Category: Trade

Oct 18, 2011 (LBO) – A stalled comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka does not include freeing of professional services, as had been claimed by its critics as a scare tactic, an economist said. “In CEPA professional liberalization is not there, I think this is a misconception,” Saman Kelegama from the […]

Oct 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and Vietnam will begin talks on trade liberalization aiming to expand two way trade over 10 fold to a billion US dollars over the next few years, a joint communiqué following visit by President Truong Tan Sang said. Vietnam also sells textiles for Sri Lanka’s apparel trade. No […]

Oct 12, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will host the Asia Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum (APTFF), a platform to promote regional trade and share information, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said. “South Asia is a region that has many benefits to reap through improved trade facilitation,” the Chamber said in a statement. “This region still remains […]

Sept 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports rose 9.4 percent to 958 million US dollars in July 2011 from a year ago although earnings from tea, its main agricultural export fell, the central bank said. Spending on imports shot up 58 percent to 1. 78 billion US dollars in July from the year before, […]

Aug 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s June 2011 exports rose 32 percent to 816 million US dollars from a year ago helped up strong growth in shipments of apparel as well as tea and rubber, the central bank said. Imports in June 2011 shot up 50 percent to 1.7 billion US dollars with a […]

Aug 02, 2011 (LBO) – Singer Sri Lanka, a top consumer durables retailer said profits rose 79.9 percent in the June 2011 quarter from a year earlier as sales grew rapidly after the state cut taxes on electrical home appliances. The firm reported earnings per share of 2. 34 rupees for the quarter. Revenues in […]

July 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports rose 34 percent in May 2011, to 832 million US dollars and imports rose at a faster 67 percent to 1. 76 billion dollars partly due to strong imports of cars and a aircraft, the Central Bank said. Agricultural exports rose 19 percent to 182 million US […]

July 27, 2011 (LBO) – Trade associations representing businesses in Sri Lanka and Belgium had inked a deal to expand economic links between the two countries, the island’s embassy in Brussels said. BelgoLux Sri Lanka Business Council has 23 large Belgium companies, the embassy said. R D S Kumaratne who heads the mission’s economic and […]

July 23, 2011 (LBO) – Economic and people-to-people exchanges between Sri Lanka and Vietnam have soared after the establishment of an embassy barely two months ago, Hanoi’s envoy to Colombo Ton Sinh Thanh said. With growing affluence, Vietnamese have started travelling abroad in a big way, with Europe and South East Asia being top destinations. […]

July 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka exports grew by a better-than-expected 42 percent in the five months to May and full-year revenues are projected to grow 25 percent to 10 billion US dollars, the state export promotion agency chief said. “Now, our strategy is developing our exports portfolio beyond those markets while protecting the […]

July 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is pressing Pakistan to reduce import duties on key exports from the island with the issue to be taken up again at a forthcoming meeting in Colombo following talks in Islamabad. Pakistan would consider reducing high tariffs imposed on certain Sri Lankan agriculture products, the statement said. Analysts […]

July 9, 2011 (LBO) – HVA Foods, a Sri Lanka-based branded tea exporter is planning a blending unit in the Middle East to gain a bigger share in the global retail market by making use of trade liberties. “Discussions with our Middle East partner is at an advanced stage,” HVA Foods chairman Rohan Fernando was […]