China’s massive and expanding ‘Belt and Road’ trade infrastructure project is running into speed bumps as some countries begin to grumble about being buried under Chinese debt.

With the fate of Sri Lanka’s plantation industry continuing to remain a hot-button issue of debate in the media, numerous views have been aired on the rationale behind the privatization of State plantations in 1992. 

Naturally, humans are willing to receive higher wages and salaries with the hope that it will lead to a better living standard. That is why; they stage strikes and demonstrations demanding higher salaries. 

The world around us is increasingly moving forward with regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) as the multilateral trade liberalization process led by the World Trade Organisation has come to a standstill. There are now 419 regional trad

If you have followed carefully throughout the previous instalments, by now, you would be able to create a good CRM strategy. 

Sri Lanka is committed to establishing a National Single Window (NSW) for international trade as a policy priority, with the support of the private sector. A NSW allows exporters and importers to submit documents at a single location or entry point,

Even within the financial sector, few are familiar with the term Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). Understandable, given that it’s hard to associate a directory of legal entities with high-quality information flows that meet regulatory requirement

Sri Lankan firms are encouraged to explore opportunities in Bangladesh’s growing 160 million market for long-term growth prospects, which has also been termed as next China, due to the low cost and high return in manufacturing, as Sri Lanka&rsq

The railway strikes are over – at least for now. On August 8, several railway unions called a sudden strike in the afternoon hours, right before the tired office commuters would flock the Fort railway station to head home after a long day&rsquo

Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper who had been spraying glyphosate in some school premises in California and afflicted with a cancer condition called  non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), won a court case a few days ago claiming that the cancer was caused

Commencing from around the third week of July, the farm gate price of coconuts has dropped from a high of around Rs.45 to Rs.28 by August 15.

Following is a speech delivered by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently at the graduation ceremony of Oxford College of Business Colombo.

Sri Lanka has been a country repeatedly hit by trade union strikes and street protests for past few years. Labor is one of the key factors that drive economic growth, in addition to capital. There are more labour-intensive industries than capital-int

Having decided a few years ago to make my permanent home in the remote village of Samagipura in the Anuradhapura District, I have been reawakened too much. The intention to seek village life and roots of my ancestors has been rewarded in many ways. S

Avocado’s analysis (‘What kind of liberals are these?’ –June 29) inspired retort from “Fellows of the Advocata Institute” (“The kind of ‘liberals’ we are”, July 24). These Fellows accuse us

By One of the objectives of the open economic policy as articulated by President J.R. Jayewardene in 1977 was to have an export-led growth strategy and to accelerate international trade and investments. This would enable the country to eventually hav

Last week’s excise increase on cigarettes demonstrate the government’s continued commitment to controlling smoking-related harm, whilst ensuring a steady inflow of revenue to state coffers from smokers. 

Time has passed by. Three years have gone after the sad demise of my mentor. A lot has been said by now about this legendary marketing sage, since his untimely departure in August 2015. 

A country can be truly developed only by producing quality goods and services, which would be sold at higher prices locally as well as globally, beating the competition. The main problem identified in developing economies like ours has been how to in

A news item under the above heading in Daily Mirror on July 27, 2018 has reported that the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) is to launch a systematic field investigation under the “guidance” of the present chairman whom I believe

Trump victory in 2016 was powered by economically downtrodden voters who were driven by their fears of insecurity about their and their children’s economic future. For those people after several years, America’s economy is finally showing

The World Economic Forum in 2016 has ranked the water crisis as the highest concern over the next decade. We, in Sri Lanka, are beginning to sense this crisis and the uncertainties in weather pattern further aggravate this issue.

Sri Lanka and Singapore have recently signed a bilateral free trade agreement – the Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA (SLSFTA). Apart from being a comprehensive and modern free trade agreement (FTA) in scope and coverage, the SLSFTA paves the way for Sri

What does the regulations enforced after August 1 mean for tuk-tuks?  I live in Moratuwa, down Diggala Road, a two-kilometre by-road from Keselwaata Junction on Old Galle Road. In my little hamlet, there are only two mini Lanka Ashok Leyland bus

Mention Sri Lanka and tea, cricket, sea and safari typically come to mind. These are the more positive perceptions of the country. But political turmoil, policy confusion, currency depreciation and a bond scandal remain some of the negatives that the

According to the statistics released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the first half of 2018 reached 6.8 percent. The national economy sustained the momentum of steady and sound

India is concerned by the growing Chinese influence in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Some of this concern stems from a housing project recently awarded by the Sri Lankan Resettlement, 

The seventh World Peace Forum, organised by the Tsinghua University in association with the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, was held in Beijing from July 14 to 15. The theme selected for this year’s event was ‘Constru

Sri Lanka’s traditional lacework famously known as Beeralu is slowly moving into the spotlight of the global fashion industry. Udeni, who is a traditional Beeralu lace maker from Galle, learned the technique from her mother and developed it int

Asia and the Pacific has enjoyed robust economic growth and experienced large reductions in poverty in the past few decades. Nevertheless, with the region home to 1.2 billion people living on less than US $ 1.9 per day (in 2011 PPPs), the internation