Biz Briefs

Tourist arrivals increase

Tourist arrivals are continuously increasing with a 25.2 percent growth in June 2014 according to the latest statistics issued by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.

Tourist arrivals in the first seven months of this year were up 24.7 percent to 861,324. South Asian visitors were up 27.9 percent to 26,681 with arrivals from India, Sri Lanka's top market, up 30.4 percent to 19,277.

Visitors from the Maldives were up 55.5 percent to 4,892 and Pakistan was down 40.5 percent to 1,227.

Potential for SL-Pakistan trade

There was significant potential for trade between Pakistan and Sri Lanka particularly after the Free Trade Agreement 2005 became operational, Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif told External Affairs Ministry (EAM) Secretary Mrs Kshenuka D. Senewiratune, when she called on him at the Prime Minister's House in Pakistan last week.

The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, particularly in the fields of trade and economy.

Vietnam mulls more trade with Lanka

An FTA with Sri Lanka can boost bilateral trade specially for Sri Lankan exporters and, therefore, we should consider at least a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), said outgoing ambassador of Vietnam to Sri Lanka, Ton Sinh Thanh during his farewell call on Industry and Commerce Minister Rishard Bathiudeen.

Thanh said that Vietnam's exports of $130 billion was supported by the seven FTAs that the country has entered into. “Vietnam wants more of Sri Lanka's black tea, gems and leisure boats, while we also want to send more of our products here.

Development Officers to empower entrepreneurs

A workshop will be held tomorrow for Development Officers on empowering entrepreneurs to secure bank loans, at the Kallaithuthu Kalaiyagam Hall of Thirumarai Kalamandram, in Jaffna.The workshop organised by the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development with the Central Bank will be inaugurated under the chairmanship of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas Devananda,

This workshop will strengthen the financial capacity of Development Officers in the Jaffna District. Accordingly, it has been proposed to implement various training programs through the resource persons of the Central Bank with the Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Ministry.

NBEA awareness workshop

The first awareness workshop for the National Business Excellence (NBEA) Awards 2014 was conducted recently at the National Chamber Auditorium.

NBEA is conducted every year by the National Chamber of Commerce for companies that excel in business practices.

Participants at the awareness workshop were from various sectors such as agriculture, construction, gem and jewellery, banking, ICT, hospitality and tourism and the export sector.

The workshop was conducted by senior experts in the field, to assist the applicants in filling the applications correctly.

The participants asked questions and received clarifications on many grey areas with regard to the filling of applications. The closing date for the applications is October 10. The Awards Ceremony will be held in December.

ComBank, a major attraction at Kedella 2014

Large crowds visited the Commercial Bank of Ceylon stall at the Kedella – Art of Living exhibition at the BMICH recently.

The Commercial Bank provided visitors with comprehensive information on the many products and services it offers, including home loans. The Bank also registered applicants for its online banking and mobile banking services at the stall.

Huawei records 62 percent growth in 1H

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, released the results of its Consumer Business Group (BG) for the first half of 2014. During this period, Huawei shipped a total of 64.21 million devices. Smartphones accounted for 34.27 million units, showing an impressive year-on-year increase of 62%.

The growth also reflected the success of the launch of several flagship premium smartphones such as the Huawei Mate 2 4G and Ascend P7 which are gaining popularity among consumers worldwide.