Category: Trade

Mar 01, 2012 (LBO) – Japan has increased its share in Sri Lanka’s auto market to 36 percent from 33 percent in value with a surge in hybrid vehicles, amid a boom coming after a cut in taxes, Sri Lanka’s main business chamber said. More than 100,000 petrol driven three wheelers have been imported in […]

Feb 24, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports in December 2011 went up 24 percent to 906 million US dollars from year ago with sharp gains in textiles and rubber products, the central bank said. Imports during the month went up 34 percent to 1.9 billion dollars with spending on investment goods like transport equipment […]

Feb 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has called for the removal of non-tariff barriers to trade in South Asia, saying reducing or elimination of tariffs alone is not enough to increase intra regional trade. The volume of trade among South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation member states has still not reached anywhere near the […]

Feb 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and Pakistan will boost bilateral trade to over two billion dollars by 2015 and promote the use of local currencies, a joint statement issued at the end of a visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Islamabad said. Before the creation of state-owned dollar pegged central banks in South […]

Feb 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka might be in danger of losing part of its market for tea in the Middle East, one of its biggest markets, as younger consumers are shifting away from the beverage. Hilmy Cader, chief executive of MTI Consulting, said his international management consultancy based in Bahrain had observed a […]

Jan 25, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s export earnings in November 2011 rose 11.6 percent to 879.3 million US dollars from a year ago, driven mainly by industrial and machinery exports, the central bank said. Imports in the import-dependent island shot up 78 percent in November 2011 to 1,980.5 million dollars from the previous year […]

Jan 19, 2012 (LBO) – A business delegation from Sri Lanka will visit Vietnam in March to expand trade, investment and tourism, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said. The Sri Lanka-Vietnam Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber is leading a trade and investment delegation to Vietnam’s capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the economic […]

Dec 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s export earnings in October 2011 fell 4. 9 percent to 882 million US dollars from a year ago mainly owing to a fall in earnings from tea shipments, the island’s main agricultural export. Imports in October shot up 41 percent to 1. 75 billion dollars over the same […]

Dec 17, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will register its ‘Ceylon tea’ brand and seven growing regions in 25 key markets next year, using intellectual property law to protect its main agricultural export, officials said. Registration under the GI law, although costly, provides protection for the trade marks and prevents the names being false used […]

Dec 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exporters should claim refunds under a resumed generalized system of preferences (GSP) tariff relief scheme before April 18, 2011, the US embassy said. The US GSP scheme expired on Jan 01, 2011 but was retroactively renewed from November 04, 2011. Duties paid during the period could be claimed […]

Dec 09, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports in September 2011 rose 20 percent to 854 million US dollars from a year ago, helped by higher shipments of garments and rubber and food products, the central bank said. Earnings from minor agricultural exports also grew by 12 per cent in September 2011. “Expenditure on imports […]

Dec 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting more than 1,000 business and official delegates for an export trade fair to be held in March in Colombo, which will also feature a high profile business forum, officials said. The end of a 30-year civil war in 2009 has already resulted in a tourism boom […]