Category: General Services

July 18, 2007 (LBO) – An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale had occurred in the Bay of Bengal 510 kilometres to the East of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, the US Geological Survey said. The breach occurred 35 kilometer below the surface of the earth at 04:27:28 Universal Time, or 09.57 am local […]

July 14, 2007 (LBO) – SriLankan Engineering, the technical arm of SriLankan Airlines, is actively marketing aircraft maintenance services armed with a new certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the airline said. The EASA 154 certification will “significantly strengthen” its profile among prospective customers who include airlines throughout Asia and Europe, SriLankan said. […]

July 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports in May has surged 25.8 percent driven by a 45.5 percent jump in apparel shipments largely to the United States and the European Union, the Central Bank said Friday. Exports grew to 641 million US dollars in May 2007 against 509 million dollars in May 2006. “Persistently […]

July 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s United Motors Lanka Limited has put off plans to diversify into big property developments as the market for high-rise space seems to be slowing, officials said. UML Property Development’s profits were tax free for a period of seven years and now are taxed at a concessionary rate. The […]

July 11, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan clothing technology school is launching a degree course in fashion and merchandising in a tie-up with Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), and is also planning to offer a Masters program from next year. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, began in 1887 as the ˜Working […]

July 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exporters have warned that delays in tax refunds and disbursements of export cess were hurting overseas marketing efforts and driving some businesses near bankruptcy. Delays experienced by exporters in getting value added tax (VAT) refunds is a “burning question,” said Mohan Mendis, the outgoing chairman of the Exporters’ […]

July 9, 2007 (LBO) – The United States has given Sri Lanka protective gear, test and decontamination kits to combat an outbreak of bird flu, the US embassy in Colombo said.Sri Lanka government’s Department of Animal Production and Health had received 4,500 suits of personal protection equipment, 1,500 rapid test kits, and 40 decontamination kits […]

July 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s television industry aimed at English speakers have sought relief after a penal tax brought by Sinhala teledrama artistes threatened to put them out of business, officials said. The government had collected 160 million rupees and the money has been put in treasury bills Yapa said while a decision […]

July 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry has successfully lobbied the government to defer the liberalisation of construction and related services under a free trade deal with India, an official said. The industry is not wholly against the idea of liberalising services but wants to protect local players until they are ready to […]

July 04, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s freight forwarders are seeking new rules to improve standards in the trade after winning a court order that quashed a set of regulations proposed by government. “We did not see much policing in the proposed law,” Kadawatharatchie said. “There’s a need to punish rule breakers.” Niral Kadawatharatchie, chairman […]

July 04, 2007 (LBO) – Aviva, one of the world’s biggest insurance firms, has hired over 300 Sri Lankan accounting and finance professionals into its business process outsourcing unit in Colombo. The professionals were trained on a build and transfer contract between Aviva Global Services (AGS) and Sri Lanka’s WNS, a third-party service provider for […]

July 04 (LBO) – Lengthy delays in automating Sri Lanka’s cargo clearing system were hurting the island’s chances of becoming a trading hub and making trading inefficient, a top freight forwarder said. “The automation of Sri Lanka’s cargo clearing system has not happened yet although it has been talked about for about five years,” said […]