Fin in short

Standards must to gain access to EU markets

European markets are more conscious of environment and health issues and gaining access to these markets will depend on how exporters could meet these standards. Consumers today look for products which are eco-friendly and manufactured in good working environments. They are keen not only to know about the product but also to know under what conditions it has been produced.

Sweatshops, child labour and unhealthy working environments are common in developing countries. The European Union has made it imperative that products entering the region should meet health safety standards.

The European Union (EU) Switch-Asia funded ‘Enhancing Environmental Performance in the Sri Lankan Export Sector’(EEPEx) project aims to encourage export sector enterprises and support service providers to adopt environment friendly practices and technology for exports.LF

CSE re-opens Trading Floor

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) will re-open the Trading Floor at the World Trade Center next week.

The CSE temporarily suspended operations of the Public Gallery/Trading Floor at the World Trade Center in April 2008 due to security concerns. The Trading Floor will house representatives of 13 stockbroker firms. Clients registered with any of the stockbroker firms represented at the CSE Trading Floor must obtain an Identification Card from their stockbroker firm to be permitted to access the Trading Floor.

For the convenience of visiting investors, the CSE will issue special Identification Cards to Certified Investment Advisors at the Trading Floor.

CEO power breakfast, panel discussion

The BCS together with its sponsors is organising a CEO power breakfast and panel discussion titled "Synchronising Business Solutions and Business for Success" on July 21 at Cinnamon Grand Colombo. Business success often depends on IT based Business Solutions in place to run your business, sometimes the business solutions in place are focused towards one area of the business like Finance and not synchronised with all the business functions.

We have an experienced and knowledgeable panel. Thomas Peterson is flying down from Sweden for the event and would be joined by Ranjith Fernando and Jay Keller and the moderator would be Jayantha De Silva, a past president of BCS Sri Lanka Section.

Seminar on 'Strategic Finance'

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) in collaboration with Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has launched a program to educate the business sector on the latest financial developments by organising a seminar on 'Strategic Finance' for Non-Finance Directors and Managers.

The seminar will be held on July 21 from 8.30 a.m. at Hotel Galadari.

The current business world is depended on financial decisions; therefore it is a must for directors and senior managers to master the concept of finance to produce better results in their respective organisations.

This seminar would be a good opportunity for directors and senior Managers.

BT - Tata Communication voice outsourcing pact

British Telecom (BT) Group has signed a five-year voice outsourcing contract with Tata Communications (Tata Communications Ltd, (earlier known as VSNL). The pact, under which BT will outsource some of its international voice traffic to Tata Communication Ltd, is estimated to generate revenues of over $ 1.5 billion for the Tata Communications over the next five years.

"Tata Communications Ltd will become BT's primary supplier of international direct dial and other voice termination services outside BT's own footprint countries. BT will become Tata communications Ltd's main distribution channel for its traffic into the UK, expanding into other markets across Europe as the relationship matures,"Tata communication Ltd said in Mumbai.