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US plays down hopes of trade breakthrough in Davos
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 25, 2007 (AFP) – US Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Thursday played down hopes of a breakthrough at a meeting on deadlocked global trade talks this weekend but said progress was being made.“I don’t think we’re looking at a breakthrough in the near term,” Schwab told AFP on the sidelines of the […]
Slipped In
January 25 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has allowed six more firms from India, France, China and the Middle East, to market lubricants locally, with three others given provisional approval, a government spokesman said Thursday. Sri Lanka threw open its lubricant market last July, calling for bids from interested investors to blend lubricants locally or import […]
Brief Respite
January 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to import more refined petroleum products as its sole refinery shuts down for routine maintenance next week, a top Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said Thursday.The Sapugaskanda refinery which has a daily output of 50,000 barrels producing a mix of diesel, kerosene, gasoline, furnace oil and naphtha, is closed […]
Railway Estate
January 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to raise over 1.2 billion dollars in foreign investments to develop real estate along a railway on the island’s western coastal belt, an official said Thursday. The railways operate at a huge loss with a revenue of three billion rupees each year against a state subsidy of […]
Regional Aspirations
January 24 (LBO) – The proposed merger of Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank and Commercial Bank will give the merged entity more clout to spread its wings in the region, officials said. “We want to create a large bank to go regional,” says Harris Premarathne Senior DGM of Commercial Bank. “The challenge we have is […]
Fund Change
Jan 25, 2007 (LBO) – Ceylon Theatres Group which has bagged 70 percent of Commercial Fund Management says it is looking to increase the group’s interests in financial services, by acquiring a fund managing firm. CT Capital now has to acquire the balance 30 percent of the shares which are held by Austalind, an overseas […]
Big Merger
January 24 (LBO) –Commercial Bank of Ceylon and National Development Bank has entered into merger talks, the banks said Wednesday. “In the event the negotiations are successful, and the manner in which the merger may be achieved is agreed upon, the proposal for such merger will be submitted to the Monetary Board of the Central […]
Ceylon Hotels Corp to woo more locals after earnings gets hit last year
Jan 24 (LBO) – Ceylon Hotels Corporation, which runs a chain of state owned hotels and rest-houses around the island, is trying to woo more local travellers after earnings took a beating last year. Operating a chain of 19 guesthouses in Sri Lanka, the group was hit by an escalating local conflict and a spate […]
‘s tourism sector
COLOMBO, Jan 24, 2007 (AFP) – A mass gathering of Islamic pilgrims, who are jamming Sri Lanka’s hotels and shopping malls, has unexpectedly boosted the island’s war-hit tourism sector, officials said Wednesday.Sri Lanka’s 24-billion dollar economy earned 380.3 million dollars from tourism between January and October last year, retaining its place as one of the […]
Loud Call
January 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan mobile phone operator Celltel Lanka Ltd Wednesday said it hoped to increase its subscriber base by 50 percent to 1.5 million users by the end of the year. Sri Lanka had over 5.8 million cellular subscribers as at end 2006, , according to Central Bank figures, with four […]
Climate change, Middle East top agenda in Davos
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 24, 2007 (AFP) – The world’s business and political elite kicked off its annual retreat in Davos on Wednesday, with climate change and the Middle East riding high on the agenda — at least in public.The four-day gathering of movers and shakers in the Swiss ski resort boasted the usual impressive guest […]
India plans to announce 3G policy by March
NEW DELHI, Jan 24, 2007 (AFP) – India, one of the world’s fastest-growing mobile phone markets, said Wednesday it plans to announce its next generation — 3G — policy by March that telecom players expect will ease congestion. “The policy will be ready by March 2007,” Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said on the sidelines of […]