,” says Central Bank (CB) Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe. “The dollar crisis has ended. We have enough dollars to service all sectors,” he told the Business Times this week in an interview which dealt with foreign exchange, inflation, GDP growth and the [...]
Commercial Bank exploring overseas expansion
Posting good income from overseas operations including Bangladesh and Maldives, the Commercial Bank, is keen to replicate similar overseas operations in the medium term to spread the single-country concentration. Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manathunge told the Business Times that the bank is eyeing overseas expansion and further growth opportunities in Bangladesh and Maldives. He [...]
50,000 apparel workers lose jobs
The growing incidence of forcing employees out of their jobs in the apparel sector has resulted in about 50,000 workers with no jobs today amidst a severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Free Trade Zone General Employees Union Secretary General Anton Marcus said that about 50,000 workers are without jobs today as factories are asking [...]
Virtusa identifying transformation, investing in branding
Virtusa Corporation a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering and IT services and solutions, is identifying transformation areas and investing in the brand in the next 24 months, officials said. The company is also scaling for linear growth in the next few years, Roch Ferreira, Vice President and Global Head, Corporate Marketing, Virtusa, told [...]
Renewable energy tariffs to change according to market variations
Continuous lobbying by redeemable energy stakeholders to the Power Ministry has resulted in the Minister appointing a tariff committee related to solar energy which will see tariffs changing depending on the market variations, officials said. They said that with a cost-reflective tariff for solar as well as the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) committing to its [...]
Commissions and Omissions
Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, came down the lane with his tinkling music fitted on his tuk-tuk, stopping at the gate where the trio had gathered. “Aiyo…….eeiye godak prashna thibba weda warjanaya hinda [Aiyo… there were many disruptions due to yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) strike],” he said, selecting maalu-paans for the trio and putting them into a bag. [...]
Do things look “tickety-boo” now?
During the first week of the month, the Sri Lankan rupee movements against the US dollar shocked many. The rupee became “the world’s best performing currency” as the rupee value of the dollar fell from Rs. 362 to 318 – an appreciation of 12 per cent. While the importers and consumers hailed it, the exporters [...]
New venture to address needs of Sri Lanka’s senior citizens
Capazity (Pvt) Ltd, a Sri Lankan organisation catering to the varied needs of senior citizens of Sri Lanka, was launched on March 14 in the presence of its founders, advisory board members, clients, and the media. They told a news briefing that senior citizens are the most deserving community in any country. They have contributed [...]
BoardPAC’s inaugural grant to ICTA Sri Lanka
BoardPAC, the premier Board Meeting governance software provider, is contributing to the development of the nation’s digital infrastructure by awarding a national digitalisation grant to the apex technology body Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) to enhance accountability, measurement and productivity of the nation’s government institutions, it said in a media release. [...]
MICE Expo 2023 a big push for Sri Lanka Tourism
Reaffirming Sri Lanka’s former tagline, the Tourism Minister Harin Fernando insisted the island nation is a country unlike any other and a diversified nation. In an attempt to rectify his statement (on the Maldives) made at the German Travel fair ITB in Berlin recently, the Minister pointed out that he needed to apologise to the [...]
SLIC to separate life and general insurance businesses
State-owned insurance provider, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) has been directed to immediately divide its long-term life insurance and general insurance business into two separate companies within the corporation structure. This directive was issued by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) recently as it has observed that there was a setback in the market share [...]
Uber Eats launches e-cycles for delivery in Sri Lanka
Uber Eats, Sri Lanka’s food and grocery delivery platform, on Thursday brought on board 100 electric cycles on its platform. The e-cycles launched as ‘Voltage Edition’ are manufactured by Lumala, the country’s largest cycle manufacturer, and have been especially designed for deliveries. They have a range of up to 100 km and top speed of [...]
NDBIB expands global footprint by debuting in Africa
NDB Investment Bank recently made inroads into the African Region by acting as the exclusive Financial Advisor and Manager to the transaction of Hela Apparel Holdings PLC. NDBIB arranged a US$14 million fund raising via Norfund directly to Hela’s investment holding company earmarked for its operations in the African Region. The funds raised will be [...]
CMS celebrates its 25th anniversary in Sri Lanka
CMS, one of the best-established IT companies in Sri Lanka, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in Colombo with Director-General of the Board of Investment (BOI), Mrs Renuka Weerakone, graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. CMS, which started with just three hires in 1996, has now grown close to 150 staff as it celebrated its [...]