Category: Trade

Jan 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party said it welcomed a move to start talks on a special economic partnership with India after an earlier deal was put on the backburner due to nationalism. “We welcome the news that Sri Lanka and India have decided to begin discussions to develop […]

Jan 04, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is aiming to have the best customs office in the region with the office fully online and three ‘free ports’ in operation, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said. Customs will also facilitate the about a million tourists are year, he said. Sri Lanka’s customs office will have ASYCUDA […]

Dec 28, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports fell 6. 6 percent to 827.6 million US dollars in November 2012 from a year earlier but apparel exports picked up 4. 6 percent to 363 million US dollars, official data shows. The value of tea exports was also up a slight 0.6 percent to 126 million […]

Dec 22, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should be friendly all major powers and ensure that relations are strengthened with nations that matter to the core economic interests of the country, a top international economist said. “It strikes me that Sri Lankan foreign policy, which of course includes foreign economic policy – is completely lopsided,” […]

Dec 21, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Kotagala Plantations Plc, a tea plantations firm said it had bought Union Commodities (Pvt) Ltd, a tea exporter for 1,575 million rupees (12. 4 million US dollars). No details were given how the purchase would be financed. Kotagala Plantations said Union Commodities had been ranked the fourth largest […]

Dec 18, 2012 (LBO) – Jonathan Jacobs, a businessman and chairman of International Trade and Tourism of the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed Honorary Consul covering the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said he will assist the Sri Lankan High Commission in Pretoria. The foreign ministry said […]

Dec 18, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s food exporters to the US should renew their registrations with the Food and Drug Administration quickly to avoid prohibition, the island’s embassy in Washington said. The embassy said under a food safety law (Food Safety Modernization Act) foreign firms also have to designate a US agent to communicate […]

Dec 11, 2012 (LBO) – India is mulling asking Sri Lanka to reduce import duties which had been raised twice last year hitting small car imports and three wheeler vehicles in particular, a media report said. Another report said Chinese manufacturers are being allowed to set up assembly plants in Sri Lanka which could potentially […]

Dec 06, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports slipped 13. 4 percent to 770.4 million US dollars in October from a year earlier, with tea being hit by Middle East tensions with apparel falling amid weak demand, the Central Bank said. “Given the slowing down of global demand, exports of industrial exports continued to decline […]

Dec 01, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s fruit and vegetable exports are expected to grow between three to five percent in 2012 after growing 10 percent in 2011, despite a global downturn that had dragged down total exports an industry official has said. Sri Lanka’s overall exports were down 5.8 percent to 7.39 billion US […]

Nov 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will soon have ‘zero time’ customs with an automated customs clearing process to begin up to 24 hours before a vessel docks at port, Customs chief Neville Goonewardena said. Sri Lanka is implementing the latest version of Automated System for Customs Data promoted (ASYCUDA World) initiated by the […]

Nov 21, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa will lead a delegation to India’s ‘Partnership Summit’ to be held in Agra in January, India’s high commission (embassy) said after a business delegation visited the island. Godrej had said that Indian companies could use to set up priority industries like pharmaceuticals, IT […]