Category: Trade

Apr 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government officials are learning more about World Trade Organization rules on services from Singapore as the country pushes ahead with becoming a trade and services hub. Experts from Singapore’s Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade and Negotiations (TFCTN) as well as experts from other countries are training Sri Lanka’s […]

Apr 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Minister of Industry and Commerce has decided to revive a regular meeting with exporters which allowed them to air grievances and get speedy solutions for problems. The Exporters’ Forum will be conducted with the Export Development Board (EDB), a government agency tasked with supporting exporters. The decision to […]

Mar 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s commerce ministry has paid almost 500 million rupees to 76 exporters in the final payment under a scheme to reward them for maintaining exports during the 2008 recession. Despite numerous challenges faced by the government, the government tried its best to fulfil its commitments to the export community,” […]

Mar 22, 2011 (LBO) – China plans to make it easier for Sri Lankan exports to the country to clear customs and be distributed to local markets, according to the island’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce. “China is planning to provide favourable policies for custom clearance and inland transportation for exports coming from Sri Lanka,” […]

Mar 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports and imports hit new monthly highs in December 2010 with shipments of apparel, the main industrial export, rising sharply despite the loss of duty free access to Europe. Expenditure on non food consumer import category also increased mainly due to higher imports of motor vehicles. All categories […]

Feb 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has told the European Union it does not want to renew a trade deal that was withdrawn over EU concerns about human rights abuses in the island’s ethnic war, a visiting EU lawmaker said. Jean Lambert, member of the European Parliament, said talks with Sri Lankan government officials […]

Feb 18, 2011 (LBO) – India has ended a two month ban on onion exports, which sent traditional buyers to alternative sources, after wholesale prices crashed and farmers protested in the streets. India banned onion exports in December after earlier putting a minimum export price floor of 1,200 US dollars a tonne. After the price […]

KUALA LUMPUR, February 18, 2011 (AFP) – Malaysia and India signed a long-delayed free trade pact on Friday that they say will double two-way trade to billion by 2015 and help strengthen economic ties. “The signing of today’s agreement shows our commitment to much deeper economic integration between our two countries,” premier Najib Razak said […]

Jan 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cut taxes on imported milk powder from 50 rupees a kilogram to 28 rupees as global commodity prices surged, a finance ministry official said soon after taxes on petrol were cut to maintain prices. Food commodities, base metals, minerals and precious metals have started to bubble again. […]

Jan 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports surged 36 percent in November 2010 to 833 million US dollar, led by industrial exports which grew 40. 8 percent from a year earlier to 633 million US dollars, according to official data. The surge helped exports to grow 3. 7 percent to 7.33 billion US dollars […]

Jan 07, 2011 (LBO) – A United States trade facility allowing duty free Sri Lankan exports that lapsed is likely to be renewed with retroactive effect as has happened in the past, officials said. The US Congress has not renewed the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program before its conclusion of business and therefore GSP […]

Dec 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to get its first ship load of imported ‘big’ onions next week as traders claimed they had run out of stocks Thursday after an export ban imposed by India, the main supplier. Sri Lanka usually imports 4,000-5,000 tonnes of big onions a week from India. The Pettah […]