Chevron makes major new gas find in Bangladesh: govt

DHAKA, September 23, 2009 (AFP) – US energy group Chevron has made the biggest gas discovery in at least a decade in energy-starved Bangladesh, almost doubling the size of a field it is drilling there, a government official said Wednesday.The US firm has told authorities its Bibiyana gas field in Sylhet, northeastern Bangladesh, contains 6.6 […]

Watchdog Action

Sept 23, 2009 (LBO) – The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) has filed charges against two senior executives of Singalanka Standard Chemicals for falsifying accounts and forging auditors’ signatures.They had committed an offence under section 51(1) (b) of the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, the statement said.Singalanka Standard Chemicals said in a […]

Bharti sweetens offer for MTN deal: report

NEW DELHI, September 22, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel has offered a range of new concessions to South Africa’s MTN in order to seal a tie-up, a report said Tuesday.“Bharti Airtel is making a slew of last-minute concessions to sew up a deal with MTN as it awaits a political push […]

Sri Lanka plantations demand delayed tax refunds as wages rise

Sept 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations industry is demanding that the government settle long-delayed tax refunds to help bear the cost of a wage hike estimated at an extra six billion rupees a year.Damitha Perera, chairman of the Planters’ Association, which represents the industry, said repayment of value-added tax refunds and disbursement of […]

Regulatory hitches threaten Bharti-MTN deal: reports

NEW DELHI, September 21, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel and South African cellular flagship MTN are ready to sign a tie-up deal but regulatory issues could stymie a final agreement, reports said Monday. “The deal is all set, agreed and legally ready to be signed,” the Business Standard newspaper quoted an […]

Sri Lanka thieves hot on spices

Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Theft of spices from Sri Lankan gardens is a serious problem that could kill the trade, the new head of the island’s spice traders association has said. The global demand for spices will continue to increase because of growing awareness that consumption of spices contribute to good health, he said. […]

Sri Lanka tea prices up on supply concerns

Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices were again propelled higher at the Colombo auctions this week by supply concerns stemming from a worker go-slow on upcountry estates and a global production shortfall, brokers said. Auctions prices are likely to stay high as drought in major tea exporting countries had reduced the crop […]

Economic Impact

Sep 18, 2009 (LBO) – The 28th LBR-LBO chief executive forum debated the economic impact of public interest litigation, with a four member panel made up of legal and private sector representatives. Had the Business Chambers followed the above strategy, which in fact was suggested to them, they and their members could have minimized the […]

Public Debate

Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – The 28th LBR-LBO chief executive forum debated the economic impact of public interest litigation, with a four member panel made up of legal and private sector representatives. Presentations were made by Rohan Samarajiva, head of LirneAsia, a think tank and a former telecom regulator, Preethi Jayawardena chief executive of Chemanex, […]

Disputed Justice

Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector should have been more forceful in challenging a chief judge seen as brilliant but dominating whose judgments raised questions about the process of public interest litigation, a public forum was told. Affected businesses could have asked for immediate reviews of what they considered bad decisions of […]

Sri Lanka state rice stock pile to be sold

Sept 17, 2009 (LBO) – A lower grade government rice stock pile in Sri Lanka would be sold at 33 rupees a kilo, a government minister said, at time when the island’s staple food is near last year’s ‘food crisis’ levels.“We have built up a 44,000 tonnes of buffer stocks, we are only selling 15,000 […]

Cambodia joins rubber association

PHNOM PENH, September 14, 2009 (AFP) – Cambodia has joined the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries in the hope of further developing the nation’s rubber industry, a government official said Monday.Ly Phalla, director-general of Cambodia’s directorate of rubber, said the ascension to the inter-governmental organisation will bring its burgeoning industry new technology and help […]

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