A survey conducted last week on the health of the Sri Lankan economy revealed that almost 64% said that the Government had done its task but only 43% had said that there had been growth in the economy. Whilst some can say that this data is strange, a similar set of information was shared at ...

President Eisenhower raised the alarm in 1961; its relevance today‘But most shall he sing of Lanka In the brave new days to come, When the races all have blended And the voice of strife is dumb, When we leap to a single bugle, March to a single drum.’ From ‘The Call of Lanka’, by the ...

Brief analysis of corrupt public expenditure in Sri Lanka Lessons from China or Tunisia? Just few months ago, in response to a public outcry for more accountability and transparency in the use of public funds, the State Council, which is the Cabinet in the Chinese Government, directed 98 public institutions including ministries to make public ...

Class and Economy Class fares departing between 22 January ...

As the countdown begins to the 2012 edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), Emirates Holidays has unveiled special packages which offer substantial savings on hotel accommodation in Dubai during the festival period exclusively for passengers travelling with the award-winning airline. These packages from the tour operating division of Emirates are available from just US ...

We are still stuck in the winter of our discontent! By Jude Fernando Groundviews.org: “Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organisations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against ...

In a first time event, in parallel to the Governor’s Challenge Trophy for global commerce excellence, the global commerce excellence awards and medals will be presented to selected categories of Sri Lankan entities and individuals. The Export Development Board, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and the Shippers’ Academy Colombo have been instrumental with the concept with ...

Last week my phone beeped and the text message read ‘The Chairperson of the Security and Exchange Commission Indrani Sugathadasa had resigned citing reasons of values and principles for her resignation’. My mind went back to the time when this lady when she was the Board Director at EDB. Whenever tough decisions had be taken ...

The eighth ‘Apparel Star’ talent competition for garment factory workers in the Kandy District concluded last Saturday with seven finalists selected to participate at the finals, which will be held in early 2012. The talent hunt among apparel factory workers is part of an image building campaign conducted by the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) ...

Hatton National Bank (HNB) Deputy General Manager – Marketing & Retail Banking Chandula Abeywickrema was invited by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to present the partnership initiative support for greater financial inclusion among the migrant workers and their dependents in Sri Lanka at the Annual Meeting for Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) held on ...

The defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 has wrought a perceptible change in Sri Lanka’s economic climate, recognised by international financial institutions, foreign media and economic analysts, says in an article on Bangkok Post published on November 28. “Today they see Sri Lanka as one of Asia’s fast-growing nations with huge potential”, the report ...

Boeing is to launch a six-month tour with its all-new 787 Dreamliner. The December schedule for the 787 Dream Tour includes six stops in Asia, Africa and the Middle East: 4-11 December: China with stops in Beijing, Guangzhou and Haikou to visit customers, partners, and government officials including representatives from Civil Aviation Administration of China ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas Exploring opportunities for trade, technology transfer and alliances with local companies, a delegation of business leaders from Northern Ireland was present in Sri Lanka earlier this week to meet with prospective partners to initiate further business relationships. Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI), an initiative of UK regional business development agency, with the ...

The Economist: THE Australians are not the only ones to feel chuffed by the Gold Coast winning its bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Most Sri Lankans, whose country competed for the event with none of the infrastructure in place, are beyond relieved. So roundly have the media criticised Sri Lanka’s failed attempt to ...

There is a saying in the English language, which goes something like “you cannot see the woods for the trees”. What it means is that those who cannot see the wood because of the trees that obstruct would not be able to see a situation as it really is, because they look too closely at ...

UNP Co-Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya The Budget lacks direction and is neither here or there. For the consumer, it is inflationary; nor does it instil investor confidence. It has a political aim but lacks an economic aim. Furthermore, it does not address the productivity of employment; nor does it address the salaries of professionals and ...

Softlogic Holdings Plc Chairman Ashok Pathirage has declared that impressive second quarter results have added further value to its story strengthening the journey begun as a listed new conglomerate. The Company has achieved significant results in both the second quarter and the first half of 2012 financial year which Pathirage said: “Exceeding our expectations set ...

Amidst tumbling value in the Colombo bourse, the Government’s Revival Bill suffered a fresh blow when rating agency Moody’s yesterday warned of investor uncertainty and negative impact whilst a fresh Fundamental Rights case was filed against new legislation. Triple adverse developments or reactions were despite the Government remaining hell bent in its continued justification of ...

TOKYO, (Reuters): Japan’s economy rebounded from an earthquake-triggered recession in the third quarter by expanding 1.5 percent, a pace that is likely to slow down though as a strong yen and weak global growth darken the outlook. The growth — the fastest among major industrial nations

Having being involved actively in the last seven years of Sri Lanka’s economic development agenda, the last two years in particular have been dramatic in nature. Private sector thinking has now come into the public sector which is interesting but needs to be careful managed so that we do not lose the democratic spirit of ...

By Chamitha Kuruppu The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna claims spending Rs. 265 billion on an 11-day extravaganza is intolerable for an economically ailing country like Sri Lanka. Addressing a media briefing the JVP warned that the aftermath of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games would not be rosy as the Rajapaksa administration predicts According to JVP Propaganda ...

Real estate and property development group Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC is consolidating its post war growth momentum as reflected in the nine months results released to the Colombo Stock Exchange. The Group recorded revenue of Rs. 1,657 m and net profit of Rs. 440 m, which is an increase of 42% and 77% respectively over ...

The 17th SAARC summit ended on Friday with the adoption of a 20-point ‘Addu Declaration’ to forge effective cooperation among the member states in a host of areas including economy, connectivity, climate change and food security. The Addu Declaration was adopted at the concluding

SRI Lanka’s dream of becoming a logistics hub has many challenges to tackle before it can become a reality. Perhaps the most important consideration is that Sri Lanka needs to train logistical managers and other professionals who will manage not only the new harbours, highways and airports, but also think up different ways of doing ...

Swami Vivekananda, the Vedanta thinker, once stated: “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way great ...

The policy changes, reforms and modernisation since Budget 2011 appears to have been the context of a presentation made to the Joint Apparel Association Forum in July 2011 by the “leading light” in finance, planning, treasury management and economic development. Sri Lanka background 2000-’10 The presentation articulates the background issues experienced from 2000 to 2010. ...

Last week I received an invite for an ‘Inventors Day Celebration’ in one of the leading schools in the country and the master in charge shared a thought that I felt was a cutting edge idea. Apparently, every one of us is an inventor in some part of our daily life. The issue is that ...

Local surfing in the wake of SriLankan Airlines Pro 2011By Ben Fowler A common theme among the surfers of Sri Lankan Airlines’ ASP Pro 2011, when describing Arugam Bay, was seeing its similarities to other countries. Brazilian-born Andre Derizans said the waves reminded him of his own slice of the ocean back home in Hawaii. ...

The gem mining sub-sector grew by 7.9% in 2010. The gem and jewellery exports too reported 1.56% positive growth in 2010. Even in the first-half of 2011, increased earnings from mineral exports were led by higher exports of gems which increased by 35.5% in the first half of 2011, according to the Central Bank. The ...

Corruption or for that matter anti-corruption, seems to be on everybody’s mind these days, especially after Anna Hazare’s popular agitation and protest fast. There are various theories about this; the most interesting I read recently was in a newspaper article written by Jayantha Prasad Sittampalam. He says “Let’s say, for arguments sake, that bribery and ...