Category: Industry
Vietnam tourist arrivals up 15.9-pct to 5.3 million
HANOI, Dec (Asia Pulse) – Some 5.3 million foreign visitors came to Vietnam in the first 11 months of 2011, up 15.9 per cent year-on-year, and meeting the country’s tourism target, according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office. Tourism, including domestic, earned an estimated VND110 trillion (US$5.2 billion) or 4.5 per cent of the nation’s […]
Fast Links
Dec 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan celco Dialog Axiata is expanding its fibre optic coverage with plans to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to over 100 buildings in the capital Colombo, an official said. The high-speed fibre optic links enable video conferencing and telephony that would improve corporate business communications, he said. Mangala Hettiarachchi, the […]
Sri Lanka among 2012 best tourist destinations: National Geographic
Dec 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been among the best destinations to visit in 2012 National Geographic Traveler, by US-based magazine, which has focused on the island’s hill country. Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals have been rising since the end of a 30-year war in 2009. “Nuwara Eliya is a colonial-era resort town in […]
Sri Lanka National Insurance Trust retains AAA rating
Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has confirmed National Insurance Trust Fund’s (NITF) long- and short- term claims-paying ability ratings at AAA and P1, with the long-term rating having a stable outlook. “NITF’s ratings reflect its status as a statutory body of the government of Sri Lanka and the Fund’s systemic importance as […]
Sri Lanka on arrival visa extended till March: report
Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – An on-arrival visa facility for many countries will continue till March 2012 and will not be discontinued by the end of December 2011, due to teething problems in an electronic approval system, a media report said. Citizens of South Asian nations will be able to get the visa for 10 […]
‘s to get US$300mn Sheraton hotel
Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – India’s ITC Ltd, franchisee for US-based Sheraton leisure group will invest 300 million US dollars in Sri Lanka’s on a beachfront in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. But the firm has now been offered alternative land, reports said. The mixed development project will be built on five […]
Bank Stake
Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank bought a 9. 9 percent stake in Nations Trust Bank for 1. 3 billion rupees Thursday, a source close to the deal said. DFCC Bank bought 22,865,356 shares at 57. 80 rupees each in three crossings or off-market private deals. The deals helped push up turnover […]
Future Flows
Dec 01, 2011 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, has given a seven-year, 65 million US dollars financing facility to Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank to expand its lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). IFC said it believes that the future flow structure employed in the transaction with […]
Rock Row
Nov 30, 2011 (LBO) – Chinese contractors building a new port in southern Sri Lanka have finished blasting and clearing a rock blocking the entrance channel whose discovery after construction began had sent the project cost up sharply. The additional blasting and dredging required to clear the rock at the Hambantota port, which was officially […]
Sri Lanka power plant shut down after coal fire
Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – A 300 MegaWatt power plant in Sri Lanka was shut down following a fire at a coal crushing plant but is expected to be re-connected to the grid by noon, an official said. A power ministry spokesman said there was no disruption to supply as it happened in the early […]
Regional Role
Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan celco Dialog Axiata said its Group Chief Marketing Officer Nushad Perera is to take up a regional role at the headquarters of the Axiata Group Berhad in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The group currently has controlling interests in subsidiary operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia as […]
Capital Cover
Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Several Sri Lankan lenders will visit Oman and Qatar in December as part of plans to encourage banks to borrow abroad, Deputy Governor Dharma Dheerasinghe said. To encourage banks in the initial stages the Central Bank will also give some comfort through a swap contract to mitigate foreign exchange risk. […]