SYDNEY (AFP): Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan on Wednesday urged European nations to “get their act together” as the International Monetary Fund released dire new predictions for the global economy. Named the world’s best finance minister by Euromoney magazine overnight due to Australia’s recession-beating performance during the financial crisis, Swan said he would deliver ...

An English traveller encounters optimism in the unlikeliest of pachydermsBy Will Maude During my stay here in Sri Lanka there have been dramatic monuments, extraordinary temples and rock-top forts to explore; strangely colourful flora and fauna to investigate; trees running with monkeys; encounters with elephants; and some of the world’s most stunning golden beaches nearby ...

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 ...

By Cheranka Mendis Tapping into the high-end tourism market Russia would help boost tourism numbers in large volumes and drive the industry to surpass the expected arrivals of 750,000 by the end of the year to over 800,000. SriLankan Airlines yesterday made its first direct flight to Moscow, the financial and political centre of Russia. ...

Time.com: Aboard the Man Gyong Bong, fresh coffee is served, along with dried fish and local beer. Karaoke parties pep the night life. That said, turn on a faucet and there’s usually no water – and cabins are more like dormitories. Welcome to North Korea’s first cruise ship. If all goes according to the plans ...

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has declared that all facilities are now available in Sri Lanka for investment and the country has become one of the most attractive for the latter. “Sri Lanka is now one of the safest countries in the world. It has political stability. Infrastructure facilities such as water, electricity, highways have ...

CAIRO (Reuters): The number of tourists visiting Egypt dropped by more than a third in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the same quarter last year as political instability continued to plague the sector, state-run statistics agency CAPMAS said on Monday. A total of 2.2 million tourists visited Egypt from April to June compared ...

Private sector borrowing in first half of 2011 tops Rs. 200 b; cumulative figure surpasses Rs. 1.7 trillion markCredit boom to private sector continues unabated with the amount extended in the first half topping Rs. 200 billion and the end June cumulative figure surpassing the Rs. 1.7 trillion mark. The estimated Rs. 209 billion lent ...

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has launched a new campaign with a budget of 19 million euros ($26.7 million) designed to boost international tourism to Cyprus this year. According to Alecos Orountiotis, CTO chairman, the “Cyprus in Your Heart” campaign will promote Cyprus’ history and culture, friendliness and hospitality, its mix of modern and contemporary ...

The UN World Tourism Organisation last week revealed that international tourist arrivals are estimated to have grown by 4.5% in the first half of 2011, consolidating the 6.6% increase registered in 2010. Between January and June of this year, the total number of arrivals reached 440 million, 19 million more than in the same period ...

Capacity building and knowledge transfer are at the centre of competitive destinations and sustainable development efforts. A new project, High Impact Tourism Training (HITT), implemented by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation with support from UNWTO, will provide training to 8,000 tourism workers and entrepreneurs from the informal sector in seven developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa a...

The Sri Lanka Private Sector Assessment of the Report to the United Nations Secretary General by the Panel of Experts on accountability in Sri Lanka was released on Thursday. The private sector critique is a compilation of views raised by a private sector group in Sri Lanka who are concerned about the content of the ...

Reuters: England piled more misery on India with a thrilling six-wicket victory in a one-off Twenty20 match at Old Trafford on Wednesday. After losing the test series 4-0, India started brightly in the shortest version of the game and racked up 165 all out, only to see England reach their target with three balls to ...

Stock Broking firm Capital Alliance suggests that the 2.6 million tourist arrivals target isn’t a pipedream but achievable though it will be only by 2020, which is 4 years later than the Government and industry set timeline of 2016. “The Government projects 2.5m arrivals in 2016, but the industry will lack the rooms and trained ...

Agra (IANS): Global tourists may finally be able to fly directly into Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal that attracts millions every year. While the Civil Aviation Ministry has moved to identify land for an international airport, the existing airport at Kheria is also being upgraded to cater to global visitors – with an ...

The country’s private sector yesterday hailed the Government’s decision to lift the emergency saying it was a positive signal to the world. Premier private sector lobby group the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in a statement said, “After many decades of conflict, the lifting of the emergency is a clear indication of return to normalcy and ...

Sri Lanka needs to foster a strong mutual relationship with Pakistan and China to maintain strong economic and military development. The need of the hour is that all three countries come together to form a new association so that they all can benefit from each other’s expertise with this new friendship bloc in Asia. The ...

Reuters Life!): Construction cranes on beaches, damaged coral, and floating trash in the turquoise waters off Bali are an unfortunate sign of just how successful the Indonesian resort island has been in attracting tourists. Foreign visitors have been drawn to the unique Hindu culture, art and volcanic landscapes of Bali since the 19th century, but ...

Royal Jordanian (RJ), the national airline of Jordan, logged a record 373,000 passengers aboard its aircraft in July, marking a 13.3 per cent rise over the same month last year and resulting in net profit reaching JD5 million ($7 million). RJ President and CEO Hussein Dabbas said that the passenger number is the highest registered ...

The Egyptian city of Aswan will host the official 2011 World Tourism Day celebrations, which will include a High-Level Think Tank on this year’s theme, ‘Tourism – Linking Cultures’. “It is most fitting that Egypt, home to some of the world’s most celebrated cultural heritage and a leading tourism destination, be the host country for ...

Combing military power with will power has enabled the tiny island nation to recover its sovereignty and restore economic development, stated The Economic Times in a report published last week. Not only did the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) comprehensively defeat the LTTE insurgency — the first such victory in the 21 century, but it also ...