AUSTRALIA SRI LANKA BUSINESS COUNCIL FOSTERING TRADE RELATIONS Developing relationships and assisting the business community – Dilkie Perera Q: In a nutshell, what is the mandate of the Australia Sri Lanka Business Council? A: The Australia Sri Lanka Business Council is the premier body that represents the Sri Lankan business community in Australia. It develops and maintains close relationships with Australian and Sri Lankan government agencies, industry bodies, trade organisations, universities, financial organisations and multicultural trade bodies. The council also plays a consultative and lobbying role. In addition, it fosters bilateral trade relations between the two countries, and facilitates visiting…
Author: LMD International
BRUSSELS TIES THAT BIND Ambassador Grace Asirwatham highlights the benefits of global relationships Q: As Sri Lanka continues to seek assistance from various nations and lending agencies, what role could the EU – as its second-largest trading partner after China and a key export destination – play? A: The EU has played a significant role in supporting Sri Lanka in economic cooperation, development and humanitarian aid, technical assistance, investment and business partnerships, and sustainable development. Its financial cooperation is guided by a multi-annual indicative programme (MIP) that accounts for Sri Lanka’s national policy priorities and support for it achieving the…
Gihan Wirasinha Public-private cooperation Q: In a nutshell, how has the logistics sector evolved since the pandemic? A: Due to the impact of COVID-19, companies identified the need for robust and resilient supply chains that are smart, digitalised and sustainable. The pandemic magnified pre-existing issues while the accompanying economic turmoil exposed many vulnerabilities – and priorities such as visibility, accountability and digitalisation came to the fore. Logistics sector leaders took a fresh look at their supply networks, worked towards understanding vulnerabilities and evolved to improve their robustness. Q: What is the impact of existing supply chain issues on Hong Kong,…
Financial Times – July 14, 2023 Every schoolchild knows the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous era were wiped out by an asteroid. But now, it seems, we humans are the threat. The news that we have probably entered the Anthropocene — the first epoch to be defined by the overwhelming impact of humans on Earth’s vital systems — is deeply sobering. It’s almost too much to get your head around: that we have shaped the world so profoundly in what is, in the Earth’s history, the blink of an eye. Most of the geological epochs in the past 4.6bn years have…
Imran Furkan Collaborating for growth Q: How can Sri Lanka move forward through business collaborations? A: More than loans or multilateral-bilateral aid, business collaborations help bring sustainable inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), and transfer skills and technical know-how. They also open new markets for Sri Lanka’s products and services. As such, we should be promoting business collaborations more than other avenues of cooperation. Sri Lanka must push for business collaborations as its preferred form of cooperation through more free trade agreements (FTAs), mergers and acquisitions, privatisations and removal of trade barriers – rather than government to government deals and…
Reuters – July 13, 2023 Tesla (TSLA.O) is discussing an investment proposal with the Indian government to set up a factory with an annual capacity to produce about half a million electric vehicles, the Times of India reported on Thursday, citing government sources. The company, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is also looking at using India as an export base to ship cars to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, the report said. The starting price for the vehicles will be 2 million rupees ($24,400.66), the report added, which is more than double of India’s cheapest EV, MG Comet, and half a million costlier…
Nigel Fernando Sri Lanka is forever home Q: Your connection with Sri Lanka in a nutshell… A: Forever home – the bond I share with Sri Lanka is unparalleled and irreplaceable. Having been born and raised there, I feel a profound yearning to return one day as it’s my true home; it is where I belong. Q: How would you describe life as an expat in Dubai? A: Dubai offers a host of benefits that makes it an attractive city to live and work in. It’s safe and clean, and boasts world-class infrastructure. This makes it a very comfortable place…
The Straits Times – July 18, 2023 Singapore has replaced Japan as the country with the world’s most powerful passport, according to the latest ranking published by Henley Passport Index on Tuesday. It allows visa-free entry to 192 out of 227 global destinations. Singapore last held the top spot in 2021, with visa-free travel to 194 destinations, compared with second-placed Japan’s 193 that year. The Republic was joint-second in 2022 with South Korea, with visa-free access to 192 destinations. Japan was the top country, with 193 visa-free destinations. In the latest ranking, Japan dropped to third, with visa-free access to…
Gulf News – July 16, 2023 Dubai: Dubai welcomed more than 8.5 million international visitors during the first six months of 2023. The emirate’s bourse, the Dubai Financial Market, rose 14 per cent, recording a Dh71 billion gain in value, during the same period. The real estate sector, too, saw significant demand growth, with total transactions reaching Dh285 billion. This is the summary of a report on Dubai’s economic progress for the first half of 2023, reviewed by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council. “Our economic accomplishments, as…
Prof. Shantayanan Devarajan Macroeconomic stability a sine quo non Prof. Shantayanan (Shanta) Devarajan is a Professor of the Practice of International Development at Georgetown University where he teaches development policy, the economics of development, and climate change and development. Additionally, he is the Chair of the International Development Concentration at the university. Prior to this, Devarajan spent 28 years at the World Bank where he was the Senior Director for Development Economics, Chief Economist of the South Asia, Africa, and Middle East and North Africa regions, and Chief of the Public Economics division in the research department. The author or…