LONDON  (Reuters) : Brent crude oil gained on Wednesday, with investors optimistic that the U.S. Federal Reserve may give hints of more monetary easing, supporting demand sensitive assets. Brent crude rose 44 cents to $118.60 a barrel by 0909 GMT, while U.S. crude was up 48 cents at $104.03. A third round of monetary stimulus ...

Although relatively unknown in Sri Lanka, the world’s third largest advertising holding company, the Publicis Groupe, has a formidable presence worldwide and is represented in Sri Lanka by one of its main global subsidiaries, Leo Burnett. With Sri Lanka showing potential for high growth in the years to come, the second-in-command of the French multinational ...

Reuters: Fresh from a big victory in raising $430 billion for the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde’s tougher test as head of the global lender will be finding a way to give emerging economies more influence. To do this, the former French finance minister will need to convince the Fund’s dominant powers – the United ...

Reuters: The Group of 20 nations on Friday pledged $430 billion in new funding to the International Monetary Fund, more than doubling its lending power in a bid to protect the global economy from the euro-zone debt crisis. The promised funds from advanced and emerging economies will provide the global lender with a huge war ...

Sri Lanka’s embassy in Russia has completed an innovative project to further promote Sri Lanka as the preferred tourism destination among the Russian people. Under this project, which was ably supported by Sri Lanka Tourism, they have compiled a tourist guidebook on Sri Lanka in the Russian

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund’s bid to win a big boost in funding to handle the euro-zone debt crisis hit a speed bump on Thursday when Brazil demanded more power at the IMF for emerging economies as a condition for lending it extra cash. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega laid out the terms for a ...

Prospects for the global economy are slowly improving again, but growth is expected to be weak, especially in Europe, and unemployment in many advanced economies will stay high, according to the IMF’s latest forecast. Although action by policymakers in Europe and elsewhere has helped to reduce vulnerabilities, risks of a renewed upsurge of the crisis ...

Commodity broker John Keells Plc said yesterday that the global production of black tea was heading towards a shortfall in the first half of 2012 due to the prevailing dry weather in major tea producing countries and this will help stabilise prices at remunerative levels. It said worst ever drought in fifteen years in North ...

Sri Lanka’s embassy in Russia has completed an innovative project to further promote Sri Lanka as the preferred tourism destination among the Russian people. Under this project, which was ably supported by Sri Lanka tourism, they have compiled a Tourist Guide Book on Sri Lanka in the Russian

The heads of state of BRICS countries met for the fourth time at their annual summit, this time held in Delhi. The original BRICS countries are Brazil, Russia, India and China with South Africa joining later on. These countries belong to the category now described as emerging economies. The BRIC

David Parker, a leading global expert on prepaid payment cards will be visiting Sri Lanka on 18 April as the guest of MTI Worldwide, a leading Sri Lankan payments consultancy, to run a workshop for banks. He has forecasted that prepaid payment cards in Sri Lanka will soon see explosive growth. “Prepaid cards are Visa/MasterCard ...

BEIJING: China is now the world’s largest food and grocery market, having overtaken the US in terms of sales in 2011, a market research firm said. British food industry analysts IGD also noted thatBRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – will make up four of the top five

Several days after its original announcement of suspension of flights during off-peak season, SriLankan Airlines retracted saying services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will continue uninterrupted. “SriLankan Airlines’ services to Rome, Milan and Moscow will remain uninterrupted as per the present schedule. The flight frequencies to these three destinations will also remain the same,”...

Deals worth $ 12.1 m under negotiation “An invaluable learning curve for Sri Lanka’s international trade scheme,” says Rishad The recently-concluded Expo 2012 was a successful event, coming after a lapse of 15 years. “Expo 2012 garnered confirmed orders to the value of US$ 66,090 and currently orders under negotiation amount to US$ 12,110,315. There ...

News Butterfly, the unique TV programme from the US’ FOX news network, is now filming in Colombo for an exclusive segment on Sri Lanka’s new upswing. News Butterfly Market Place (NBMP) is described as a ‘unique women’s movement on TV’. According to NBMP, ‘the programme is a TV Channel venture for beautiful and talented women ...

Sri Lanka thanks all Muslim countries which supported the country at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva by voting against the resolution and by abstaining from voting. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is a true and long time friend of Islamic nations, Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha said yesterday. Mustapha said that 15 countries that voted ...

Novo Nordisk, the reputed multinational Danish company, a world leader in diabetes related products, launched a new drug – Victoza – for treating adults with type 2 diabetes in Sri Lanka recently. Victoza (generic name: Liraglutide) which has multiple benefits was launched at an event on 31 March attended by well known specialist physicians and ...

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has once again been adjudged Sri Lanka’s Best Bank by Global Finance magazine, giving the bank the distinct honour of winning this prestigious award for 14 consecutive years. The US-based magazine has named its ‘Best Emerging Market Banks in Asia’ rankings in an exclusive survey to be published in the ...

Expo 2012, organised by the Export Development Board, provided an ideal opportunity to Sri Lanka Tourism industry to promote its product to the international market. At the end of the event, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) had been able to achieve its targets successfully. The stall of the SLTPB was one of the eye ...

By Kanwal Sibal Daily Mail, UK: Many arguments can be made against our decision to vote against Sri Lanka in the Human Rights Council in Geneva, a decision highly questionable from the foreign policy point of view. Domestic compulsions seem to have outweighed foreign policy considerations in this case. India and the West have been ...

A new Air Services Agreement between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation was signed at the Ministry of Transport of Russia in Moscow on 26 March. Sri Lankan Ambassador in the Russian Federation Udayanga Weeratunga signed the Agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka while Deputy Minister

UAE businessmen are rushing to Sri Lanka as the country opens up its doors for competitive trade. More than 50 business personnel from Dubai and other emirates are camping in Sri Lankan to explore business opportunities. President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated Expo 2012, where over 370 exporters are showcasing a wide array of goods and services. ...

The Expo 2012 show that commenced yesterday highlights Sri Lanka’s export products across more than 20 sectors. “Expo 2012 is a viable platform for UAE to identify the export product portfolio of Sri Lanka. In fact, we did not know that Sri Lanka has such a huge export portfolio until today,” said Rashid Al Telaji, ...

Reuters: The BRICS group of emerging world powerhouses – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is expected to launch plans this week for a joint development bank and measures to bring their stock exchanges closer together. Officials say the initiatives will take time

Travel and tourism is set for a milestone year as the industry’s direct contribution to the global economy is expected to pass $2 trillion in GDP and 100 million jobs. According to research by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the global travel and tourism industry will grow by 2.8% in 2012, marginally faster ...

Reuters: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday the United States could no longer dictate policy to the rest of the world and warned of growing instability in the West’s relations with Pakistan.  Ahmadinejad, speaking at a regional conference on Afghanistan, called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from the country and proposed that ...

By Cheranka Mendis The volatility in Middle Eastern markets, coupled with the increasing issue of low quality due to competition and increasing costs, has placed the local tea industry in a big fix, which could, if unattended, immediately mark the end of a Sri Lankan legacy in four to five years. Despite Sri Lankan tea ...

Major emerging market economies will look closer at creating a joint development bank to co-ordinate their financial power as the world economy falters, said Brazilian Trade Minister Fernando Pimentel.  Development banks of the so-called Brics group of emerging economies plan to ink memorandums of understanding next week in India to work on the creation of ...

By Uditha Jayasinghe Showcasing the need for vigilance, over 1,500 foreigners who remained illegally in the country after their visas expired were detected within the first two months of 2012, a top immigration official said yesterday. Controller General of Immigration and Emigration Commissioner for Registration of Persons of Indian Origin W. Perera told the Daily ...

By Amantha Perera IPS: As the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted in, Thursday, a resolution asking Colombo to act on recommendations made by its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Buddhist prayers reverberated through the Sri Lankan capital. “It is a resolution that encourages Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own ...