Category: Industry
AirAsia, Expedia tie up to tap Asia travel demand
SINGAPORE, March 29, 2011 (AFP) – Budget carrier AirAsia and travel website Expedia announced a tie-up Tuesday to sell flights, hotel bookings and holiday packages in Asia in a bid to cash in on rising regional demand. It flies to 14 destinations — London, Taipei, Tehran, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, China (Tianjin, Hangzhou, Chengdu), Australia (Gold […]
Alternative Finance
Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects to devise Islamic finance specific regulations this year following ongoing consultations with the industry, though the first commercial bank on alternative finance has been licensed on existing rules, an official said. At the moment a commercial bank operating on Islamic finance principles has no income earning asset […]
Risk Cover
Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it will provide a five million US dollar trade-finance facility to Sri Lanka’s Union Bank of Colombo. The funds will help boost international trade opportunities for the bank and its small-business and corporate-sector clients. “The trade-finance facility will provide the Union Bank of Colombo […]
Finance Sale
Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Bank, a listed company, said it will sell People’s Merchant Finance Company Ltd, a 99 percent owned registered finance company, for 430 million rupees. The firm will be sold to Capital Alliance Holdings, an investment banking firm, if regulatory approval is given, PMB said in a […]
Fast Decisions
Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is seeking private investment proposals to modernise the neglected transport system and will give investors speedy approvals, a senior official said. A new transport master plan is being prepared to economically move people and freight, said Dhammika Perera, secretary to the ministry of transport. Investments are […]
India, Pakistan mind games begin in Asia super show
NEW DELHI, March 27, 2011 (AFP) – India and Pakistan kicked-off the mind games ahead of their World Cup semi-final blockbuster on Sunday while New Zealand attempted to halt a three-pronged Asian assault on the title. “Let it remain as cricket and don’t make us feel as if we are standing on a war front,” […]
Sri Lanka Murali to raise cash for war-displaced
March 28, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s legendary bowler Muttiah Muralitharan plans to travel overseas to drum up funds to build a sports complex for war-displaced civilians. Muralitharan, who holds the world record for 800 Test and 538 one-day wickets, wants to build the centre in northern Sri Lanka to build a new life for […]
Sri Lanka power conspiracy alleged in fuel move
Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power ministry has alleged that a private sector conspiracy could be behind the sudden withdrawal of fuel supplies to a thermal power plant which had failed to pay arrears. It said in a statement the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, under the petroleum ministry, had stopped supplying heavy fuel oil […]
Sri Lanka venture capital firm invests in wind power
Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan venture capital Lanka Ventures said it will invest 384 million rupees through a subsidiary to set up a wind power plant on the island’s north-west coast. A stock exchange filing said LVL Energy Fund (LEF), a fully-owned subsidiary of Lanka Ventures, has signed a deal with LTL Holdings […]
Credit Trend
Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka loans to business from commercial banks rose 28.1 percent in January 2011 from a year earlier to 1,530 billion rupees, central bank data showed as inflation concerns also rose in the island. Under Sri Lanka’s flawed monetary law, which critics say has made the country prone to high […]
Sangakkara hails attack-minded Sri Lanka
March 26, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara credited his bowlers for keeping up the pressure on England right from the first ball in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday. The Sri Lankan skipper said his team would not be complacent despite the huge victory. “It is important to be confident but we […]
Sri Lanka put weary England out of misery
NEW DELHI, March 26, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka ended England’s gruelling five-month global odyssey with a comprehensive 10-wicket triumph on Saturday to set up a World Cup semi-final showdown against New Zealand. Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan, with 108 not out, and Upul Tharanga, who hit an unbeaten 102, enjoyed their second 200-plus partnership of the […]