A farewell dinner was organised by the Sri Lanka-Russia Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for Vladimir Mikhaylov and Madam Mikhaylov in recognition of the yeomen services rendered by Mikhaylov during his tenure as the Patron of the Council. The event was held on 6 July 2012 at the Dukes Court, Cinnamon Lakeside ...

Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, addressing the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on Tuesday, 31 July 2012, has expressed Sri Lanka’s “profound disappointment that the conference has not been enabled to undertake substantive work on its agenda”. He said: “It is time to avoid the temptation of subjecting the ...

Sri Lanka’s dependence on imported milk is a phenomenon that evolved during the time frame of my lifetime. I well remember as a child, a man used to bring a cow and its small calf to our house – we lived in a Government quarters bungalow in Colombo – and milk the cow, in the ...

Five teenage schoolchildren from Sri Lanka who had lost a family member to an act of terrorism attended this year’s ‘Project Common Bond’, a weeklong peace building and conflict resolution program held in the US. The program was organised by Tuesday’s Children, a New York based non-profit organisation serving the needs of those affected by ...

CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) yesterday announced that The Indivisibles from Exeter University have been crowned global champion at the prestigious 2012 CIMA Global Business Challenge (GBC) in partnership with Barclays which took place from 23 to 24 July. The Indivisibles triumphed over stiff competition from twenty one other talented regions at the event ...

Industry experts urge disillusioned local investors to ‘buy when it’s down and sell when it’s up’ In a highly volatile atmosphere and with low investor confidence in the Colombo Bourse, experts earlier this week went against the negative sentiments and instead stated that now is the time to buy. These views were aired at a ...

UNCTAD released its World Investment Report 2012 recently. The report indicated that for the first time since 2007, global FDI inflows increased by 16% despite the continuing effects of the global and financial economic crisis. However, UNCTAD predicts the FDI growth rates to decline in 2012 due to economic uncertainty and the possibility of lower ...

Reuters: India’s tea production in May dropped to 72.5 million kg, down 4.8% from a year earlier, the State-run Tea Board said, as unfavourable weather in the top-producing north eastern state of Assam state hampered plucking. The country’s tea production in the first five months of 2012 fell 11.4% to 215.8 million kg from a ...

By Shamil Samsul Mueen 1. Introduction The global financial crisis has raised imperative issues concerning the stability and reliability of existing financial systems. This has driven an extensive global re-examination on the competence of the existing financial architecture and the search for a more enduring solution. As a result an increasing interest in Islamic finance ...

Four examples; two bad and two goodThe website of the London Economist newspaper has a reference to an official of a certain country referring to a journalist in words similar to what follows – I have substituted words which would be appropriate to an officer and a gentleman addressing a lady, for what was actually ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas Setting its sights on placing Sri Lanka in the global economy and expanding its reach in overseas markets, the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2012, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s annual flagship event, aptly themed ‘Positioning Sri Lanka in the Global Economy,’ commenced last evening at the Cinnamon Grand. In the context of ...

Tie-up with East West Properties to see 200-room, 11-storey Weligama Marriott Resort and Space come up in mid 2014Marriott International has announced the signing of an agreement with Weligama Hotel Properties Ltd., a fully-owned subsidiary of East West Properties PLC, to open a hotel in Sri Lanka – the Weligama Marriott Resort & Spa in ...

After 11 years of making US higher education popular across the tiny island nation in Indian Ocean Scholarships for USA (Pvt) Ltd (www.scholarshipsforusa.com) has commenced promoting Sri Lanka as one of the most viable Study Abroad destinations for its numerous partners in US. SUSA believes the traffic needs to be both ways and there’s much ...

The Oxford Dictionary tells us that being ‘happy’ is being cheerful with feelings of pleasure or satisfaction. ‘Satisfaction’ is, in turn, when you are pleased because you have achieved something or because something has happened as you wanted it to. A synonym is being ‘content’ – being happy and satisfied with what you have. Rulers ...

Sri Lanka’s new development tagline Sri Lanka’s current development tagline has been to make it the ‘Emerging Wonder of Asia’ as originally enunciated in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana: Vision for the Future’ and reaffirmed in both the Development Policy Framework of the Government issued in 2010 and the Annual Report of the Ministry of Finance and ...

FACETS 2012, Sri Lankaandrsquo;s only International Gem and Jewellery Show which is expected to be held from the 5 - 8 September this year, has all 154 booths sold out, with inquiries continuing to come in from countries like India, Russia and China to send buying delegations.

By Cheranka Mendis  Held for the 22nd consecutive year, Sri Lanka’s international gem and jewellery exhibition ‘Facets 2012’ is geared to make bigger waves in the market with 154 stalls being sold out already. Scheduled to be held from 5 to 8 September at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre at BMICH, the exhibition has ...

Broadband has passed another major milestone, according to the latest figures published by the Broadband Forum and prepared by broadband industry analysts Point Topic. The global total of broadband subscribers soared to over 600 million in the first quarter of 2012, indicating a further acceleration in growth as over 100 million new lines were added ...

Entrepreneurial brothers Shiwantha Dias and Shalin Balasuriya who single handedly infused glitz and glamour into our age old Ayurveda traditions and rituals with their Spa Ceylon range of luxury bath and wellness products, not to mention their luxury spas, have once again created a world first with the introduction of a complete range of spa ...

The 13th Sri Lanka Economic Summit scheduled to be held from 10 to 12 July will focus on a number of key focus areas in the Sri Lankan Economy. The third session of the event will explore the diverse opportunities for Sri Lanka in the emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil, Russia, etc. The ...

Fresh push to woo Chinese tourists and tap greater share of two-way traffic, including to Maldives Upgrade brings total flights to four cities in China including Hong Kong to 21 per week By Nisthar Cassim in Beijing, China In a fresh push to woo more Chinese tourists as well as cater to growing two-way traffic, ...

FACETS 2012, Sri Lankaandrsquo;s only International Gem and Jewellery Show which is expected to be held from the 5 to 8 September this year, has all 154 booths sold out, with inquiries continuing to come in from countries like Russia and China to send buying delegations.

A document named ‘Growing Together’ prepared by UNESCAP for the sixty sixth session of ESCAP states that the realisation of what is termed as the ‘Asia Pacific century’ will depend on the region’s ability to harness the potential of regional economic integration. A shared history and culture, complementarities arising from their very different levels of ...

Wide publicity has been given to the events unfolding at the Sri Lanka Tourism regarding the resignation of the Chairman from Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management and Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and the performance of the Board of Investment. The media reports have given the impression that ...