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Naked Truth
Visiting Singaporean Premier asked Sri Lanka to come up with an overall competitive package and not just incentives, if it wants to lure foreign investors.“Sri Lanka is a good place to invest in, but it is not the only place,” Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, told a gathering of local business people in Colombo on […]
Chug Chug
The Transport Ministry is going on reverse gear, repelling the Railways Authority Act and replacing it with fresh legislation.Transport Minister Felix Perera told Lanka Business Online that Cabinet on Wednesday had given him the go ahead to repeal the Railway Authority Act and introduce new legislation.rn rnThe new Act will look to revert to the […]
Harvesting Time
Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. may reap substantially higher revenue if an international call routing agreement with Indias Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. takes effect, Asia Securities said in a research report Thursday.Earnings for the fixed-line operator could increase by at least Rs.500 mn in 2004 if Bharat Sanchar Nigam makes use of the international call routing […]
Hideaway
Sri Lankas government admitted Thursday that somernmilitary personnel supported and possibly sheltered a renegade rebel leaderrndespite Tamil Tiger warnings that such acts would damage efforts to end thernislands 19-year civil war.rnIn March, rebel leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known asrnKaruna, broke away from the main Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam faction,rntaking with him 6,000 of the separatist […]
Not Their Style
The Freedom Alliance Government says recent security scares are not the LTTEs style, but suspect other interested parties working to frighten citizens and foreign investors. Media spokesperson and Minister of Shipping and Aviation Mangala Samaraweera told reports on Thursday that recent security scares are more of a conspiracy to create a fear psychosis within the […]
Going Blue
Sri Lanka may have missed the bus with the green revolution, but the blue can work in the islands favour, say local scientists. With hungry mouths increasing faster than food production, the world is looking to a lquote blue revolution to provide some of the solutions.rn rn”Most scientists are now of the opinion the green […]
Pricey Jam
Traffic jams in and around Colombo are not just driving people insane with frustration; its costing the country a thumping Rs 20 bn a year.ldblquote The congestion cost in Sri Lanka is around Rs 20 bn a year and this is just a conservative estimate, dblquote Professor Amal Kumarage from the National Transport Commission (NTC) […]
Pipe Dreams
An independent US economic think tank says that a potential trade pact with the United States will help the Sri Lankan economy grow by at least three-percent.The International Institute for Economics (IIE) in an ongoing study says that a US-Lanka free trade pact “will have far reaching positive implications on Sri Lankas economy and predicts […]
Hard Landing
Sri Lankas economic growth is expected to have fallen sharply in the first quarter of 2004 from the previous three months, as the services sector suffered from the islands political turmoil.The average estimate of several economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires put first quarter GDP growth at 5.2% on year, down from 6.9% in the […]
Big Jump
Sri Lankas import bill for April overtook the countrys export revenues, despite higher earnings from money spinners like apparels and tea, the Central Bank said Wednesday.Trade deficit for April widened for US$ 259 mn from US$ 230 mn, as foreign inflows from tourism, ports, private transfers and net inflows of portfolio investments eased the pressure […]