Category: Industry
Sri Lanka tourist industry struggles to boost visitors amid war
Nov 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Tuesday that tourist arrivals had fallen sharply amid the tropical island’s intensifying ethnic conflict.Tourist arrivals had dropped 20 percent over the 10 months to October to 387,790 compared with the same period last year, Sri Lanka Tourism said. October’s arrivals were 4.6 percent lower at 37,011 compared […]
Coastal Shipping
Nov 27, 2007 (LBO) – Ceylon Shipping Corporation plans to buy two cargo ships using an Iranian credit line to be negotiated during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s current visit there. The ships are required to keep the northern Jaffna peninsula supplied with essential goods as the land route is controlled by the Tamil Tigers. […]
Space Crunch
Nov 26, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port, Sri Lanka’s main harbour, plans to build a dedicated cargo village to cater to rapidly increasing volumes of containers, a senior port official said. “We’re running short of space,” declared Nihal Keppetipola, a master mariner who is now the additional managing director of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority […]
Sri Lankan rebel Atapattu slams selectors
Nov 25, 2007 (AFP) – Marvan Atapattu made his final goodbye to Sri Lankan cricket on Sunday with another scathing attack on the selectors he had earlier described as “muppets headed by a joker.” The 37-year-old, who retired from international cricket earlier this month during the Australian tour, left Colombo to play in the rebel […]
‘s Tharanga gives England a headache
Nov 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s young batsman Upul Tharanga staked a strong claim for the first Test against England with another powerful display against the tourists here on Sunday.The left-hander, who made 112 in the tour opener last week, smashed 86 as the Sri Lanka Cricket XI made 298-9 by stumps on the […]
Sri Lanka a treasure trove of unexplored maritime history: archaeologists
Nov 25, 2007 (LBO) – Archaeologists working on a Dutch colonial era shipwreck in Sri Lanka’s southern Galle port say 12 more wrecks lie submerged, awaiting excavation and cataloging as historical treasure. In 1999, the team had also uncovered a human skull. “There are 27 sites which contain 12 shipwrecks in the Galle port,” Rasika […]
England Test spots against Sri Lanka up for grabs
Nov 24, 2007 (AFP) – England start their lone first-class match on the Sri Lankan tour here on Sunday hoping to fill the blanks in the Test squad for the series starting in a week’s time. Sri Lanka Cricket XI: Tillekeratne Dilshan (capt), Upul Tharanga, Mahela Udawatte, Malinda Warnapura, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Kapugedara, Kaushal Silva […]
Double Show
Nov 24, 2007 (LBO) – After tax profits of Habib Bank in Sri Lanka almost doubled to 118 million rupees for the nine months ended September 2007, published company statements showed. The bank, a branch of the largest bank in Pakistan, posted an income of 285 million rupees for the three quarters ended September, up […]
Forward Look
Nov 23, 2007 (LBO) – A manufacturing industry group has organized a forum on Sri Lanka’s monetary developments in a bid to understand what could happen in the future. “Many business enterprises are unsure about the future and wish to understand future scenarios in order to plan their future strategies, take advantage of possible opportunities […]
Slow Down
Nov 23, 2007 (LBO) – People’s Merchant Bank (PMB) net profit for the September quarter fell 13 percent year-on-year to five million rupees, according to interim results sent to the Colombo bourse. Total income increased 26 percent to 90 million rupees in the same period. But net interest income was up only 10 percent to […]
Opening Up
Nov 23, 2007 (LBO) – Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping line and Colombo port’s top customer, advised Sri Lanka to further liberalise the sector for the island to become a logistics hub. Maard said Colombo does have a great opportunity to become a strong logistics hub provided it acted fast to remove existing constraints. “Colombo […]
Sri Lanka England tour opener ends in draw
Nov 22, 2007 (AFP) – England drew their first match of the Sri Lanka tour on Thursday after gaining useful batting practice at the Colombo Cricket Club. The tourists, replying to Sri Lanka Cricket XI’s mammoth 500-5 piled over the first two days of the practice match, scored 315-6 on the final day before the […]