Pearson relocates global technical operations hub to MAGA ONE

Pearson Lanka this week officially announced the relocation of their 300-strong global Technical Operations team to an ultra-modern facility located at the iconic ‘MAGA ONE’ building in Colombo 5.

New impetus to revive economy: An expressway covering entire country

Sri Lanka is a country in the shape of an ellipse. While the central part is mountainous, the rest of the island is a flat plain. The distance from the North to South is about 420 km and from East to West, it is about 220 km at the maximum point.

Western Province economic growth could be accelerated by 10% with MCC grant

The economic growth of the Western Province could be accelerated by 10 percent per annum with the implementation of the advanced traffic management system proposed under the US$ 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant to Sri Lanka, according to a top Road Development Authority (RDA) official. Under the proposed

Need for smarter revamping of higher education sector highlighted at SLES 2019

A leading academic in the country has called for smarter revamping of the local higher education sector, as Sri Lanka falls behind lower middle-income economies in this regard. While a large proportion

Gota would restore relations with China, says adviser

Sri Lankan presidential nominee Gotabaya Rajapaksa would ‘restore relations’ with the country’s top lender China if he wins the Nov. 16 vote and met with a senior Chinese official this week, according to an adviser

SLTPB plans aggressive marketing push at WTM London

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) has made arrangements to participate at the World Travel Market (WTM) 2019 at a grand scale, which the agency said is set to bring a wide variety of opport

Fresh probe ordered into Easter bombings

(Colombo) AFP: A fresh inquiry into the Easter suicide bombings that hit Sri Lanka killing at least 258 people was ordered by President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday, after concerns from the Catholic Church that current probes are not independent. The government has blamed a local jihadi group, the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) for the April 21 attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels, while the Islamic State group also claimed resp

Digital threats multiply ahead of 2020 US elections

(Washington) AFP: It could be a manipulated video embarrassing a candidate. Or a computer voting system locked by ransomware. Or doubts about electronic voting machines with no paper backups.

Abans Auto to launch Hyundai Experience Centre at CCC

As part of their milestone partnership with Hyundai Motor Company, Abans Auto will be launching a Hyundai Experience Centre at Colombo City Centre (CCC) on November 8. This embodies Abans Auto’s aim to offer a transformative dealership experience that stays relevant and up-to-date on the ever-evolving consumer preferences of today. The Hyundai Experience Centre will feature immersive digital technologies including 3D and Augmented Reality to en

Argentina crisis would have been much worse without IMF: Lagarde

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The crisis hammering Argentina would have been much worse had the International Monetary Fund not stepped in with a massive rescue programme, outgoing IMF chief Christine Lagarde said this week. “I look at Argentina when it came knocking on the door and it was in a tough place, and we were the only game in town,” Lagarde told AFP in an interview. But she said she regretted that the record US$ 57 billion loan fr

Google to invest 3 bn euros in European data centres

REUTERS - Google will make an additional investment of 3 billion euros (US$3.3 billion) over the next two years to expand its European data centres, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said in Finland.

Rupee ends weaker; stocks down

(REUTERS) - Sri Lanka’s rupee closed weaker for the fifth straight session yesterday on continued demand for dollars from banks, while equities ended the week on a negative note.

Mitsubishi Corp unit loses US$ 320 mn in unauthorised trades

TOKYO (AFP) - Major Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp said yesterday it was carrying out an investigation after its Singapore-based subsidiary lost US$ 320 million because of unauthorised trades by an employee. In a statement, the fir

Under-pressure Indian govt. slashes corporate taxes

MUMBAI (AFP) - India said yesterday it would slash corporate taxes to among the lowest in Asia as part of its drive to kickstart the stuttering economy, sending the country’s stock market surging as analysts predicted

Global advisory leader calls for urgent establishment of ‘Credit Guarantee Corporation’

Global leader in advisory services, Ernst & Young said Sri Lanka’s SMEs sector urgently requires the establishment of a ‘Credit Guarantee Corporation’, so that it receives the much needed boost, as current efforts taken by authorities are not reaching this budding sector. EY Senior Partner Arjuna Herath while pointing out that in the current operative environment the SME sector is observed to be struggling to sustain and grow, implied that a mor

SL healthcare system can no way be uplifted with current income tax levels, says IHP chief

Head of the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), a regional centre of excellence for health policy research stated that the country’s current healthcare system is unable to undergo any improvements as the low tax income and political interference make it challenging to embark on any service upgrades. IHP Executive Director (ED) Dr. Ravindra P. Rannan-Eliya, while addressing the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2019 earlier this week pointed out that despi

Visa launches new roadmap to secure Sri Lankans engaging in e-commerce

As Sri Lanka’s electronic transaction grows rapidly driven by evolving e-commerce space, Visa, the global payments technology company launched a new roadmap to secure Sri Lankan consumers and businesses from breaches.

Sri Lanka to strike US$ 250 mn tea-for-debt barter deal with Iran

Sri Lanka is moving ahead to strike a US$250 million worth tea-for-debt barter deal and revive tea exports to Iran while settling outstanding oil credit over a 50-month period, subsequent to securing Cabinet approval. The Cabin

Sinhaputhra given time to raise capital

Sinhaputhra Finance Plc, non-bank lender in Sri Lanka has been given time to raise capital, the Central Bank said. “In view of the proposed capital augmentation plan submitted by the Sinhaputhra Finance PLC (SINF) and in the interest of depositors, the Monetary Board decided to provide SINF with an opportunity to implement the proposed capital augmentation plan within the timeframe stipulated,” the regulator said in a public statement.

CB cancels license issued to TKS Finance

Sri Lanka’s Monetary Board of the Central Bank has decided to cancel the licence issued to TKS Finance Limited (TKSF) to carry on finance business with effect from yesterday. The Central Bank said the financial condition of TKSF is not satisfactory due to deficient capital level, poor asset quality, continuous losses and failure in repaying depositors’ money on demand or at maturity.

Second quarter GDP growth slumps to over 5-year low as Easter attacks weigh

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s economy grew at its slowest pace in more than five years from April to June, government data showed on Wednesday, as the Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed over 250 peop

Sri Lanka urged to consider partnerships with India for wind power generation, tea marketing

Sri Lanka is urged to consider partnering with India in wind power generation and joint tea marketing efforts to boost exports to drive the economic growth over the next few years. “Sri Lanka’s potential for wind could be 40,000-50,000 MW and Sri Lanka cannot use that energy in its own grid. Even if you want to use it, it has limitation. However, if you export that to India, just imagine the amou

SL advised to reverse brain drain

As an effort to rectify Sri Lanka’s growing issue of grim productivity levels across diverse sectors, a senior representative of the regional banking industry stressed that the relevant authorities should actively look at reversing the ongoing brain drain Highlighting the visio

Local energy crisis deemed a man-made disaster

A local energy expert pointed out that the repeated mishaps in the energy sector are largely man-made and easily predictable.

Lube market shrinks in 2Q19 as no catalyst to boost demand

Sri Lanka’s lubricants market narrowed with an across the board fall in the volumes during the three months ended in June 2019 (2Q19) as the industry is battering a broad-based economic downturn, which it has become an indirect casualty. Demand for lubricant is generall

Rules of ‘Eighth Continent’ game very different: Oracle’s Guru on what it takes to thrive

In an exclusive interview with Mirror Business, Guruprasad Gaonkar, Oracle Asia Pacific and Japan SaaS Leader, ERP and Digital Supply Chain, shared his thoughts on the ‘Eighth Continent’, a brand-new continent that we all have already stepped into.

CB Chief shares recommended recipe to evade middle income trap

The Central Bank chief yesterday shared his recommended recipe for Sri Lanka to avoid getting caught in the middle income trap, which is likely to happen if the government failed to streamline the economic focus and macro-economic fundamentals. With the countr

Oracle unveils world’s first autonomous OS

Redwood City, California-based computer technology firm, Oracle Corp. this week unveiled the world’s first autonomous operating system (OS), expanding its autonomous product portfolio beyond its flagship software, Oracle Autonomous Database introduced two years ago. Oracle Ex

Sunshine MD calls for strategic unit to tackle global impacts

Sunshine Holdings Group Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Vish Govindasamy addressing the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2019 said a strategic unit needs to be set up to analyse and proactively respond to implications of global events which have a direct correlation and impact on Sri Lanka’s economic progression.

FinMin says economic objectives cannot be achieved compromising on democracy and rule of law

Although, Sri Lanka needs decisive leaders, the country can never achieve its economic objectives with a decisive leadership that compromises democracy and the rule of law. “Some people with short memories say they want decisive leadership. That is good. Sri Lanka needs decisive leaders. But it certainly cannot realize its economic objectives with leaders who decisively sack the judici