INSEAD, the leading international business school, has partnered with leading TMT advisory and investment firm Delta Partners to release a joint white paper that defines core emerging markets, growth drivers as well as opportunities and challenges in the global telecommunications industry. At a time when Facebook is getting ready to IPO, its focus on emerging ...

Expolanka Holdings PLC yesterday acquired the controlling stake in Akquasun Holidays India (Pvt) Ltd. at a cost of US$ 915,000, thus further consolidating both its presence and strength in the leisure and travel sectors. Akquasun Holidays, the Mumbai-based destination management specialist is a B2B Destination Management network company. Primarily mandated to attracting traffic from emerging ...

During the April holidays, Travelon ventured out to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) City with 14 adventurous Sri Lankans led by their tour captain, Director Bandula De Silva. This was the maiden voyage to Vietnam by Travelon and the management was very keen that the tour should come off with flying colours since this was a ...

By Cheranka Mendis Asia Leisure, a fully-owned subsidiary of Asia Capital Group, has formed a strategic tie-up with Teoria Investments Japan, through which Teoria has made an initial investment of US$ 2 million into Asia Leisure’s property Taprobana in Balapitiya. Anticipated to be launched in April 2013, Taprobana is the start of a major expansion ...

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) signed a cooperation agreement with the Chamber for Promotion and Economic Development of the BRICS Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) called ‘BRICS-PED’ recently. This special agreement will initially promote an identified range of products/services between Sri Lanka and BRICS Countries and facilitate alliances on reciprocal ...

The fall of the rupee is likely to bring mixed results for the tea industry, John Keells Plc said last week. It said Sri Lanka’s Rupee fell to a record Rs. 132.20 against the dollar breaking the previous record of Rs. 131.60 on 19 March 2012.   “The impact of the devaluation and rising energy ...

Reuters: Indian Oil Corp is ready to help Sri Lanka cut its heavy dependence on Iranian crude imports, as tighter Western sanctions hit supplies from Tehran, IOC subsidiary Lanka IOC told Reuters on Thursday. A top Lanka official said it was ready to help in a $ 2-billion upgrade of Sri Lanka’s 50,000 barrels per ...

Sri Lanka’s tea exports in 2011 reached an all time in US Dollar terms as well, according to Ceylon Tea Brokers Plc. “Based on the weighted average rupee value for US$ 1 in 2011 and 2010 as obtained from the website of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, equivalent US$ export earnings in 2011 amounted ...

Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha, who was among the Sri Lankan delegation to the UNHRC sessions in Geneva, says there are issues in any country when majorities and minorities live together. “Such issues can only be solved through dialogue. Any third party intervention makes the issues more complicated and totally destroys countries. Iraq, ...

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 ...

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 language and two audio CD’s containing details of ...

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 language and two audio CD’s containing details ...

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 countries together represent over 40 ...

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 ...

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 of Transport of the Russian Federation ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...