Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum chandij@sympatico.ca Struggling with Doctoral Studies By 1998, I was struggling with my doctoral research. By then I realized that doing a Ph.D. in the midst of a busy hotel career, at times demanding 16-hour work […]

By SHIHAR ANEEZ Sri Lanka expects to present an anti-corruption bill to the parliament in coming days, Cabinet Spokesman said, as the island nation has been urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce corruption. The IMF has urged Sri Lanka to reduce corruption vulnerabilities through improving fiscal transparency and public financial management, introducing a […]

The foreign remittances earned by Sri Lankan migrant workers have increased to USD 407.4 million in February 2023, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara reported.

BBC reported that the lawyers of ex-US president Donald Trump have confirmed that New York prosecutors have invited the ex-US president to testify to a grand jury over the Stormy Daniels case. The Manhattan district attorney has investigated Donald Trump for five years over alleged hush money payments made on his behalf to the ex-porn […]

As the trajectory of global economic growth shifts towards Asia, the trade and investment component of the BIMSTEC countries needs to be revitalised to stay relevant, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry.

By Shamindra Ferdinando The US embassy declined to comment on Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader and Parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila’s declaration of CIA Director William Joseph Burns top secret visit to Colombo on Feb. 14. The Island raised this issue with the US embassy spokesperson twice on 15 Feb. and 06 March. On both occasions, the […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Saliya Pieris, PC, yesterday (10) said that US Ambassador Julie J. Chung had been invited as the Guest of Honour to a two-day National Law Conference (NLC) 2023 in recognition of the continuous support received by BASL from the US. Agency for International […]

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (March 10) declared the buying of the US Dollar as Rs. 311.62 and the selling rate as Rs. 328.90.

A local government election candidate of the National People s Power (NPP), vying for the Ambalantota Pradeshiya Sabha, has been arrested for defrauding money from people on the promise of employment opportunities in Thailand.

By Shamindra Ferdinando President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Finance Minister, should take immediate steps to restore the provisions of Exchange Control Act (ECA) of 1953 as part of the overall efforts to stabilise the national economy, NFF MP Jayantha Samaraweera told The Island yesterday (09). The former State Minister said that furthermore UNP […]

India had helped Sri Lanka more than any other country, especially, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said during Raisina Dialogue ‘Ideas Pod.’ While the Indian government took some bold decisions to help Sri Lanka face its economic crisis, even the Indian public came forward to support Sri Lanka, the country’s foreign minister said in […]

Sri Lanka’s rupee, which became the world’s best performing currency this year amid hopes of an International Monetary Fund bailout, may resume declines and lose a fifth of its value against the dollar by end-2023, according to Fitch Solutions. “We are optimistic that Sri Lanka will be able to secure an IMF board approval by […]

By Akitha Perera and Ranil Dharmasena Sri Lanka imported over 70 million kilos of wheat in 2022, State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told Parliament on Wednesday. “Each Sri Lankan consumes about three kilos of wheat. We must reduce eating wheat and increase consumption of rice. We can save a lot of foreign exchange,” Siyambalapitiya […]

Pakistan s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday his country was Âvery close to signing a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which would offer a critical lifeline for taming a balance of payment crisis.

Did you know the meaning of the Turkish axiom “Dost kara gunde belli olur”? I must confess I did not either until I read the English version tweeted by Firat Sunel, the Turkish ambassador in Delhi, who explained that it was the Turkish equivalent of the adage “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. The crucial […]

Both commercial and multilateral creditors should take part in the process to restructure Sri Lanka s debt, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday (March 08).

Young entrepreneur Chen Yingbing thought she had settled on a winning business model caring for China’s fast-ageing population. But not long after opening her high-end elderly care centre in the northern city of Tianjin, she encountered a major problem: the coronavirus pandemic. Under China’s hardline zero-Covid rules, elderly care homes were sealed off to prevent […]

Multilateralism is in crisis today and the failure of the global architecture of governance is affecting developing countries the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday in his address to the first foreign ministers’ meeting of G20 nations in 2023. “The architecture of global governance created after the Second World War was to serve two functions: First, to […]

Thursday 9th March, 2023 Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is an orphan; nobody takes responsibility for it, but many are those who claim the paternity of what seems to be a nascent economic recovery process. The SLPP-UNP government is elated at the prospect of being able to unlock the 2.9 billion-dollar IMF bailout soon. President Ranil […]

Chairperson of the Sri Lanka United National Businesses Alliance (SLUNBA) Taniya S Abeywsundera yesterday (08) said that the country’s small and medium scale enterprises were in the death throes as the government, and top officials had failed to provide relief to those enterprises. Addressing a press conference, in Colombo, she said that around 4.5 million […]

It is welcome news for progressive opinion in the global South that some seven countries, thus far seen as having been among the poorest countries of the world, would be ‘graduating’ out of the Least Developing Country (LDC) category. Among them are; Bhutan, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal and Angola. Hopefully, development researchers the world over would […]

United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, on Wednesday, said that he respects India’s judgement to have bilateral relations with Russia. “For the UK, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unacceptable. We’re helping to defend the UN charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We hope this war comes to a swift conclusion. I respect India’s judgement to have […]

India helped Sri Lanka more than any other country, especially when the island nation was struggling through an unprecedented crisis, Sri Lanka s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said during Raisina Dialogue Ideas Pod.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has recognized three women within the international forum as integral parts in providing Sri Lanka with the required foreign assistance during its most unprecedented economic crises.