The ‘Mahinda Chinthana Vision for the Future’ policy statement envisages making Sri Lanka a regional hub in five sectors. To ensure Sri Lanka is well poised to be the centre in the region, the government is looking to transform Sri L

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Major General Qasim Qureshi made an open invitation to Sri Lankan exporters to utilize the current Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP) scheme Pakistan enjoys with the European Union (EU) and ex

The inauguration ceremony of Architect 2014, the 32nd Annual Session of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) took place on February 19, 2014 at the Main Assembly Hall of the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).

Nawaloka Construction Company Private Limited is an organisation that has been offering multidisciplinary services to suit customer requirements for over 60 years. It has the Category C1 for building work and P1 for piling work in the ICTAD grading a

An engaged workforce has a major bottom line impact, according to Gallup’s 2013 ‘State of the American Workplace’ survey, businesses with an engaged workforce made 150 percent higher earnings per share (EPS) than their competition i

Too many of us look at career failures for the face value –as failures. Yet, life’s lessons are anything to go by; failures are not setbacks but foot-steps towards greater success and bigger achievement.

Northern Province Chief Minister Justice Wigneswaran has elaborated upon how diaspora remittances have deleterious effects. He has said that these remittances were having a very adverse impact on the lifestyles of the Tamils in the North.

The Colombo bourse’s upward trajectory which was evident in January 2014 got slightly held back in the 12 trading days, leading up to mid-February with the All Share Price Index (ASPI) losing 2.2 percent or 135 points to be precise.

Sri Lanka in order to become a knowledge hub would require to invest big, to strengthen the existing skills base, that would however require the sort of great national leap forward we saw in 2009 to ensure we have the kind of skilled workforce needed

Consider this simple question: “Does the present government have a strong commitment to high levels of capital expenditure?” Today in Sri Lanka most analysts tend to answer this question with a confident “yes”.

Achieving food security continues to be a challenge for Sri Lanka. Increasing population, changes in lifestyles, changes in food preferences and emerging middle income class demand more production. Therefore, governments need to make sure they are se

AFP- Nightclubs with diamante toilets, luxury cemeteries and local restaurants have made a splash during their debuts on Hong Kong’s stock exchange, proving particularly popular among “mom and pop” investors squeezed out of more mai

Process Mapping is at the heart of many continuous improvement techniques, ranging from the very simple, (e.g. Standard Operating Procedure) to the very complex, (e.g. Six Sigma) Process Mapping is founded on the premise that if you create a picture

The year 2014 is expected to be a promising year for the Sri Lankan equity market. The All Share Price Index has witnessed a growth of nearly 5 percent within one month. Further on, analysts predict an increase in market activities especially in the

Following is the inaugural speech by Arjuna Herath as President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, delivered at the 22nd President’s Induction ceremony of the Institute held at Cinnamon Grand Colombo.

They are young women of a generation that grew up with the Internet, software and lap tops. They seek solutions in technology and believe in the power of technology that can be harnessed to produce great many things. They belong to a new generation o

Sri Lanka has potentially extremely favourable medium-term prospects. In addition, macroeconomic conditions are likely to be more benign in the short term with 2014 being better than last year, provided the US Federal Reserve’s tapering program

The Planter’s Association of Ceylon (PA) has warned of an acute shortage of fertilizer which will have a detrimental effect on the plantation industry. The PA whose mandate is to promote, foster and protect the plantation industry of Sri Lanka

Tucked away amidst a tea plantation and bordering the Deniyaya side of the Sinharaja rainforest is a unique ecotourism venture that could hold valuable lessons on the future of forest-based ecotourism in Sri Lanka.

When one purchases a high-priced item, it is natural and reasonable to expect a high-quality of performance. For most people, cars and holidays count as the two highest priced items of regular expenditure. People save money to take their annual holid

There is a controversy with regard to the alleged upward revision of the growth rate of quarterly GDP by 0.5 per cent from 5.5 per cent to 6.0 per cent. This has created some doubt in the public mind as to the accuracy and reliability of estimates o

A recent article by Gail Tvreberg from a think tank on “Our Future World”, reproduced in “Oil Voice” Magazine of 4 February 2014 highlights that solutions to our energy dilemma will not work if we do not understand that the pr

Providing satisfaction to customers is an intuitively sensible route to running a profitable business. But we have not been very good at measuring whether or not businesses are doing a right job in delivering satisfaction to their customers. Part of

Because you plan to spend the money you set aside for short-term goals relatively quickly, you’ll want to focus on safety and liquidity rather than growth in your short-term portfolio. Treasury bills (T-bill) backed by the government’s pr

The Fourth Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) took place from January 18-19, 2014 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), attended by more than 1200 participants including heads of state and ministers from over 150 countr

Volunteering is in – whether in reaching out to communities, helping street children or simply doing something for someone who cannot afford you or pay you back, it is not only fashionable but also extremely relevant in the world we live in tod

There are many problems have arisen with regard to condominium corporations and the management. As a result there are many unhappy buyers and they do not know where to go to get these problems satisfactorily resolved.  Therefore it is necessary

When I book a hotel I look for one that provides comfort and a secure environment. In a hotel environment, safety and security are two sides of the same coin. Let’s examine this on an imaginary – but not totally unreal series of incidents

We had a big debate on emerging markets’ growth prospects at our Annual Meetings in October 2013. We lowered our 2013 growth forecast for emerging markets and developing economies by a whopping 0.5 percentage points compared to our earlier fore

For some time now it has been quite clear to economists that assessments of economic performance cannot be solely focused on overall income growth, but must also take into account income distribution. This is because a growing body of research has es