DRUGS IN REEFER CONTAINERS - Pharma importers cry foul over new regulation

Private sector pharmaceutical importers are crying foul over the Custom’s directive issued in consultation with Cosmetics, Devices & Drugs Regulatory Authority (CDDRA), that makes compulsory to import pharmaceutical items in refrigerated containers, to maintain the required temperature.

Packaging industry should be made priority exports support sector: Rishad

In 2013, most recipient countries of FDI in South Asia experienced a significant decline in green field projects except for Sri Lanka. In that, the total announced green-field investments in South Asia, declined by a strong 38 percent-except for Sri Lanka where the investments remained at a..........

Lesser known information about Sri Lanka tourism

Very often, when discussing tourism and its performance, the focus is on occupancy and room rates. Certainly, these two indices are the most important aspects to monitor the tourism and hospitality sector, which give a good indication of how the industry is performing.

Are we less ambitious as we age?

It starts often as you hit mid-life. The glittering promotion. The dynamic career. The corner room office. It doesn’t sparkle like it used to – priorities have changed. Children are growing up and they need your time. You honestly prefer a good night’s rest to drinks out with the office crowd on Friday nights.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS - Chandra questions SEC about competitive safeguards

Good governance activist Chandra Jayaratne in an open letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has inquired about the laws pertaining to anticompetitive practices originating from mergers and acquisitions in the country’s capital market.

NR market not expected to rebound in near future

Rubber market in Southeast Asia dropped during the week as Chinese interest was low in buying. Tyre makers were banking on rubber stocks in bonded warehouses in Qingdao, the main rubber manufacturing province and very few searched for rubber from the Southeast Asian markets.

Treasury Secretary hints at trade surplus in 2020

Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera last week hinted at the possibility of recording a trade surplus by 2020, an economic scenario Sri Lanka has never achieved for the last six decades.

Cigarette taxes should be rescued from bureaucratic discretion

The focus of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is on raising taxes on tobacco, in order to raise prices and reduce consumption. This insight explains the serious consistency issues in Sri Lanka on setting taxes and prices on cigarettes.

sl gets US $ 300mn ADB loan for clean energy generation

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday approved a US $300 million dual-tranche loan to help Sri Lanka scale up its use of clean energy and minimize reliance on costly petroleum oil for electricity generation.

Why do some countries prosper and others don’t?

Many years ago, as primary students, we were taught that most rich countries were in the North of the globe and most poor countries are in the South, but later on we learnt that it was not geography that causes wealth or poverty. After all, Australia and New Zealand are part of the...........

July policy rates on hold

Despite low credit growth, the Central Bank yesterday decided to keep its key policy rates unchanged for the sixth straight month as the Monetary Board deemed that the current rate regime is quite appropriate with the country’s growth and the inflation direction.

Building a successful work team isn’t rocket science

Teams have become an essential feature in most organisations. The language of management now comfortably includes teams, teamwork and team building. However, this does not mean that we are yet much clearer about the process of bringing a group of people together and creating a level of.....

Stock market at your fingertips

One of the advantages of having an advisor was, ostensibly, to have someone who could give required information on your investments to put it into a comprehensible form. The problem with this is that it assumes the broker will be effective at condensing and conveying complex information and.......

BoC in talks with Treasury for Rs.10bn cash infusion: sources

State banking giant, Bank of Ceylon (BoC), is currently in talks with the Finance Ministry to obtain a Rs.10 billion cash infusion as early as the third quarter of this year, to improve its capital adequacy levels, sources revealed.

apparel label giant to set up Joint venture

Royal Pac Printcare Lanka (Private) Limited has signed an agreement with the Board of Investment (BOI) to establish an operation for the manufacture of apparel labels and packaging material for Sri Lanka’s apparel industry.

A woman who heads a company that employs women and has women as market

Kay Krill heads a unique company. As the CEO of Ann Inc., she overlooks a staff of 20,000 women who work under her, creating clothes for women. Ann Taylor is a US-based upmarket chain of clothes that targets women who want to dress well and look good.

Monetary policy might be tightened early next year: HSBC

The cycle of monetary easing in Sri Lanka will soon end and the country will start to see its monetary policy being tightened as early as from 2015, a global banking giant said in a recent report.

Unit trust funds grow 75% in 2013

Sri Lanka’s unit trust industry grew 75 percent in 2013 to Rs.54.3 billion but the number of unit holders have increased by a mere 6 percent to just under 30,000 investors, in a country with a 20 million population, according to the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

An open letter to hoteliers

Why don’t you appreciate me more than you do when I show up at your doorstep? Have you lost sight of the fact, that, as your guest, I am at the centre of the hospitality industry and in an ever expanding circle; you need to always be ahead of my needs.

country in middle-income trap since 1998: Minister

At a time when the Sri Lanka’s Central Bank (CB) is setting the stage to by-pass a potential economic stagnation and become a ‘break-out nation’, a senior government minister yesterday said that country is gradually being ensnared in the middle income trap.

A new narrative for economic growth

Today, we, as a nation, are going through an era where the debate on national economy has probably assumed unprecedented heights. Yet, it is an irony that no clear dialogue has yet emerged about the future strategic direction of the development of Sri Lanka’s economy.

Coaching for team performance - Improves productivity, relationships

Teams are the force that drives most organisations. As a manager or supervisor, you would have seen hostility, conflicting goals and unclear expectations within your teams. These are symptoms of an unhealthy team. To avoid these harmful effects, you need be proactive about improving team performance.

Stock market at your fingertips

Technology has played a key role in the financial services industry. Today, however, a number of new and rapidly accelerating trends are emerging that promise to usher in an entirely new paradigm.

CB to publish BASEL III rules by November: Moody’s

Sri Lanka’s banking sector which is already entangled in a complex consolidation drive, will soon have to gear itself up to embrace wide ranging capital and liquidity coverage requirements to be implemented under the third and latest instalment of BASEL Accords – BASEL III.

Rupee edges up on inflows

The Sri Lankan rupee ended slightly firmer yesterday due to inflows from remittances and exporter dollar sales, while one-month forward premiums fell to more than a three-year low on the hopes of further gain in the currency.

Why we cannot get home/work balance right, according to top female CEO heading Pepsi Co

We ponder it over coffee and mull over it at work; it is always on the back burner somewhere as far as women who aspire to the top are concerned. Can we truly achieve the ultimate work-home balance that keeps all the stakeholders happy?

Is tea industry really taking steps to be more ethical and sustainable?

With world tea consumption expected to reach 3.36 million tonnes by 2021, the industry must address the ethical issues that leave it lagging behind in sustainability. Challenges are many.

High labour shortage in EPZs impedes operations

There are as much as 15,000 vacancies in the country’s Export Processing Zones (EPZs), and this high dearth of labour is hampering the operations of factories located in them, Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

Govt. contains four months’ budget deficit to 3.5%

The government has managed to contain its budget deficit to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) during the four months to April 2014 due to the expanding economy but the deficit in absolute terms has edged up to Rs.347 billion from Rs.343.5 billion a year ago..................

Is Sri Lanka’s logistics hub steaming ahead?

Sri Lanka has the potential to become a South Asian logistics hub. In fact, it’s an opportunity that is hers to lose. She commands a strategic location adjacent to one of the world‘s busiest shipping-lanes (which by some estimates accounts for over half of global container traffic) and at the mouth of the vast Indian market.