Category: Industry
Wrong Call
A truce between Tiger rebels and troops has helped Sri Lanka recover its reputation as a tourist paradise, but the halt in hostilities has triggered a battle against foreign prostitutes.Nightlife in Colombo has been stimulated with the growth of bars, night clubs and casinos after the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire took effect from February 2002 and with […]
Value Addition
Do quality certification programmes bring tangible improvements to businesses?This is one key aspect that a new certification services company in Sri Lanka plans to address as it seeks to establish itself as a provider of value-added certification services to the islands corporate sector.rn rnQuality International Certification Services (Pvt) Ltd., (QICS) commenced operations recently as the […]
Tourism Spin
Spin wizard Murali is spinning more than the ball for Sri Lanka, turning more Austrailian tourists here to watch him turn it on local wickets, says the Tourist Board.Visitors to the island from down under went up to 1089 in May up from 720 the year before.Up to May 6,843 Australians have visited, up 23.5 […]
Lost In Translation
For instance, a simple and direct translation in Sinhalese for ldblquote save dblquote means rescue, while there is no commonly used local term for mouse.rn rnMicrosoft Corp., recently setup local office is booting up for a nationwide campaign to compile a glossary of terms and phrases used in daily computing.rn rnThe proposed open process will […]
Smoke Screen
Sri Lanka was considering bringing back heavy taxes to discourage foreign ownership of land amid a surge in the sale of beach property to non-nationals, a senior government minister said Friday.The cabinet on Wednesday decided to reconsider imposing a 100 percent tax on foreigners buying land, cabinet spokesman Mangala Samaraweera said adding that a committee […]
Lets Roll
Sri Lanka and Thailand have agreed to liberalise their air services by giving each other lquote fifth freedom rights for their respective designated carriers.Fifth freedom rights allows the designated carrier to land in a second country, pick up passengers, cargo and mail destined for a third country.rn rnldblquote Both sides agreed to give unlimited number […]
Long Beep
Fixed line operator Suntel plans to infuse US$ 20 mn this year, to roll out its network islandwide.The wireless local loop operator has sought the telecom watchdogs approval to get a slot in the 800 Mhz bandwidth.rn rnSuntel officials say they applied for approval mid last year, but are yet to receive the regulators consent. […]
Street Hawkers
Sri Lankas corporates are jostling each other to come out into the sunshine thanks to the digital revolution jumping the local advertising industry. Its not a small budget, small business thing anymore; outdoor advertising is climbing the social ladder in Sri Lanka.rn rnWhether its the corporate blue bloods or the village petti kade (box shop), […]
Inside Lanka
Chipmaker Intel setup shop here this week, apart from the obvious reason of taping into the sales potential in the island, to standardize wireless technologies WiFi and WiMax. The local office will help identify corporate businesses and rural infrastructure rollout projects that will use wireless technologies.rnrnThe wireless standardization process is in line with Intels current […]
IT Global
Sri Lankas IT industry is surging ahead and on Tuesday another key player launched operations in Colombo, adding one more link to the backward integration chain.Sri Lankas computer market is estimated at 150,000 PCs a year and is growing at around 19 percent every year.rn rnHigher priced branded computers make up nearly 30 percent of […]
Catching The Bus
Sri Lankas mass transport system driven by private and public busses and vans are a public menace killing around 500 people on average every year.rn rnThe quality of service is also appalling overcrowding, arbitrary pricing and sudden changes of routes and strikes.rn rnThe action plan for land transport that was approved by Cabinet last Thursday […]
Line Master
Delays in appointing a Commission to the telecom watchdog is holding up Suntels next phase of network expansion. Costs per line are estimated to tumble down to about US$ 200 from the above US$ 1000 levels currently, with the new network expansion.rn rnSuntel could also tap the market for funds to foot its network expansion […]