Singer’s ‘Suraksha’ helps rebuild lives post-floods

The devastating floods, one of the worst in Sri Lanka’s recent history left thousands homeless and distraught.

Bangladesh’s Gemcon Group retains MTI for M&As

Bangladesh’s leading business conglomerate The Gemcon Group, has retained the services of MTI Consulting for a strategic cross-border M&A assignment, aimed at bringing in domain-specific expertise into the Bangladesh market, along with strategic equity injection.

Cooler credit growth forecast for Sri Lanka’s banks

Following several years of high lending, hiked interest rates and the pursuit of Basel III compliance, credit growth in Sri Lanka could slow this year and into 2018. 

CICIR holds conference on ‘Belt and Road Initiative’

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China, offers many opportunities for countries like Sri Lanka that requires substantial infrastructure development. 

Amãna Takaful conducts road safety workshop for Matara student traffic controllers

The rapid increase in road accidents often ending in fatalities is a matter that draws much attention from the media and the public alike. According to the statistics of the Sri Lanka Police at least seven to eight deaths are recorded by road accidents daily in the Island alone.

Etihad Airways increases frequency to Egypt and Nigeria

Etihad Airways is adding year-round flights between its Abu Dhabi hub and both Cairo and Lagos later this year to cater to growing demand to and from the United Arab Emirates.

Shares post near 6-week closing low

Sri Lankan shares fell for the sixth straight session yesterday to post a near six-week closing low, but brokers said the slide is slowing down.

ClickNshop.lk goes omnichannel with new customer experience centre

Lfinity Pvt Limited, a subsidiary of Laugfs Holdings, recently unveiled their E-commerce experience centre at Colombo 6. 

UTE hosts customer event to discuss challenges and strategies of energy sector

United Tractor & Equipment (Pvt) Ltd (UTE), renowned as a company in the forefront of power generation solutions hosted customers recently, to discuss key trends and new products shaping the local solar industry.

Rupee edges up on exporter dollar sales

The Sri Lankan rupee ended firmer yesterday as dollar selling by exporters and banks outpaced demand for the US currency from importers, but dollar purchases by state-owned banks weighed on the currency, dealers said. 

Government agencies review Port City progress

Twenty six agencies connected to the Port City project met for the 4th review meeting and site visit last week. 

Milo clinches ‘Global Master Brand’ title at first Master Brand Awards

It has been a year of accolades for Milo as it becomes the recipient of yet another new title: Sri Lanka’s ‘Global Master Brand’. 

Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017 kicks off today

Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017 will be inaugurated this morning with the participation of Principal Economic Adviser to Government of India Sanjeev Sanyal, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Finance State Minister Eran Wickramaratne, Economic Planning Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rajendra Theagarajah.  

Ceylon Institute of Builders honours Lanwa with Green Building Certification

Lanwa which have secured the green mark certification from the CIOB is the largest steel manufacture in Sri Lanka for years time and it has earned the largest market share in the local steel market. Lanwa  also boost the concept of ‘Towards a green Sri Lanka’ for the forthcoming Construction. By awarding,  the initiative taken and the keen interest shown by the Lanwa regarding the green concept were deeply appreciated. 

SriLankan reaches milestone launching latest connection to Coimbatore

SriLankan Airlines reaches an exciting milestone last Sunday as it launched a new four-times-a-week service to Coimbatore. This took SriLankan’s online destination count to 41, the highest ever in Sri Lanka’s aviation history.

Lubricant market leader doubts PUCSL industry growth numbers

Sri Lanka’s lubricant industry market leader, Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC, yesterday contradicted the market regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), on the growth of the lubricant market during last year.

Dhanusha Marine opens Rs.300mn boat building factory

The second boat building factory of Dhanusha Marine opened July 7th 2017 in Kalutara.  This is in collaboration with Hyundai En Tech and Hanil Ship Building Company, Korea with a Rs.300 million investment. Managing Director, Dhanusha Marine, G. S. Fernando said, “Our production target under this project is to manufacture around 100 boats in the first year of operation. We will introduce new technology for fishing boat manufacturing and

Fitch forecasts tough times ahead for finance companies

Sri Lanka’s overcrowded finance company sector may have to brace for tough times ahead as the sector capitalization levels are expected to come under pressure amid the operating conditions set to turn hostile, Fitch Ratings yesterday said.   

Romesh David appointed new SAGT CEO

The Board of Directors of South Asia Gateway Terminals, Port of Colombo, at their meeting held on July 20th, has appointed Romesh David as SAGT’s new CEO in succession to Erwin Haaze.

AIA plants saplings as part of their ‘Go Green’ initiative

AIA employees joined hands with non-profit organisation ReForest Sri Lanka and the Athuraliya Divisional Secretariat, in an initiative to expand forest coverage in Sri Lanka. 

Customs to incorporate more technology into operations this year

In its endeavour to becoming a paperless institution, Customs Director General Chulananda Perera said Sri Lanka Customs would be looking to have more technological advancements during this year. “In terms of technology development, the concept of container tracing system is already done. 

Emirates adds flights to Khartoum increasing connection options for customers

Emirates has announced it will increase the frequency of flights between Dubai and Khartoum from five to seven a week starting August 8th.

International Trade Ministry holds workshop on ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship Strategies’

Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade jointly arranged with World Bank Group a workshop titled ‘ Sri Lanka Innovation & Entrepreneurship Strategies’, last week.  

CSR Lanka conducts first consultation: CSR 2.0 assessment tool for JIT

A team of members from CSR Sri Lanka conducted a workshop for the Just In Time Group (JIT) recently, to assess their current operations against systematic sustainability benchmarks. 

Peugeot and Carmart donate two cars for automobile engineering students

A social welfare project initiated during the tenure of former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and former Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

New tax bill aims to widen tax net, cut indirect taxes: FinMin

Sri Lanka’s new tax bill, demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition for a third tranche of aid disbursed this week, would seek to ensure that all citizens pay direct taxes and cut indirect taxes, top Finance Ministry officials said.

Fonterra’s endeavour to ensure clean water and sanitation for Sri Lankan children

One look at history will reveal that the first great civilizations all flourished in river valleys. Yet water not only holds the power to create, but also to wipe out civilizations. With full knowledge of this, our ancestors learned to tame this force of nature, which eventually paved the path to the advances and innovations we enjoy today. 

World tobacco outlook and Sri Lankan experience

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) made a good report card on the global campaign against tobacco pointing out that many countries have achieved considerable progress in this endeavour. It reports that following the adoption of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the smoking rates in 126 countries have dropped from 24.7 percent in 2005 to 22.2 percent in 2015. 

Three-year plan to develop Trinco harbour

The Trincomalee harbour will be developed under a three-year plan, Ports and Shipping Minister Mahnida Samrasinghe, who made a visit to the harbour said recently. He said 10, 000 hectares of land vested with the harbour have been identified. This land will soon be gazetted and will be used to develop the port’s capacity, the minister noted. The port has four jetties currently in operation.

Chevron 2Q hit by bad weather, rising raw material prices

Chevron’s second quarter for 2017 was affected by weather anomalies, rising raw material prices and advanced buying in expectation of a price increase, Gomes said.