Sri Lanka’s largest fisheries harbour
Sri Lanka’s largest fisheries harbour (above), with technical assistance of the Lanka Hydraulic Institute, a leading Sri Lankan engineering consultancy firm, has been constructed in Wennappuwa and will be opened shortly.
IMF helping SL but not with money
Has Sri Lanka finally sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)? This is the million dollar question being asked in political and economic circles after the IMF this week said it was ready to respond positively to a request made by the Finance Ministry to provide training and technical assistance on macro-fiscal capacity building [...]
Israel-SL ties focus on counter terrorism, agriculture
Sri Lanka and Israel will continue its cooperation on defence and assist in the area of counter terrorism in addition to supporting advances in agriculture and water management. Historically Israel has been assisting Sri Lanka in counter terrorism and training, the newly appointed Israeli Ambassador Naor Gilon told the Business Times during his visit to [...]
Private banks await CB input to help pay CPC bill
The Central Bank (CB) still hasn’t responded to the private commercial banks’ committing specified amounts to help the Treasury foot the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s (CPC) oil bills, officials said. The CB on January 20 opted to spread the financing of fuel purchases among licensed banks in ratio to their foreign exchange inflows and requested all [...]
Exporters in a fix as state scrambles to source fuel
The Ministry of Finance will be looking at getting fuel stocks for one to two months only, messing up most long-term plans of exporters. As such the Treasury will only focus on shorter timelines to get fuel through credit swaps like the Indian swap obtained on Monday. “There is no crisis right now but as [...]
Rubber plantations in disease crisis
Sri Lanka’s rubber plantations have been hit by a fast spreading disease that could cause about 10 per cent crop loss while growers are awaiting the recommended pesticides to be imported that could be expensive to apply considering the drone equipment required to do so. The pesticides Hexachonozole and Carbendazin, though available in December, are [...]
Desperate times
Kussi Amma Sera, after the latest bout of unscheduled power cuts on Tuesday, was furiously searching for candles in the house. “Sir, apita thava iti-pandam oney (Sir, we need more candles),” she shouted. She was in a similar mood when engaged in conversation with her two friends under the margoso tree on Thursday morning. “Mey [...]
Road to economic independence
Political independence is the outcome of political freedom. We just celebrated the 74th anniversary of gaining political independence in 1948 from the British colonial rulers. If a nation has political independence, it has its own government and it is not ruled by any other country or nation. In the same way, “economic independence” is the [...]
SL’s largest fishing harbour in Wennappuwa completed with LHI expertise
Lanka Hydraulic Institute Ltd (LHI), a leading Sri Lankan engineering consultancy firm has been extending its hydrology expertise for Sri Lanka’s coastal and water sector especially in the development of fishery harbours with around 15 projects completed or about to complete up to now, LHI CEO Janaka Kurukulasuriya told the Business Times. Referring to its [...]
Venture Engine shortlists ‘Sri Lanka’s Top Fundable Start-ups’
Venture Engine, Sri Lanka’s pioneering start-up acceleration programme, has entered the final phase of its 10th edition with the selection of its top 10 grouping of finalists. The programme’s next, and final, stage is the showcasing of these finalists to potential investors as “Sri Lanka’s Top Fundable Start-ups” at the Venture Engine finale, which is [...]
Exports in various sectors seen increasing in 2021
Merchandise export revenue rose by 23 per cent to US$12.4 billion last year while $1 billion alone has been recorded for rubber exports including surgical gloves owing to demand from the pandemic, said Suresh D. de Mel- Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman and Chief Executive last week. He was briefing the media on Sri Lanka’s [...]
Teejay offers overseas exposure to management trainees
The Teejay Group, Sri Lanka’s first multinational fabric solutions provider, has made giant strides in its efforts to becoming the region’s largest weft knit manufacturer. Marking a first, Teejay is opening its doors to the next generation to further their management careers – as they get the opportunity to indulge in the level of influence [...]
5G technology required to run the unique digital ID project-TRCSL Chairman
While Sri Lanka is on the brink of introducing the unique digital ID for all citizens in the country which is set to roll out this year, the need for high speed Internet connection arises to perform the task. The solution for this is the implementation of the 5G technology, says Jayantha De Silva, Chairman [...]
SLIC market leader in General Insurance
Sri Lanka Insurance has upheld its leadership position again as the market leader of the General Insurance sector for 2021 reaffirming the supremacy of the state insurance giant. The flagship brand “Sri Lanka Insurance Motor Plus” also continued its tradition of leadership being the leader of the motor insurance market. In 2021 Sri Lanka Insurance [...]
Hemas unit to exit from crisis-hit Myanmar
Sri Lanka’s Hemas Holdings Group is exiting from its operations in Myanmar which has been gripped by political unrest for nearly a year under a military junta, the group announced on Wednesday. “Due to the challenges in the operating environment in Myanmar, we have entered into a sale and purchase agreement with our joint venture [...]
Diesel power generator sales rise
Diesel power generators are being sought by both domestic and corporates since last month’s power cuts, officials said. Power generator dealers told the Business Times that sales are literally flying off the roof and stocks are depleting fast. “The demand is ever growing,” Ruwan Kodisinghe, Product Manager, General Trading at Brown and Company told the [...]
RigServ eyes SL’s competitive cost and high productivity
While opening its global resource centre in Sri Lanka with its partnership with IFS, RigServ, a supply chain and technology consulting company based in the US is eying the competitive cost and high productivity in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka has a highly educated population, happy people, competitive cost and high productivity, high level of English [...]
‘Sapphire Sri Lanka’, a brand to take Sri Lanka to new vistas
While Sri Lanka is well known for its gem and jewellery industry and the country is the oldest source for coloured gem stones in the world, not much has been done to take the industry forward and make Sri Lanka the hub for gem and jewellery trade. Sri Lanka is referred where there are coloured [...]
Hela Apparel Holdings aiming to set up in Egypt
Hela Apparel Holdings Ltd which ended its third quarter on a high note, having exceeded its annual performance for FY2020/21 within the first 9 months of the current financial year, is aiming to expand its overseas operations to Egypt. The group recorded year-to-date revenue of Rs. 41.6 billion, which represents a growth of 88 per [...]
Government grapples to raise revenue from new tax policy changes
Sri Lanka is grappling to raise revenue from ad hoc tax policy changes without gaining optimum use from the existing tax structure before going for new taxes, a budget 2022 analysis report released by the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance revealed. The committee expressed its doubt on collecting more revenue from new taxes on a [...]
Possible Russian sanctions to hit Ceylon Tea
Eastern Europe turmoil leading to possible sanctions on Russia is likely to impact Sri Lanka’s trade in Ceylon Tea. Sri Lanka exports about 30 million kg of tea to Russia and with the announcement on Tuesday by UK Prime Minister of possible sanctions should Russian troops enter Ukraine the uncertainty is likely to impact exports [...]