Australia to lose billions as bushfires deter tourists

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia will lose billions of dollars in tourism revenue as international visitors cancel trips in droves due to bushfires raging across the country, an industry body forecast yesterday.

New ADB President Asakawa assumes office

Masatsugu Asakawa assumes office as the 10th President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday. “I am honoured to assume the role of ADB President and to begin working in close cooperation with our 68 members. ADB has been a trusted partner of the region for more than half a century, supporting str

Renault expects slight 2020 car market decline in Europe, Russia and China

PARIS (Reuters) - Renault said yesterday it expected a slight decline in the car market in Europe, Russia and China this year after the French carmaker reported a 3.4 percent fall of worldwide sales in 2019 as China and Iran weighed. Sales grew by 1.3 percent to 1.94 million units in Europe but fell 17.2 percent in China. Sales also fell by 19.3 percent in Africa, Middle East, India and the Pacific region, Renault said in a statement.

EU warns of WTO challenge if China-US deal creates ‘distortions’

BEIJING (AFP) - The European Union will challenge the China-US trade agreement at the World Trade Organization if it creates “distortions” in the market that harm EU companies, the bloc’s envoy to Beijing said yesterday. Ambassador Nicolas Chapu

Facebook sued in U.S. federal court for alleged anticompetitive conduct

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Four companies sued Facebook Inc in U.S. federal court on Thursday for alleged anticompetitive conduct, saying the social network inappropriately revoked developer access to its platform in order to harm prospective competitors. The plaintiffs sought class-action status and unspecifi

Global CIMA Centenary

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) President Amal Ratnayake (center) yesterday took part in the Bell Ringing Ceremony at the CSE to commemorate the Global CIMA Centenary

Sri Lanka eyes 340 mn kgs tea output with over Rs. 250 bn export earnings for 2020

The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) forecasts a minimum 10 percent growth in tea output with 340 million kgs of tea production and over Rs 250 billion export earnings for 2020, focusing on enhancing Ceylon Tea quality with an integrated quality and productivity drive and measures to increase good leaf count while encouraging more value-added exports over bulk tea exports.

Foreign consortiums in discussion with Micro Cars to invest US$ 500 mn in latest venture

Three foreign consortiums from Europe, United States and China are in discussion with Micro Cars to invest US$ 500 million in the latest venture to build EU standard buses, commercial and land vehicles as well as Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) locally. “Micro Cars will build EU standard buses, commercial and land vehicles and diesel multiple units in Sri Lanka. The investment will come in two stages, initially, it will be US$ 300 million and then

DEG divests Softlogic Life stake to Milford Ceylon for Rs.2.6bn

Milford Ceylon Pvt Ltd, a foreign strategic investor, yesterday bought 19 percent stake of Softlogic Life Insurance PLC for Rs.2.6 billion from Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG), a German development bank. DEG divested 71.25 million Softlogic Life shares or 19 percent stake at Rs.37 a share in a crossing, according to a disclosure made to the Colombo Stock Exchange. LeapFrog Investments, as the second largest sharehold

Merchandise export earnings fall for fifth straight month

Sri Lanka’s merchandise export earnings have declined for the fifth consecutive month by 3.1 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) to US$ 950 million in November last year, according to provincial export data released by the Export Development Board (EDB).

Sri Lanka’s economic health slips amid hefty tax cuts

Sri Lanka’s economic health score slipped in January due to the expected fiscal slippage from the hefty tax concessions rolled out by the new administration since December 2019, but score compilers had given two points to the ‘investor confidence’ criterion. First Capital Research, p

Lasantha Wickramasinghe appointed new MILCO chief

An Information Technology (IT) and supply chain management professional, Lasantha Wickramasinghe has been appointed the new Chairman of MILCO (Pvt) Ltd. Wickramasinghe has been serving at the Sweden-based multinational enterprise software company, IFS for over 12 years as a Senior Business System Analyst. The expert areas of Wickramasinghe are supply chain management and localised tax-related functionalities in several countries.

Trump keeps spoiling US Asia policy

Recent brinkmanship between the United States and Iran is the latest signal of Washington’s distraction from great power competition with China. The crisis in the Middle East and impeachment proceedings in Washington, have distracted the Trump administration from its stated emphasis on the Indo-Pacific as its priority theatre.

ADB history book explains Asia’s five decades of economic success

Sound economic policies and strong institutions have transformed Asia and the Pacific over the past five decades into a centre of global dynamism, according to a new book from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Companies too often become institutionalised passion killers, says Omar Khan

Omar Khan, a pioneer of neuro-linguistic programming and a leading innovator in transformational learning in the US and throughout the world, says the most essential attribute of a leader is to demonstrate behaviourally and personally what you ask of others. Khan is the founder and senior partner of a global leadership development and consulting firm that operates in the Americas, UK, Asia/Pacific (Singapore), Middle East (Dubai) and South Asia

Plantation firms rattled by govt.’s wage hike decision

Sri Lanka’s Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) were in for a rude shock this week when the government announced its decision to increase the minimum daily wage of plantation labourers to Rs.1,000, with effect from March 1, this year.

SMEs given two more weeks to apply for loan relief, credit support programme

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been given time till January 31 to apply for the government-proposed loan moratorium under its credit support programme but such requests should come in writing and some should come with credible business plans.

China keen to send 1mn tourists to Sri Lanka

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is reported to have brought to the notice of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa the importance of attracting one million of China’s total 170 million outbound tourists to Sri Lanka, to develop the sector.

CSE adopts GICS industry classification

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has decided to discontinue the current industry classification used to categorise its listed companies and adopt the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) along with S&P/CSE co-branded sector indices, with effect from January 20, 2020.

Corporate bonds defy general market interest rates in most part of 2019

Although the broader interest rates trended downwards during most part of last year, the interest rates applicable on corporate bonds had moved in the opposite direction.

Govt. to shut down PPP unit, Policy Development Office

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to shut down the National Agency for Public-Private Partnerships (NAPPP), which was formerly headed by Thilan Wijesinghe.

Davos bosses sound alarm over climate, political fires

Business chiefs head into their first global gathering of 2020 warning that a litany of environmental disasters risk defining the world over the new decade, according to a survey yesterday.

Distress in global tea cup: Sri Lanka not spared

Distress in the international markets has brewed a storm in the global tea cup, negatively impacting the top tea-producing countries and Sri Lanka has not been spared in this wave.

Challenges faced by Sri Lankan maritime industry in 2020

The Port of Colombo is ranked the world’s number one container growth port among the top 30 container ports for the year of 2018, in container handling. It has also recorded a 13.5 percent growth for the year 2018, over the same period of the previous year,

Integrating management participation for MICE tourism in Sri Lanka

The high-potential tourism industry is the next game-changer in the Sri Lankan economy, however, Sri Lanka lacks conceptual requirements and is in dire need for creative tourism, innovation with technology and knowledge-based decision making.

Port of S’pore records all-time high 37.2mn TEU throughput

The Port of Singapore recorded strong growth in the past decade. In particular, the container throughput in 2019 hit an all-time high of 37.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), amidst challenging global economic conditions.

Ceyline delivers new trains to Sri Lanka Railways

Ceyline, on behalf of Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC), successfully delivered six locomotives and 24 train carriages to Sri Lanka Railways, yesterday.

Port City marketing campaign likely after May

The government plans to commence a joint marketing campaign to promote the investment opportunities of Colombo Port City with the project company, CHEC Port City Colombo, subsequent to enacting a comprehensive legal framework after May this year.

New Chairman appointed to Lanka Hospitals

Vidya Jyothi Dr. Bandula Chandranath Wijesiriwardena has been appointed as Chairman of Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC, with effect from December 27, 2019.

Govt. plans to resume operations at Mattala Airport

Industrial Export, Investment Promotion, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has instructed his ministry officials to expedite the resumption of flights and other operations at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport.