Lankan economy should become globally competitive and integrated: NCC Chief

Following is the speech made by National Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka President Sujeeve Samaraweera, at the 59th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Colombo recently.

Lines of defense in risk management

Risk management in banks can be simple if every in house managerial pillar of the organizational structure does its job effectively and is sensitive to risk. 

NDB provides gift vouchers with ‘Ran Naya’ service

NDB’s ‘Ran Naya’ pawning service now offers customers gift vouchers for transactions ranging from Rs. 50,000 and above.

Harris retires; Rangamuwa appointed Pan Asia Bank Deputy Chairman

Harris Premaratne has retired from the board of Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC as the Deputy Chairman with effect from January 28 on reaching 70 years of age as per the corporate governance rules of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

DFCC Bank opens full service branch in Nivithigala

DFCC Bank opened a new branch at Nivithigala recently, thereby growing their network to 138 fully-fledged branches across the country. 

NDB Wealth says to plan for financial independence this February

As Sri Lanka marks its 70th Independence Day, financial planner NDB Wealth is asking all Sri Lankans to take the first real step towards planning for their own financial independence. 

SDB Batticaloa branch shifted to new location

Batticaloa branch of the SDB bank relocated to its new premises on 22ndJanuary.

Euromoney names HSBC as world’s top trade bank

HSBC has emerged as 2018’s big winner of the Euromoney Trade Finance Survey 2018. 

Crocodile Lanka opens flagship store in Duplication Road

Crocodile Lanka in a bid to provide their customers with more choice and easier access recently relocated its flagship store to 345, Duplication Road, Colombo 03.  The launch event was attended by leading personalities in the corporate world, well-wishers and members of their loyalty programme. To commemorate the grand occasion Crocodile Lanka awarded their customers with attractive gifts for every purchase made on the day.

Cyber Illusions marks sixth year of creativity and innovation

Live experience designer and consultant, Cyber Illusions has marked its sixth year of creativity and innovation, in 2018, with the delivery of Oman’s largest projection mapping project to-date.   

Pidilite Lanka plans product development and aggressive market expansion

Pidilite Lanka announced its new phase of development and an aggressive expansion drive, following the acquisition of Chemifix, a leading adhesive material marketer in Sri Lanka. 

McLarens Lubricants highlights importance of using food grade oils

McLarens Lubricants Limited, the local agent for Mobil Lubricants in Sri Lanka underscored the benefits the food and beverage industry in Sri Lanka can achieve and pass onto consumers with the use of ‘food grade oils’, that are uniquely designed to help enhance equipment efficiency, maximize productivity while safeguarding products against food contamination.

FCCISL recognizes Nipuna Illangarathne as young entrepreneur of 2017

Nipuna Illangarathne Managing Director of Virco International (Pvt) Ltd who has been in operation since 2015 was recently named as the young entrepreneur of the year 2017 North Western province,  at the recently concluded awards ceremony held at the BMICH and  organized by the Federation of Chambers of the Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka.

Hellmann and MAS establish joint venture in contract logistics and 4PL

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics (HWL) and MAS Holdings established the joint venture Hellmann MAS Supply Chain (HMSC) in Sri Lanka by combining Hellmann´s existing contract logistics business in Sri Lanka and in-house logistics activities of MAS. 

Where there is no bread, there is no law; where there is no law, there is no bread

We preach that Sri Lanka is a Democratic Socialist Republic and practice social market economy. One of the measures to see the role of government in the social sector is to look at the total tax collection from the rich and the subsidies afforded to the less privileged people in society.  

Tea Board mulls closing down “a couple of hundred” errant tea factories

Continuing the rigid stance taken by the government recently with respect to the tea trade, the Sri Lanka Tea Board, starting next month, will begin to shut down as many as 200 tea factories, which fail to meet the sanitary standards when producing tea.

Khapra woes continue; Russian fact-finding mission to arrive this week

Sri Lanka faces the struggle of proving to the world that the troublesome khapra beetle is not present in the country, as a Russian fact-finding mission arrives this week.

Rupee closes marginally weaker as banks, importers buy dollars

REUTERS: The Sri Lankan rupee ended slightly weaker yesterday in dull trade as banks and importers bought dollars, dealers said.

People’s Leasing December net up amid rising NPL pressure

People’s Leasing & Finance PLC reported some modest performance during the December quarter as the country’s largest non-bank lender by assets became cautious amid the rising bad loans.

Spice producers hail President’s pepper re-export ban

The Spices & Allied Products Producers’ & Traders’ Association (SAPPTA) yesterday hailed President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to ban re-export of pepper.

Fitch downgrades HDFC Bank rating as govt. fails to infuse capital

Fitch Ratings yesterday downgraded Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka’s (HDFC Bank) national long-term rating to ‘BBB-(lka)’ from ‘BBB(lka)’ as the bank has failed to beef up its capital base. 

SL-S’pore FTA credit positive for both sovereigns: Moody’s

The Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) signed last week is credit positive for both sovereigns and more so for Sri Lanka as the trade pact is expected to enhance cross-border trade of goods and services and would promote foreign direct investments (FDIs) between the two countries, Moody’s Investors Service said. 

Pathfinder Foundation launches ‘Samudra Manthan’ Sinhala translation

The first copies of ‘Samudura Kelambuma’, the Sinhala translation of Dr. Raja C. Mohan’s ‘Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific’, published by the Pathfinder Foundation, were handed over to a group of former senior diplomats, at a ceremony held at Cinnamon  Grand recently.

IPM SL commends President of Organisation of Professional Associations

IPM Sri Lanka - the nation’s leader in human resource management - paid tribute to its former President Lalith Wijetunge who was recently inducted as the President of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA).

MullenLowe attributes 2017 success to pure growth

MullenLowe Sri Lanka, the fully owned operation of the multi billion dollar New York based Inter Public Group (IPG), completed 2017 on a record high.

TBWA\Sri Lanka takes on 2018 focusing on brand and business building

Best known for their ‘disruptive’ approaches to brand building, TBWA\Sri Lanka has been a steadfast agency in Sri Lanka’s advertising industry over the past few decades.

Is the world worried about China’s reawakening?

The Pathfinder Foundation in collaboration with the National University of Singapore organised a one-day joint symposium on “The Belt and Road Initiative: the Politics, Potentials & Partnerships” in Singapore Orchard Hotel yesterday (29th).  Here are the introductory remarks by Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman, Pathfinder Foundation.

FTA with Singapore – An opportunity for private sector

The International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (ICCSL) welcomes Sri Lanka’s landmark ‘modern and comprehensive’ free trade agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and Singapore (SLSFTA), the first bilateral FTA to be signed after 20 years. 

A new year, a new chapter for Leo Burnett Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s iconic agency, Leo Burnett, is delighted to announce that the agency has embarked on a new chapter in its history with the start of the new year, led by Arosha Perera as its new CEO along with the new management team.

Leading Malaysian manufacturers visit EDB

At the request of the Sri Lankan High Commission in Malaysia, the Export Development Board (EDB) met the trade delegation from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) recently, at the EDB.