'Friends of Sri Lanka', a pan-European club dedicated to the promotion of tourism in Sri Lanka was recently established by two Travel Editors based in London.
Ivan Corea, Editor of Sri Lanka Today magazine and Tommaso Bruccoleri, Editor-in-Chief of Travel Days Europe who count years of experience in Europe's tourism industry have jointly embarked on this commendable task aimed at promoting Sri Lanka's image in the U.K. and the continent.
Mr. Corea started the quarterly 'Sri Lanka today' in 1994. The magazine, which is funded through advertisements and supplements is distributed free of charge in important tourist centres such as London, Berlin, Dubai and Singapore.
"The purpose of the club," said Mr. Corea "is to promote tourism and encourage business links between Europe and Sri Lanka. 'Friends of Sri Lanka' will be a non-political, non-profit-making organisation. Initially membership will be open to British Tour Operators, Ground Handlers, Travel Agents, Hoteliers, members of the aviation industry and travel media personnel".
Mr. Corea said the activities of the club would include organising Sri Lanka cultural events in the U.K., organising educational tours for members of the U.K. travel trade industry, promoting the use of Sri Lanka's convention facilities for conferences and publishing a regular newsletter on Sri Lanka.
The new club, though based in London, will in time assume the functions of a pan-European club.
"Our work in London is just a stepping stone to the continent" he said.
Mr. Corea said the negative image Sri Lanka has been receiving in the U.K. is mainly due to the 'adverse publicity' the country has been receiving in the British media. He attributed this to lobbying by Tamil expatriates with connections to the LTTE.
Mr. Corea cites as an example the recent Central Bank bombing which was given undue prominence in the British media. "Every media institution from the CNN to the BBC gave the bombing prime coverage lasting five minutes. One television report had it that the Galadari, Hilton and Ceylon Inter-Continental were destroyed."
"However", he said "once life is back to normal - as it is now - the country does not receive due publicity. Such sensationalism only tends to create an adverse and lasting impression of Sri Lanka in the public eye."
"What we say is that this sort of thing can happen in any country and Sri Lanka is no less safe than the U.K., the recent IRA bombing is a case in point. The British public too are now being accustomed to see things in a more positive light. Unhesitant tourist arrivals would in turn stimulate investor confidence," Mr. Corea added.
He hopes the club will set a precedent for the emergence of similar support groups in the Americas and elsewhere, said Mr. Corea. "Other countries too have such support groups. The Maldive Islands has such a group known as 'Friends of the Maldives', the ASEAN countries collectively have support groups."
Three month Treasury Bill yields fell by 234 basis points again this week while 6 and 12 month yields were down by 81 and 70 basis points respectively.
The weighted average yields were 13.38 per cent per annum (down from 15.62) for three months, 14.59 for six months (down from 15.40 per cent) and one year Treasury Bills 14.67 per cent (down from 15.37 per cent) respectively.
With inflation set to rise this year analysts say T-Bill yields are nearing bottom. Though dealers said most T-Bills appear to have been taken by state owned institutions most private tenderers have had their bids rejected. Dealers however say that there is heavy demand for three month bills.
"People are expecting T-Bill yields to move up in the near future therefore they do not want to invest on the longer term", explains Ajith Samarasundera, Assistant Fixed Income Securities Manager at Vanik Inc. As a result there is a large volume of funds waiting to be invested in the three months market, though there was less interest shown by investors on longer periods of maturity.
Meanwhile the Commercial Paper (CP) market which has dwindled to a fraction of its earlier volumes outstanding has been given a new lease of life. Dealers say most new issues are instantly snapped up by the structuring institutions themselves at around 15 per cent per annum. However at the time of writing there were indications that the rates were on the way down. Usually banks guaranteed CP trade at one to one-half per cent above the risk free rate. Some analysts say the resistance that is felt on CP yields at around 15 per cent is a good indication that the expected real interest rates based on the underlying economic status of the country may be around the resistance level.
Dealers however expect a further fall before rates start moving up. "Next week the three month rates may come down to around 12.5 per cent", predicts Union Bank Treasurer, Mangala Boyagoda.
British travel agent, Penny Durham from Brockmans Travel, Kent, UK won a competition to Sri Lanka through the successful Sri Lanka Today Magazine published in the UK. The competition was held jointly with the Galadari Hotel, Colombo and the Jetwing Group of Hotels.
The Sri Lanka Today competition was featured in The World Travel Market Issue - The Competition was held at the Sri Lanka stand organised by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board.
Penny Durham will be visiting the tourist locations before travelling back to London on British Airways.
The Mahaweli Authority is in line for a Rs. 152 mn (£ 1.95 mn) British grant, a news release from the British High Commission said.
The Overseas Development Administration, UK has approved the grant to implement the Technical Co-operation Project Environmental Management and Sustained Development in the upper Mahaweli Catchment, (ENDEV), the release said.
This is an institutional strengthening project targeted at the Mahaweli Authority's Environment and Forest Conservation Division at Polgolla.
The project will help improve the Mahaweli Authority's land use planning services and environmental monitoring for the central hills. Activities to be carried out include, the further development of a Geographic Information System established under the ODA funded Forest and Land Use Mapping Project, satellite remote sensing to monitor change in land use and a receiving station to collect Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometry for daily monitoring of soil moisture, forest fires and cloud cover.
Other monitoring activities include assessments of reservoir sedimentation and river flows as well as changes in land use of the Upper Catchment areas.
Improved land use planning services for settlements, tea estates and reforestation will be available for other government departments, the private sector and individuals.
Waldock Mackenzie, the investment banking subsidiary of John Keells Holdings has been ranked No. I, amongst lead managers of Sri Lanka's domestic equity (Initial Public Offerings) by Asiamoney.
The magazine's, February issue, has published an all-round league table of debt raising for Asian borrowers and issuers in the international capital markets, which gives the most comprehensive review of the best and the worst deals of 1995 in the Asia Pacific region.
Waldock Mackenzie raised US $ 11.3 million out of a total of all issues which raised US $ 46.1 million in 1995.
The board of Waldock Mackenzie comprises: Ken Balendra (Chairman), V. Kailasapillai, V. Lintotewela, C.J. Fernando, Ms A. Coomaraswamy, A. D. Gunewardene, S. C. Ratnayake and R. de Lanerolle.
The former Managing Director of Commercial Bank, J. M. Morrison has said in a letter to the editor that certain points in an article that appeared on the page of the Business Section were incorrect.
He says:
a) "My contract was for one year only."
b) "I have fulfilled the one year contract with Commercial Bank."
c) "I am leaving Sri Lanka for various reasons."
I have enjoyed my 5 1/2 years in Sri Lanka especially the one year with Commercial Bank.
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