Arab News: RIYADH: Saudi businessmen have evinced immense interest in attending the upcoming the Sri Lanka Expo 2012 scheduled from 28 to 30 March in Colombo, Sri Lankan Embassy’s Commercial Counselor Anil Sirimanna said. The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) has organised the three-day event being held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall ...

24 nations vote in favour, 15 against, whilst eight abstain Govt. told to implement LLRC suggestions GENEVA (Reuters): Sri Lanka should ensure Government troops who committed war crimes during the final stages of its war against Tamil rebels are brought to justice, the UN Human Rights Council said on Thursday. Despite heavy lobbying by a ...

With the phenomenal international growth of Pre-Paid Cards, Mobile Payments and e-Wallets, MTI Consulting has initiated an alliance with UK based Polymath Consulting. As part of this alliance, the CEO Polymath Consulting David Parker will be in Sri Lanka for a Thought Leadership Seminar on 18 April from 5.30p.m. to 8p.m. David Parker is the ...

Flexiprint (Pvt) Ltd, a specialised printer in Flexography printing tea bag tags and envelopes proved its supremacy in quality of Flexo printing by winning the bronze award at the Asian Flexo-Gravure-Label Awards held in Bangkok recently. Flexiprint is a dedicated catalyst to the Tea bag industry serving 58% of the tea bagging companies in Sri ...

Can clothes, fashion accessories and makeup make a country look democratic?Dictators have begun to dress up their autocratic regimes in the manner of democracies with all the mod cons that help to pass off a system of government, which is for all purposes a dictatorship, as a five-star democracy. This in the manner that a ...

Loss-making State-owned enterprises are nothing new in Sri Lanka. One of the better known ones is SriLankan Airlines, which was given to Emirates due to its inability to breakeven but was retaken by the present Government. Pros and cons of this move is history but cash-strapped and a midst losses, it appears that the Government ...

Today is 19 March 2012. The day and the month of March are significant in the lives of many people – some celebrating birthdays, some wedding anniversaries, while others nurse what is yet left over from the hangover of the three day drawn encounter that we experienced a week ago or the limited over Royal ...

Anticipating four days of music in 16 locations from 17 countries and 100 artistesBy Cheranka Mendis Aspiring to be listed on the World Calendar of Events, preparations for Senses and Soul- Colombo Music Festival is on course and plans are falling in to place as expected, Founder and Event Director of the Festival Haadia Galely ...

By Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 27% to 83,549 in February from a year earlier, continuing the growth momentum established in 2010. Data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority yesterday showed arrivals topping 169,423 during the first two months of the year, a 21% increase from the period a year ago. ...

With just 12 days to go, Sri Lanka’s largest mega trade, investment and tourism promotion initiative ‘Expo 2012’ has attracted close to 1,200 people, exceeding the expected 1,000 mark, EDB Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said yesterday. Speaking to the Daily FT, he asserted that the number of participants had increased by 500 from last week, when ...

Head of the Sri Lankan delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe is to return to Geneva to attend the sessions on Wednesday (14). Minister Samarasinghe is to head another team of Sri Lankan delegates to the UNHRC sessions. The main aim of the delegation would be ...

With the country abuzz with the contentious US resolution on Sri Lanka at the ongoing UNHRC sessions Asia Wealth Management Research team has come up with a brief analysis of the move’s impact if any. Here are excerpts from Asia Wealth’s analysis: The US proposed resolution on Sri Lanka in the current session of the ...

Geneva: The United States Wednesday submitted the draft resolution against Sri Lanka to the United Nations Human Rights Council at its 19th session in Geneva. The draft resolution submitted to the UN body notes the report of Sri Lanka’s domestic Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and its findings and recommendations while acknowledging its possible ...

Thousands of women in the apparel industry deserve respect for being partners in Sri Lanka’s highest foreign exchange earning sector By Uditha Jayasinghe Sri Lanka’s apparel industry clothes the world and earns the largest amount of foreign exchange but is struggling to retain its workforce as an estimated 30,000 vacancies remain open in hundreds of ...

Reuters: Thousands of protesters chanting “Russia without Putin” took to the streets of Moscow on Monday to challenge Vladimir Putin’s victory in a presidential election which international monitors said was unfair.  Putin, who secured almost 64 percent of votes on Sunday

OIL seems to have returned to the headlines as reports indicate that India may be pressurising Sri Lanka to allocate it blocks in the Mannar Basin. An article in The Hindu remarks that India is persuading Sri Lanka to allocate oil exploration blocks in the waters that separate them, as it considers the location too ...

Geneva: The United States says the report of the Lessons Learnt and reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Sri Lanka’s domestic body that probed the country’s armed conflict does not adequately address the issue of accountability. Addressing the 15th meeting of the 19th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva yestedray, the US delegate ...

In June 2007, the US and the Republic of Korea signed a Free Trade Agreement (KORUSFTA). In December 2010, they concluded new agreements reflected in letters signed in December 2011, providing market access to US auto manufacturers and workers. Once the agreement comes into force on 15 March 2012, nearly 95% of bilateral trade in ...

The first Government University of Australia that has set up in the country, the Ballarat University, staged an interesting evening last week under the banner ‘The Ballarat Debate,’ to a select club of professionals at the City Campus that discussed some interesting ideas on Sri Lanka’s economy. One of Sri Lanka’s award-winning marketers and former ...

Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, during World War II, said that his brand of fascism ‘should be more appropriately called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power’. Compare this with the dictionary definition of capitalism: ‘A system in which a country’s business and industry are controlled and run for ...

At a time when some major global apparel buyers are shifting their sourcing to low-cost countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, Sri Lankan garment manufacturers are not only able to retain their current buyers but have also succeeded in luring new buyers. In fact, the Sri Lankan apparel industry has crossed its US$ 4 billion ...

The United States  has said it expected the Sri Lankan government to announce a detailed action plan to address the reconciliation and accountability issues when the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was released but to date it has not seen any plan from the government on how the recommendations made by the ...

Popularly known as the father of insurance in Sri Lanka, Chandra Schaffter is a multi-dimensional person with disarming humility and an outspoken view of life. His 60-odd years in the profession has defined the entire industry and the outspoken risk-taking dynamism of Schaffter in many ways epitomises the home grown entrepreneurial spirit.   He describes himself ...

The Sri Lankan ministerial delegation attending the 19th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council beginning later this month has left for Geneva, Switzerland yesterday. The ministerial delegation led by the External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris includes Plantation Minister and President’s Special Human Rights Envoy Mahinda Samarasinghe, Ministers Nimal Siripala De Silva and ...

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), the foremost business chamber in Sri Lanka, caters to the business needs of over 3,000 establishments through its direct and indirect membership.  The service needs of these organisations are met by the CCC in numerous ways. They include, introduction of local and overseas business links, facilitation of export/import procedures, ...

  By Cheranka Mendis The much anticipated HSBC Colombo Fashion Week is now all set to open three days of glamour and fashion related business to the local community starting 24 February. With fashion weeks around the world being identified as the most glamorous business meetings, HSBC CFW will aim at promoting and encouraging local ...

The Daily FT spoke to the Immediate Past President of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) and Chairman and Managing Director of Conniassance de Ceylan Ltd., on the state of post-war Sri Lanka tourism industry, the progress and key challenges as well as future prospects and how best they could be harnessed. Here ...

Born at Moscow in 1961, Valeriy Belenikin is a graduate of the Moscow Academy of Fine Arts named after V.I Surikov. The artist’s conception of his work is based upon truth and the mystery of this life. He is in awe of all that takes place in this world. Not only human banality, but all ...

Colombo Music Festival gathers momentum; to be held on 23, 24, 25, and 26 August 2012As Senses and Soul, Colombo Music Festival 2012 to be held from 23 to 26 August gathers momentum behind the scenes, this festival, the first ever of its kind to be held in the region, promises to deliver a superlative ...

Following are some responses from three economists to the guest column by Chandra Jayaratne titled ‘Important issues’ for Sri Lankan legislators, the Executive, policymakers, Central Bankers, economists and thought leaders to ponder over published on 2 February 1) I disagree with the Stiglitz-Krugman line. My diagnosis is that Europe is in this mess for two ...