In Brief
Tourist arrivals up
 Tourist arrivals during the first ten months of this year increased
by 16 percent to 774,151 compared to 667,569 recorded in the
corresponding period last year.
The number of visitors in October surged by 15.5 percent to 80,379
from 69,653, according to the data of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development
Authority.
The increase in arrivals recorded were from North America, Canada,
Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, East Asia and Australia. Several
programs to empower the SME sector are being finalised to provide better
facilities to the tourists. The country needs to sustain a 30 percent
growth rate in the number of arrivals through the four years to achieve
targets.
SriLankan flies twice daily to Trivandrum
 SriLankan Airline is operating double-daily (14 weekly) flights to
Trivandrum via Colombo marking the second increase in the frequency to
Kerala in recent months.
Asia, the Indian sub-continent combined with the Far East, represents
the major portion of the country's inbound and outbound traffic.
The two regions have become fundamental to the airline's growth, with
Colombo being the main hub linking them to the rest of the world.
ADB grant for Northern roads
 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $ 98 m to
renovate a network of 19 roads of an extent of 200 kilometres in the
Northern region.This additional financing is for the ongoing Northern
Road Connectivity Project.
The total investment cost of this project is $ 112.8 m and the
additional financing includes a loan of $ 30 m from the Ordinary Capital
Resources and a loan of $ 68 million from the ADB fund. The Government's
contribution would be $ 14.8 m. The road renovation is scheduled to be
completed by end December 2017.
Toyota Lanka opens workshop and vehicle sales centre
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Toyota Lanka (Private) Limited, a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho
Corporation, Japan opened its new state-of-the- art flagship showroom in
Ratmalana last week. The chief guest was the Minister of Economic
Development, Basil Rajapaksa. Japanese Ambassador Nobuhiro Hobo, General
Manager of Toyota Motor Corporation, Koji Nagata and General Manager of
Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Shiro Irikawa along with other dignitaries
from Toyota Tsusho Corporation Japan and Sri Lanka were present. |
‘Sunsilk Hair Experts’ program
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The ‘Sunsilk Hair Experts’ program was held in Galle recently. The
aim of this event was to encourage women in rural areas to become
experts in the field of beauty care. This year’s event attracted around
2,000 participants. The 2012 overall campaign attracted over 7,500
aspiring rural beauticians. The top three winners received scholarships
from the Ramani Fernando Sunsilk Hair and Beauty Academy and a
certificate and trophy. |
ComBank Paymaster workshop in Biyagama FTZ
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon conducted a workshop on its electronic
total payment solution ‘Paymaster’ for 70 companies in the Biyagama Free
Trade Zone.
“Paymaster enables organisations or individuals to make any type of
payment to multiple beneficiaries by uploading a file to Commercial
Bank’s online platform” , a spokesman for the company said.
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For the first time in Sri Lanka, the
National Mobile Service Provider,
Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel launched a NFC (Near Field
Communication) based loyalty programme – the Club Magnate
loyalty programme. This ground-breaking product is yet
another innovative addition to the Telco’s growing
portfolio. |
Grant Group wins most number of awards at Effie 2012
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The Grant Group (Response Marketing
and Grant McCann Erickson) won three Silver and four Bronze
awards at the Effie Awards. Five of the eight awards were
for Etisalat. Response Marketing’s Johnson and Johnson and
Grant McCann Eriskson’s WIN also won awards. |
WORDS Advertising wins Gold at Effies
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WORDS Advertising won the Gold award
at the Effie Awards 2012 for their work on 'Trail'.The
Agency worked in partnership with the Colours of Courage
Trust to build a paediatric cancer ward at the Jaffna
Hospital.'Trail' was an initiative of Sarinda and Nathan. $
2 m was needed for refurbishment an d construction work of
the hospital.Managing Director WORDS Advertising, Rohan
Rajaratnam said “We are thankful to the Colours of Courage
Trust for giving us the opportunity to work on this campaign
that helped us to prove to ourselves that we were capable of
winning a Gold at the Effies”. |
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