Category: Industry
Virtusa to provide IT services to Citigroup after acquiring Polaris for USD270mn
Nov 07, 2015 (LBO) – Global IT outsourcing company, Virtusa Corporation announced that it is to acquire a majority interest in Polaris Consulting, a global IT solutions provider in financial services for 270 million US dollars.The transaction includes both the 51. 7 percent majority interest and an unconditional mandatory open offer to purchase up to […]
ICTA plans ambitious digital infrastructure, Google Loon by March
Nov 06, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has ambitious plans for digital infrastructure to connect all people on the island, ICTA, the apex ICT institution of the government, said at the LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit in Colombo. “In all the years of the ICTA, we are going to do five times more (next year),” Arunesh Peter, […]
Infrastructure: Sri Lanka’s mass transit success lies with land use management, says Nayana Mawilmada
Nov 06, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plans for mass transit specially in Colombo must ensure that it stays linked to real-estate developments to make it viable, the director general of the Urban Development Authority said at the LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit. “Introduction of mass transit is a critical step and a game changer for […]
Sri Lanka to give freehold lands and houses, 500,000 new houses to be constructed
Nov 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said that the government plans to give freehold lands and houses to the people who have been enjoying it and will construct 500,000 new houses in rural, semi urban and urban areas.Making a special statement at the Parliament today Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said that […]
Sri Lanka urged to bring legislations for policy reforms: Harsha De Silva
Nov 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should urgently bring legislations to give effect to the needed policy reforms to become a highly competitive social market economy, Deputy Minister Harsha De Silva said.“The 3rd generation economic reforms, as referred to and presented by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today in Parliament, has gone beyond even what […]
Aitken Spence to buy 20-pct stake in Fiji Ports Corporation
Nov 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s diversified conglomerate Aitken Spence and Fiji National Provident Fund is planning to buy 59 percent stake in Fiji Ports Corporation, Aitken Spence said in a stock exchange filing.An agreement has been signed with the Fiji government to acquire the corporation, an entity wholly owned by the government which […]
Infrastructure: Colombo needs innovation to be globally competitive, says IT Innovator
Nov 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs innovation to engage Colombo with the rest of the world and to transform legacy assets through the digital medium, an IT innovator and self-labelled urban policy nerd said.J T Singh, founder of a design-centric problem solving team at J T Singh Labs, said a key factor in […]
Public investment in bus, railway a priority before monorail, says transport experts
Nov 05, 2015 (LBO) – From an economic standpoint, Sri Lanka should first develop its bus and railway transportation before spending public money on more expensive monorail, transport sector experts said at the LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit. A Japanese transportation master plan for Colombo, upgraded and approved by University of Moratuwa, envisaged three alternatives for […]
Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank to raise Rs7bn from listed debenture
Nov 04, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank is to raise 7.0 billion rupees from a listed debenture issue, the bank said in a stock exchange filing. The bank has decided to issue 50 million debentures at 100 rupees each with an option, to issue up to a further 20 million debentures in the event of […]
Infrastructure: No land shortage in Colombo, a transformation underway, says DG UDA
Nov 04, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s commercial capital faces a core problem of under-utilization of land and there is no land shortage, the director general of the Urban Development Authority said at the LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit. Colombo has 65,000 slum and shanty houses occupying 900 acres of real estate in Colombo, he said. […]
‘s arrivals up 8.8-pct in Oct
Nov 04, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 8.8 percent to 132,280 in October 2015 from an year earlier with continued growth in the Indian and Chinese markets.Arrivals in the first 10 months of the year were up 17.9 percent to 1.448 million, data from the state tourism authority showed.Indian tourists were up […]
Sri Lanka’s gem industry eyes recovery: OBG report
Nov 02, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gem and jewelry industry will have to strive harder to gain hub status as flat global sales of luxury goods and labour shortages are holding the industry back, a recent research report says. “Traders face a difficult operating environment industry wide, weighed down by the broader economic slump […]