Sri Lanka and Indonesia this week set an ambitious goal of tripling bilateral trade to $ 1 billion within the next three years. The two countries have taken a decision to establish a Working Group on Trade and Investment to operationalise this goal, External Affairs Ministry said after the conclusion of Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Dr. ...

External trade in November turned exponential to reach a record figure of almost $ 3 billion with imports shooting up to a near $ 2 billion as exports showed signs of losing steam though higher in comparison to a year earlier. The rapid rise in imports, up 78% to $ 1.98 billion, highest ever, and ...

LONDON(Reuters): Cleaner and better-managed seas and coasts would help boost economic growth and reduce poverty and pollution, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report said on Wednesday. The report, produced with several other U.N. organizations, highlights the huge potential of a marine-based economy some five months before world governments meet to discuss pathways to more ...

LAUGFS Leisure Limited a fully owned subsidiary of LAUGFS Gas PLC announced yesterday the appointment of veteran hotelier Sirilal Miththapala to its Board of Directors. Miththapala joins LAUGFS Leisure Board at a time the company is taking serious initiatives to be a leading player in the hospitality industry in Sri Lanka. LAUGFS Leisureis currently involved ...

By Uditha Jayasinghe Sri Lanka’s impressive economic growth is motivating the US Department of Commerce to urge their companies to have a second look at the island nation, a top official said yesterday.  US Department of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa, the Middle East and South Asia Holly Vineyard told the media that the ...

Facing the short-term economic challengesThe macroeconomic imbalances Sri Lanka has achieved a growth rate of 8.3% last year and inflation fell to 4.9% year-on-year in December 2011. These are noteworthy achievements at a time when the global economic landscape has been hostile with a slowdown in the US and a crisis in Europe; key markets ...

Developing countries should prepare for further downside risks, as Euro Area debt problems and weakening growth in several big emerging economies are dimming global growth prospects, the World Bank said yesterday in the newly-released Global Economic Prospects (GEP) 2012. The bank has lowered its growth forecast for 2012 to 5.4 per cent for developing countries ...

By Dinali Goonewardene The Institute of Chartered Accountants (CA Sri Lanka) ceremonially inducted its 21st President, Sujeewa Rajapakse, at a ceremony at the Cinnamon Grand hotel yesterday. Rajapakse, who is the Managing Partner at BDO Partners, the fifth largest audit firm globally, took over for a two-year term from outgoing President Sujeewa Mudalige. Newly-inducted President ...

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) seems to be set to hit the headlines again, after the Industry and Commerce Minister on a recent visit to India expressed strong interest in expanding business ties with Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour. Readers will remember that all past attempts to sign CEPA have resulted in many local businessmen ...

Sri Lanka readying for dedicated trade talks in MarchBeing the first FTA for India and Sri Lanka, the 1998 Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement carries substantial sentimental value for Sri Lanka. Together, both countries can play a major role in elevating Indo-Sri Lanka economic relations from the current level to a much higher plane. The ...

InterContinental Hotels Group has signed an agreement with RB Capital to manage Kuala Lumpur’s first Holiday Inn Express, which will be built along Bukit Bintang by Amsterling Hotels Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of RB Capital. The hotel will rise in one of KL’s busiest retail and entertainment belts. The site is across from iconic developments ...

The Central Bank appeared to be unmoved by scepticism over its upbeat outlook for 2012, which was reiterated yesterday following the January monetary policy review leaving policy rates unchanged. UNP MP and Consultant Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva as well as Standard Chartered Bank have separately questioned some of the upbeat 2012 forecasts.   However, ...

“Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of global demand… we could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade” – ...

The Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has opined the Central Bank’s forecast of $ 25 billion foreign inflow as “optimistic” given external headwinds whilst cautioning that pressure was mounting on the rupee given the rising import demand. This view along with weaker GDP forecast is contained in SCB's latest country update titled 'A challenging year ahead' ...

Highly confident Central Bank outlines ambitious forecasts for 2012 and beyond 2011 GDP growth at record 8.3%; 2012 outlook revised to 8% from 9% previously Eyes over $ 25 b inflows in 2011 Low interest rates helped to reduce Govt. expenditure by Rs. 15.5 b CB profit transfers to Government over Rs. 46 b between ...

UNP MP Harsha de Silva yesterday alleged Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal’s 2012 and beyond road map was “nauseatingly one-sided propaganda” whilst it failed to address the balance of payments issue. Here is the full statement of Dr. de Silva. Without taking away from the hard work of the private sector for having driven this ...

A business leader present at yesterday’s unveiling of 2012 and beyond roadmap by the Central Bank remarked that it was a “height of optimism.” A tourism industry representative quipped Governor Cabraal’s statement that 197 hotel projects are in the pipeline wasn't true whilst a capital market player said that Central Bank Chief mischievously gave a ...

Support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) project Connecting Regional Economies (CORE) has increased incomes for over 14,000 households in the Eastern Province, Anuradhapura District and Monaragala District through business training and the introduction of new farm technologies and crops. On 16 December, USAID – the US Embassy’s development arm – hosted a ....

AS expected, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry made a booming start to the New Year with the news that South Africa’s Sun City is planning to invest a hefty US$ 800 million in a massive project in Katana. This brings the total investment from large-scale foreign hotel projects to nearly US$ 2 billion, with Sheraton, Shangri-la, ...

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 ...

CAIRO (Reuters): Egypt expects tourism revenues to rebound by more than a third next year if the country’s security situation improves in the wake of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February and the subsequent political turmoil that sent tourists packing. Tourism used to account for more than a tenth of Egypt’s gross domestic ...

DUBAI: The economies of Gulf hydrocarbon producers are projected to grow by nearly 7 per cent in 2011, but growth could tumble to nearly half that rate next year because of an expected decline in crude prices and production in the region, a bank in Saudi Arabia has said. Average oil prices could dip to ...

Business and preparations to welcome the New Year are as usual for professionally-managed hotels in the south, despite the recent attack on a tourist couple impacting the informal sector, especially in Tangalle. Southern Region Hoteliers Association President Priyankara Wickramasekara told the Daily FT yesterday that guests in member hotels were continuing to enjoy their holiday ...

From war and destruction to peace and reconstruction Both before and following the end of Sri Lanka’s 30-year separatist war in May 2009, it was recognised that rapid economic recovery in the Northern Province would be the key to lasting reintegration and reconciliation within a united country. Nearing the two-and-a-half-year point since the cessation of ...

For the first 11 months of 2011, earnings from tourism grew at a healthy rate of 46.7% to $ 736 million, whilst worker remittances topped the $ 4 billion mark by October. The Central Bank said average earnings per tourist per day increased to $ 97 for the period under review from $ 88 for ...

In a major indictment on the country’s macro stability and a wakeup call to policy makers, Fitch Ratings yesterday warned that Sri Lanka has now become one of the four highest-risk financial systems in Asia Pacific and nine in the world. The warning on and labelling of Sri Lanka comes ahead of Christmas and could ...

It is the season for giving, which we all know is a reason to look beyond ourselves and find some worthy cause to take up for Christmas. Everyone is familiar with the warmth connected with giving and the quiet pleasure in ensuring that someone else has a happy time as well. It can be something ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s tea production rose 11.7 per cent in November, its first year-on-year rise in eight months, due to better application of fertiliser and agricultural practises, State-run Tea Board data showed on Wednesday. Tea output in November recorded 31.23 million kilogrammes against 27.95 million kg in the same month last year. The output in ...

After bringing down the nearly-25-year-old civil war, Sri Lanka is now working towards improving its investment climate. The economy is now in a high-accelerating mode, on the back of the political will and stability in the new era. India will play a big role in this development and will be a key partner for Sri ...

Yet again proving its resilience amidst global shocks and the recession in the West, the country’s economy in the third quarter has grown by 8.4%, a rate viewed by analysts as faster than expected. The high 8.4% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was above the 8% achieved in the corresponding period of last year. ...