Category: Industry
Card Play
Nov 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank, which has the franchise for American Express, has said its credit card business is recovering after being hit by interest rate restrictions imposed by the banking regulator. Renuka Fernando, NTB’s deputy chief executive, said the bank has been able to increase credit card business volumes […]
Digital Economy
Nov 28, 2011 (LBO) – Alcatel-Lucent has said it sees big opportunities in post-war Sri Lanka especially in extending its services from the island’s telecom sector to railways and public safety. Alcatel-Lucent’s Managing Director for Sri Lanka & the Maldives Upendra Samaratunge said the company’s association with Sri Lanka started over three decades ago when […]
Tele Tracks
Nov 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan celco Dialog Axiata is supplying asset tracking services using satellites for rice millers in the main north-central cultivation region that allows monitoring of vehicle movements and their cargoes. Suresh Sidhu, group chief officer for enterprise and global business of Dialog Axiata, said they had supplied rice millers in […]
Sri Lanka interests Flemish SMEs; trade with Belgium expands
Nov 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has seen a surge in exports to Belgium in 2011 and small and the is investor interest in the island among small and medium enterprises in Flanders, a statement by the island’s embassy in Brussels said. Belgium had accounted for 11.28 million dollars. Claire Tillekaerts, acting chief executive […]
Sri Lanka east coast hotels planned by Hemas, Minor International
Nov 27, 2011 (LBO) – Thailand’s Minor International is to build more hotels in Sri Lanka in partnership with the island’s Hemas group and plans to re-open two existing properties after refurbishment and rebranding, officials said. Minor International’s Rajakarier said the Kani Lanka hotel in Kalutara, 80 percent owned by Minor and the balance by […]
Express Travel
Nov 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has opened the country’s first expressway running from the capital Colombo to the city of Galle, which will slash travel time to the south of the island. The 700 million US dollar expressway is built with loans from Japan and the Asian Development Bank. The […]
Sri Lanka woos Sheraton India franchisee for hotel: report
Nov 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in talks to with India’s ITC Ltd a franchisee of Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ Sheraton brand to build a 450 million US dollar hotel in a beachfront in the capital Colombo, a media report said. Reuters, a new agency quoted Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary as saying that […]
Sri Lanka, Thai hotel venture to build beach property
Nov 25, 2011 (LBO) – Thailand’s Minor International is to build a 160-room beach hotel on Sri Lanka’s south-west coast in a partnership with the island’s Hemas Holdings group at a cost of 25 million US dollars. Abbas Esufally, group director of Hemas Holdings, said Minor group which operates hotels under the Avani and Anantara […]
Asset Quality
Nov 25, 2011 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has upgraded LB Finance’s (LBF) long- and short-term financial institution ratings, from BBB+/P2 to A-/P2, with the long-term rating given a stable outlook. The rating agency has also revised upwards the long-term ratings of LBF’s debt issues, s statement said. “The upgraded ratings reflect LBF’s consistently expanding […]
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals to hit target ahead of schedule
Nov 24, 2011 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have been growing faster than expected and the island expects to achieve its original target of attracting 750,000 tourists for the 2011 year later on Thursday. In the nine months to September 2011, total arrivals rose 34.3 percent to 598,006, official data showed. Tourist arrivals […]
Currency Option
Nov 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon is now offering Non-Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) accounts in Chinese yuan following its inclusion as a ‘designated currency’ by the Central Bank. A statement said the move comes several weeks after the bank began offering customers the option of transacting in yuan for export […]
Expressway Expertise
Nov 24, 2011 (LBO) – Japan will provide funding for an electronic toll collection ‘touch-and-go’ card system on Sri Lanka’s first expressway that is to be officially opened on November 27. The 95 kilometre southern expressway, linking the capital Colombo with the southern port town of Galle, is designed for 100 kilometres per hour speeds […]