Category:
China says foreign direct investment up 45.6 percent
BEIJING, July 11, 2008 (AFP) – Foreign direct investment into China grew by 45.6 percent in the first half of this year, the government said Friday.Foreign enterprises invested 52.4 billion dollars in China from January to June, the commerce ministry said in a statement posted on its website. The ministry did not give separate data […]
‘ fees
July 11, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Cricket has agreed to raise players’ fees and perks as part of a deal to settle a long-running dispute over contracts, officials said Friday. SLC officials and player representatives thrashed out a deal over the last two days that ended four months of negotiations, amid growing resentment by […]
‘ demands over England tour
July 10, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Cricket chiefs have agreed to try and postpone or reschedule next year’s England tour to allow its players to take part in the lucrative Indian Premier League, officials said Thursday.The tour, hastily arranged earlier this month after England suspended bilateral cricket relations with Zimbabwe, includes two Tests, three […]
Sri Lanka state cash flows hit by revenue shortfalls
July 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance ministry had to rely on bank overdrafts and additional domestic borrowing to bridge cash gaps in the first five months of 2008 as revenues were below target, a government report said. The finance ministry said the cash deficit forecast for its operations by the end of May […]
Sri Lanka urged to relax exchange controls
July 11, 2008 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan businessman whose companies have invested overseas says the government should relax exchange controls to make it easier for local firms to invest abroad, especially India with which trade deals are being struck.“We need a system where the central bank gives us freedom to invest in India […]
Sri Lanka-India trade deal to open investment, services from August
July 11, 2008 (LBO) – The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to be signed between India and Sri Lanka in August will allow professionals to work in either country but with safeguards to meet local concerns, economists said.The CEPA deal will make it easier for Sri Lankan companies to invest in India in areas like […]
Freight Fracas
July 10, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council (SLSC) says their dispute with foreign shipping lines over a handling charge at Colombo port remains unresolved despite repeated protests and court action. The dispute between Sri Lankan exporters and foreign shipping lines has moved into mediation mode, on a supreme court directive, and a […]
Tech Centre
July 10, 2008 (LBO) – India’s Reliance Communications has joined with Sri Lanka’s PC House (PCH) and its subsidiary Greenwich Lanka to maintain and develop off-shore internet data centers (IDCs).Reliance hopes to use the island as a hub for its marketing activities and as an overseas development center, the companies said in a statement. The […]
Crowd-powered NowPublic news site buys rumor website
SAN FRANCISCO, July 10, 2008 (AFP) – Virtual news-gathering website NowPublic said Thursday it has bought rumor-backing Truemors to go beyond eye witness accounts to exposing developments “bubbling under the hood.” The deal, for an undisclosed amount, expands the news coverage of the Vancouver-based NowPublic, which delivers news and events recorded by eyewitnesses using their […]
Indian traders down shutters to protest at retail giants
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, July 10, 2008 (AFP) – Traders in India’s southern Kerala state shut up shop on Thursday in a show of opposition to the entry of retail giants into the area.The president of the Kerala Merchants and Traders Coordination Committee, the largest body of traders in the communist-ruled state, said the strike was “total.” “Around […]
Oil prices calm after US$10 slump
NEW YORK, July 9, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices held steady Wednesday after two days of sharp declines, as news that Iran tested a long-range missile capable of hitting Israel pushed up prices temporarily. The market shook off news of another slump in US oil inventories and also digested a pledge by the Group of […]
US refueling tanker contract to go up for new bid
WASHINGTON, July 9, 2008 (AFP) – The Pentagon Wednesday reopened a 35-billion-dollar contract to produce a new generation of air refueling aircraft, acknowledging flaws in an earlier air force decision to award it to Northrop Grumman.In an embarrassing about-face, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Northrop Grumman and rival Boeing would be asked to submit […]