Category: Industry
” to test Cup venues
January 21, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka are eager to test the island’s new cricket venues ahead of next month’s World Cup, skipper Kumar Sangakkara said Friday. Sri Lanka, who were runners-up in the last Cup in 2007, will stage 12 matches of the showpiece event, in Hambantota, Pallekele and Colombo. The remaining games will […]
Sri Lanka exports surge in Nov
Jan 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports surged 36 percent in November 2010 to 833 million US dollar, led by industrial exports which grew 40. 8 percent from a year earlier to 633 million US dollars, according to official data. The surge helped exports to grow 3. 7 percent to 7.33 billion US dollars […]
Chip Growth
Jan 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s computer chip consumption will grow more than 25 percent in 2011 driven by growing information technology use and government measures to push IT literacy, an industry official said. In 2010 Sri Lanka is estimated to have used 260,000 chips, according to data by IDC, a market intelligence consultancy, […]
Naval Rescue
SEOUL, January 21, 2011 (AFP) – South Korean navy commandos Friday stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all the 21 crew and killing eight pirates, military officials said. The SEAL special forces boarded the South Korean ship before dawn, freeing all the hostages and killing the pirates in cabin-to-cabin […]
Sri Lanka cable firm to build hotels
Jan 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sierra Cables, a listed power cable maker said it will build hotels in a joint venture with another group as strong tourist arrivals increased drew investment capital into the sector. Colombo is to see at least two 500 million dollar hotel and apartment development complexes on state land and existing […]
Text Reminders
Jan 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s credit information office is planning a text message alert service by mobile phone for borrowers who forget to make credit card payments, an official said. The service is likely to be available by April. Sri Lanka has about four million borrowers. Gamini Karunaratne, general manager of the Sri […]
Sri Lanka second hotel scouted by Swiss leisure group
Jan 18, 2010 (LBO) – Swiss-based MÅ‘venpick Hotels and Resorts, which is to manage a city hotel in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo is looking for opportunity to run a resort elsewhere in the island, an official said. The group has a 12-year deal with options to extend another 10 years with Softlogic. Softlogic has interests […]
Local Clearing
Jan 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will set up a common automated teller machine and payment card switch that will process transactions locally, eliminating the need for international routing of transactions between different banks, an official said. “Any firm registered outside Sri Lanka should have a local partner at the time of forwarding the […]
Credit Trends
Jan 17, 2011 (LBO) – Credit to private citizens from Sri Lanka’s commercial banks rose 23. 1 percent in November 2010 from a year earlier, while credit to government also rose at a slower 10. 8 percent, official data showed. In November banks loaned 46.3 billion rupees to private borrowers, down slightly from 51. 4 […]
Sri Lanka reschedule West Indies ODIs
January 16, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will host its rescheduled one-day series against the West Indies starting at the new Hambantota stadium in the island’s south on January 31, officials said Sunday. Heavy rains in December forced the series to be scrapped. The games were to be played across the three World Cup venues […]
Pirate Action
SEOUL, January 15, 2011 (AFP) – Suspected Somali pirates hijacked a South Korean-operated cargo ship with 21 crew on board in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, South Korean and European officials said. The 300,000-tonne Samho Dream and its 24 crew — five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos — were released only after a ransom reported […]
Sri Lanka expects US$1.5bn in hotel starts in 2011
Jan 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting 1. 5 billion US dollars of mainly hotel project starts in 2011 as investors pour money into the sector in the wake of booming tourist arrivals following the end of a war, economic minister Basil Rajapaksa said. The two firms have to pay 125 million US […]