Sri Lanka Economy - News & Updates

[Lankan Ranger]

Sri Lanka ranked among the Top Ten Fastest Economies

Sri Lanka ranked among the Top Ten Fastest Economies, being eighth in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of United States. As the global economy would emerge in the recession, it is envisaged that Sri Lanka would record a 6.3 percent GDP growth rate that is second only to China, which will record an 8.6 percent in the Asian region.

“In times of economic strife it’s heartening to see our country doing so well. We must not rest on our laurels and strive to do better and bigger things. Sri Lanka Tourism contributes enormously to the economy and that contribution will only increase over the next decade,” Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Eranga Basnayake.

With the current political stability as well as the opening of the North and the East to tourists, Sri Lanka Tourism, is estimating nearly 15 percent of the Sri Lanka population will benefit from tourism industry.

The Government is keen on achieving this and it features high on the list of long term priorities. There are several projects in the pipeline that will serve as an impetus to propel this venture forward.

The projects have all been streamlined into the biggest ever tourism venture in Sri Lankan history - Visit Sri Lanka 2011. This colossal project has been launched with a series of projects that are lined up for 2011.

The project was kick-started with the New York Times and the Daily Candy Washington D.C declared Sri Lanka as the number one spot for holiday makers.

The visit year will help Sri Lanka Tourism in putting a foundation in place in order to achieve the target set by the President to bring in 2.5 million visitors to Sri Lanka by 2016.

An arrival figure 765,000 is projected by 2011 and to cater to this, Sri Lanka Tourism is using unique marketing and communication tools to lure in tourists to the country through product development, promotions and communication.

The marketing activities lined up to launch this project will be spread out over this year and will lend to an improvement of the economy by the end of the 2010.

By which time the world will emerge from recession and post crisis economic landscape will become clearer.

This will pave the way to achieve a higher growth of about seven to nine percent in the medium term, the Finance and Planning Ministry said , quoting the EIU.

Sri Lanka Business News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers

 

[ameer219]

Nice to see progress in Sri Lanka after a long time!Keep it up guys!

 

[jagjitnatt]

Great news. And its a beautiful country to go holiday. Ahhh.... beaches.

 

[dvk1982]

hope it has got what it requires for a longer period high growth rates...

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Sri Lanka to be financial centre of the region

There is tremendous opportunity for foreign companies to get listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and this will pave Sri Lanka to be a financial centre in the region, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director General Channa de Silva told Daily News Business.

“However to have a stable and a competitive economy, the country should have a strategic plan whilst having a competitive industrial plan. In each of these, industries are significantly important to properly map out the architecture of the country,” he said.

He said the capital market, which contributes around 25 percent of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) has the potential to rise up to 100 percent in the medium term. Therefore, it is vital that we need to promote medium and large-scale industries to get listed in the stock market to grow substantially from the current level to a higher level.

The Director General said there are five new stock broking companies, which are expected to commence their operations during the year and they also expect to open branches outside Colombo to bring in more clientele to the capital market.

At present, few keen foreign stock broking companies from countries such as India, Malaysia and Singapore has also applied for stock broking licence with the outstanding performance of the CSE. If these companies will get selected it would help their clientele to get exposure in Sri Lanka.

“Domestic investors are keen on investing in the stock market and have shown a significant response with peace being established in the country. With the drastic drop in the interest rates there is much potential for growth. Virtually to get the same or a better performance in the stock market many ground to travel as our stock market is still in the early stage of developments,” de Silva said.

De Silva said by the end of April many companies will get listed in the CSE. This will be helpful to gain more capital for these companies and it will also create more choice for the investors, as they do not have to track behind the existing stocks. We need more new companies listed within the next three to six months, as it is vital to commence and promote business for the market to be driven high.

Opening up a stock market branch is strategic and it provides a good indication for the people in Northern province that are keen on investing in the capital market. Promoting Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and medium scale business are important, he said.

At present, the number of transactions, market capitalization and the volumes have increased rapidly. With the volumes increasing, the level of liquidity has enhanced and that has created much confidence and satisfactory among the investors.

The CSE being in the forefront of the economy is optimistic about the year ahead and is confident that this momentum will continue, de Silva said.

Sri Lanka Business News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Sri Lanka stands high in financial reporting, compared with the other countries in the region

Sri Lanka is one of the 32 countries in the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators and Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board (SLAASMB) is the Regulator situated in the South Asian region. Hence, the quality of financial reporting stands high in the region Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board Director General, Ajith S. Ratnayake to Daily News Business, said.

Small and Medium Enterprises of Sri Lanka have to comply with the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards for Smaller Enterprises (SLASSE) whereas companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange and Specified Business Enterprises comply with Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards. Hence, each company in Sri Lanka is monitored by rules when considering the need of valuable information to the public on their financial reports, he said.

At present, the SME sector in Sri Lanka has shown an interest in financial reporting. A proper financial and auditing report assesses the threats and improvements it can adopt and financial and auditing reports improve the financial systems in the enterprises.

Ratnayake said the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published an International financial Reporting Standards code (IFRS) that was revised by the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards Committee.

The standards will be recommended for adoption through a council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL). The adoptions will be published and inducted to the legal system by Gazette.

He said companies should adopt the corporate governance concept to avoid giving misleading information to the public. Two ways the companies should comply with it are the performance and compliances. The performance of the company ensures whether it had functioned properly and under compliance it ensures whether the company complies with the law of the country.

Commenting on the Sri Lanka Accounting Standards for Smaller Enterprises (SLASSE) for SMEs, he said this was adopted since 2003 and there will be new development in the standards in coming months.

Sri Lanka has been adopting the 2007 version of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), whereas Sri Lanka should adopt the latest standards. The SLASSE is in the process of adopting the latest standards of Financial and Auditing reports.

Sri Lanka Business News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers

 

[Sravan]

last time i heard srilanka dissolved its parliament

 

[Luftwaffe]

for all those anti-sri lanka fanatics...

Just once Sri-Lankan port is fully operational and dollars start pouring in i would gladly be asking them what is this that you see?!
Never under estimate your opponent..size does not matter brain matters Sri lankans got positive brains..

 

[jha]

last time i heard srilanka dissolved its parliament

what is that supposed to mean..??? such replies can be avoided imho..

 

[syntax_error]

last time i heard srilanka dissolved its parliament

This was totally uncalled for .....
every country in fact every region, every individual has aspirations to grow and move forward.... tell me y should they not aspire and try to be what they want ..... problems are ever present but ... unless u aspire ...half the time u dont even realize there is a problem let alone take care off...
all the best to Sri Lanka ...
enough "philo" for the day (bong guys will get it )

 

[black tiger]

First the govt of srilanka should take steps to redress the genuine concerns of tamilians, until and unless it is done economic growth would just be a dream.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Sri Lanka Open for Business

We will give a strong message to the international community that Sri Lanka is open for business, Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal told the BBC in an interview.

"We have brought peace back to the country, there's hope, there's expression of continuous confidence in the economy," he said and emphasized that Sri Lanka has brought its macro economic fundamentals into good shape.

"Everything is in place now for the take off," he said and pointed out that the international and local business community recognize this.

"They know that we are open for business. They know that we have the potential to move forward. It is just a matter of time when the boom takes place," the Governor said.

"The country's reserves have come to a level where it is substantial. We are able to now manage finances in a very confident manner. We intend progressing with the IMF support in the future as well. That arrangement will be going on for the next 18 months. We will be projecting the confidence of the IMF being with us plus the new features of the Sri Lankan economy that are emerging," the Governor said. Cabraal stressed that Sri Lanka is meeting its economic potential.

"There's a six plus growth, our inflation is down, reserves are up, people are investing in our country. The investing community has seen the investment potential of Sri Lanka and they are coming in. The infrastructure development process is taking place in the country which is the highest ever in our history," he added.

Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers

 

[Lankan Ranger]

First the govt of srilanka should take steps to redress the genuine concerns of tamilians, until and unless it is done economic growth would just be a dream.

Special Relationship between Sri Lanka AND Pakistan won’t create obstructions for Sri Lanka India relations but it’s up to India to improve its relations with Sri Lanka.

Any way I think majority in here knows Sri Lanka AND Pakistan Good Friends.

Colombo & Islamabad always will be Good Friends.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

last time i heard srilanka dissolved its parliament

Whats this got to do with the thread?
If u hate srilanka zip ur face and dont troll.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Sri Lankans win at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards

Lahiru Lakmal Priyadarshana, a student of Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT), won the Gold Award in the Tertiary Category as well as the award for the Best Product developed using Open Source Tools for his iDisplay project. The latter was introduced for the first time at NBQSA. Amani Soysa, also a student of IIT, was awarded the Bronze for her Chord A Tune Project. Lahiru and Amani won these awards competing with the cream of software engineering students from more than five state universities and private institutes.

Lahiru and Amani were nominated to represent Sri Lanka at APICTA 2009, which was held recently in Melbourne, Australia, as part of the Asia Pacific Digital Innovation Summit. Lahiru and Amani won the prestigious merit awards, competing against more than 12 countries representing the Asia Pacific region, including Singapore, India, China, Australia and Malaysia.

The Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) is an international awards program which aims to increase ICT awareness in the Asian continent and assist in bridging the digital divide. By providing networking and product benchmarking opportunities to ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in the region, the program was designed to stimulate ICT innovation and creativity, promote economic and trade relations, facilitate technology transfer, and offer business matching opportunities via exposure to venture capitalists and investors.

The goal of Lahiru’s iDisplay is to identify a Computer Vision-Based Solution to Retrofit Existing Flat Displays into Interactive Surfaces. Interactive interfaces provide novel ways of interaction by closely replicating the familiar hands-on experience of everyday object manipulation. Unfortunately, most of the currently available interactive surfaces are based on infrared sensing and projection that necessitates a considerable monetary investment and a higher level of engineering knowledge. iDisplay is a solution to overcome these problems in a novel way with minimal cost and engineering efforts. The hardware prototype of iDisplay includes a minimum number of hardware devices, a webcam and an LCD monitor.

Amani addresses the problem of harmonizing music, which is a tedious task for novice musicians. Chord A Tune is a solution for the above dilemma that facilitates the harmonizing of a given melody allowing the user to incorporate emotional factor and genre choice. Chord A Tune uses a machine learning approach with Hidden Markov Model that generates the chord progression for a given melody by embedding the emotional factor. Around 250 lead sheets were used to train this system, using a data driven and heuristic approach. Furthermore, Chord A Tune opens a path for research into chord progression generation for vocals, that takes into account the extraction of words, emotional factor and the tune from actual voice of the user.

The achievements of these students are an example of the strong foundation that IIT builds for its students which enables them to achieve their goals. It also portrays the devotion of the staff who are constantly at hand to guide their students.

The Island-Business