Category: Industry
Credit Crunch
BASEL, October 23, 2008 (AFP) – Cross-border lending by banks fell 1.1 trillion dollars in the second quarter of 2008, the biggest decline for a decade, latest BIS figures showed on Thursday, underlining the severity of the credit crisis. Banks were also hit by one trillion dollars’ worth of withdrawals, particularly by clients in the […]
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals fall 20-pct in September
Oct 22, 2008 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka fell 20 percent in September with generating markets in Western Europe and India recording steep falls, the latest data from the island’s tourist promotion office said. In the 10 months to September arrivals were down 9.5 percent to 317,500 from 350,779. In period Western European […]
Shipping Attack
Oct 22, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers have staged a suicide attack on merchant ships carrying supplies to the northern Jaffna peninsular early Wednesday, the defence ministry said. The merchant ships Ruhuna and Nimalawa, were attacked off the Kankasanthurai harbhour, defence authorities said. Several merchant ships, some operated by Sri Lankan firms, have […]
Sri Lanka August export growth driven by commodities as garments falter
Oct 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s August 2008 export earnings went up 16.6 percent to 761 million dollars from a year ago, driven largely by the boom in agricultural exports, the central bank said Tuesday. Spending on investment goods were up 21.3 percent to 1,976 million dollars in the eight month period. The central […]
Sri Lanka Brandix says cleaner production makes economic sense
Oct 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporter Brandix group said its cleaner production efforts are driven not only by environmental imperatives but because they help cut costs and improve efficiency.New manufacturing methods that are cleaner than older ones are motivated by environmental imperatives, Brandix Casualwear Managing Director A J Johnpillai said. But they […]
Water Waste
Oct 21, 2008 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank is helping to fund a project to improve wastewater disposal in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo under which only treated effluent will be discharged into the sea. The Sri Lanka government is putting in 35 million dollars as its contribution to the project. The 135 million […]
Sri Lanka says no EU rights probe; state help for exporters to improve productivity
Oct 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has rejected a European Union demand to conduct a probe on human rights and child soldiers, but will give exporters state help to tide over a shock from loss of trade concessions, a senior minister said. The European Union has asked that Sri Lanka comply with international conventions […]
Sri Lankan actuaries form professional body to meet growing demand
Oct 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan actuaries, business professionals who analyse the financial consequences of risk, have banded together to form a professional body called the Actuarial Association of Sri Lanka (AASL). It aims to popularise the profession to meet growing national demand and help with the development of the local financial services sector, […]
State Props
PARIS, October 19, 2008 (AFP) – Nations around the world took new emergency steps Sunday to shore up the international banking system and restore investor confidence, as a yawning finance crisis continued to roil global markets. The crisis led Sunday to the ouster of the top brass at a top bank in France and prompted […]
Southern Shipping
Oct 20, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is to invite investments from the private sector early next year to set up business in a new port being built in the southern region.Wickrema said the SLPA will invite proposals for businesses in the port such as warehousing, and cement and fertiliser manufacture. […]
Sri Lanka bans 60 food products on melamine fears
Oct 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s health ministry has banned the import and sale of 60 food products as a precautionary measure following the melamine Chinese milk contamination scandal.Many countries have pulled melamine-contaminated sweets and drinks from supermarket shelves amid the widening scandal over Chinese milk products tainted with the toxic chemical. Melamine, which […]
LBR-LBO ICT Forum
Oct 17, 2008 (LBO) – Advances in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) could help companies, especially mid-sized ones, to improve and gain competitive advantage, Sri Lankan experts say. HP said it hopes to do more such projects to help deploy ICT effectively and efficiently in medium sized organizations. The University of Colombo School of Computing […]