Category: Trade

May 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to dispatch a team of officials to Brussels later this month to try to extend a key European Union trade deal that is to be withdrawn on human rights concerns, an official said. Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris told parliament the team for talks on May 20-21 will […]

May 03, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is one of the countries included in a trade finance deal between the Asian Development Bank and Germany’s Commerzbank to share risks to support increased trade in developing Asia. According to an ADB statement, the Risk Participation Agreement signed on the sidelines of the bank’s 43rd annual meeting […]

Apr 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters should reduce reliance on traditional Western markets where demand will decline, and diversify into booming Asian economies, Asian Development Bank officials said. While exports are recovering after being hit by global recession last year, reduced consumption in key US and European markets are likely to dampen the […]

April 14, 2010 (AFP) – Iran plans nearly to double its purchase of Sri Lankan tea, the island’s main export commodity, Sri Lanka’s government said Wednesday, announcing a move that could boost tea prices. Sri Lanka’s tea promotion board said they expected the Iranian move to further strengthen prices, which have risen by 29. 47 […]

Apr 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters have called for more streamlined customs clearance to help reduce costs and be more competitive in overseas markets. Although clearing facilities are available for airfreight cargo round-the-clock, seven days of the week, “in regard to other cargo only perishable cargo is provided such a facility,” the NCE […]

Apr 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports fell in January 2010 owing to a sharp fall in apparel shipments, the island’s main industrial export, despite higher agricultural export earnings, interrupting a recovery in the export sector, the Central Bank said. The bank said in a statement that exports fell 3. 9 percent to 472 […]

Apr 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s shipping community is trying to raise more awareness of trade and logistics among the work force and students to try to overcome a critical shortage of skilled people, officials said. Organisers said they also hope to encourage schools leavers and university students to look at logistics as alternative […]

GENEVA, March 22, 2010 (AFP) – Scant progress has been made in talks for a global trade pact, top negotiators told World Trade Organisation member states Monday, dampening hopes of a deal in the Doha Round soon. The round of negotiations for a trade liberalisation deal are primarily aimed at removing obstacles to trade for […]

Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tea Board is investigating complaints by an exporter that certain teas sold in Europe as pure Ceylon tea are actually blended with teas from other origins, officials said. Zarook alleged that his competitors in Germany were competing on price because they were mixing Ceylon tea with Vietnamese tea […]

Mar 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expected to re-erect an import barrier soon to keep cheaper rice out of the reach of the island’s consumers, but the country’s 25 rupee a kilo duty is too high, consumer affairs minister Bandula Gunewardene said. “I personally think the duty of 25 rupees on a kilo […]

Mar 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan importers will get an opportunity to present documents electronically to the customs by the middle of the year, the head of the Customs Department said. Sarath Jayatilleke, director-general of Customs, said the department would shift to a more advanced electronic data interchange system by June or July. “We […]

Mar 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is sending a high level delegation of senior government officials to save a preferential trade deal which is due end later in 2010 and broader relations with the European Union, a senior minister said. “On our part we are eager to engage with the international community,” international trade […]