All Blogs
Joint Decision
The Joint Business Forum(JBiz) sat on a second round of pow-wows , this time attended by religious and NGO groups, on a course of action to end the prevailing political sulks endash and decided to slap the countrys leadership with an ultimatum.After over two hour of discussion with religious and civil society representatives, JBiz decided […]
Calling Lanka
The Board of Investment is mooting changes to the BOI Act for bigger tax holidays encouraging call centres to relocate here. rnCurrently Sri Lanka trails behind neighbouring countries like India and the Philippines as potential centres for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).rn rnHigh electricity costs and until recently – inflexible labour laws restricting overtime for women […]
Tour de Farce
Even before the dust settles on 2003, the tourism industry is gearing up to break last years arrivals record this year.Sri Lanka Tourist Board officials say they expect the numbers to continue their upward trend.rn rnHowever, the industry says a change in the course of the peace process and continuing political instability could derail plans.rn […]
ERP Burp
Computers started making an impact on business productivity and speed over two decades ago. Manufacturing companies were some of the first to get software packages to help them automate and better plan the process while enterprise wide deployment happened afterwards with Enterprise Resource Planning or ERPs.rn rnBut experts say the challenge is to get computer […]
New Page
The government is looking at amending laws to allow foreign investors into the corporate debt market, without liberalising the capital account.Foreigners are currently restricted to equity investments. They can also invest in government debt through unit trust.rn rnOver the years, capital market players have been lobbying for a policy shift, as direct access to the […]
Funding Skills
Legislation to set up a Human Resource Endowment Fund is in the works, offering needy students stipends on a voucher scheme, for vocational training. rnThe US$ 40 mn Fund was mooted in the 2003 budget, with a proposal at the time to impose a levy on companies paying 30 percent of corporate tax.rn rnModalities are […]
Wired Jackpot
Starting March, the National Lotteries Board will retail Sri Lankas first online lottery ldblquote Rapido dblquote through over 150 agents in the Western Province.Retailing at Rs 30 a piece with the chance of winning upto Rs 600,000 every fifteen minutes, NLB Chairman Mohan Wijesinghe says the new game will tap into the large segment of […]
Fine Incoming
The telecom watchdogs case against Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd is likely to be settled out of court, with the cellular operator suggesting a compensation package, which includes paying a million rupee fine. Sources close to the deal told Lanka Business Online on Friday that the cellular operator has also agreed to bear the regulators legal fees […]
Bad Grade
Sri Lanka is set to score very low in a second review of the peace process by the international donor community set for January 23. The first review in September 2003 pleased donors, who, at the June Tokyo donor confab tied US$ 4.5 billion in aid to progress with the peace process. rn rnCabinet Spokesperson […]
Lack of Trust
The securities watchdog on Thursday said it was talking to the Unit Trust industry to generate new ideas on how to grow the sector. Initial recommendations include awareness programmers like seminars and road shows in areas with potential investors as a means to popularize the industry.rn rnAnother recommendation calls on the industry to introduce innovative […]