By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Special Army and Police security has been deployed for the Government Press in Borella, Colombo.
Accordingly, about 100 army personnel and about 50 Police personnel have been deployed to secure the premises.
Ballot papers pending printing and other stationery required for the holding of the upcoming Local Government Election are currently stored in the Department of Government Printing, and the printing has been stalled due to the non-reception of the funds.
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): Police have launched tear gas and water cannon attacks to disperse a protest organised by the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) near the Technical Junction, Colombo this afternoon (20).
The protest march was organised against the Ranil Wickremesinghe-led government’s alleged attempts to postpone the upcoming Local Government Election and demanding the people’s franchise.
Earlier, the Colombo Fort Magistrate had issued an order barring several SJB MPs from holding demonstrations whilst causing inconvenience to pedestrians or vehicular traffic, shutting their way off to the President’s Office, the President’s House, the Finance Ministry premises or the Galle Face area.
The order was issued following a request made by the Fort Police.
Cargills (Ceylon) PLC opened its new centralized distribution centre on 8th February 2023, marking yet another milestone.
Over the past 40 years Cargills has evolved to become Sri Lanka’s largest food company with its main focus on building markets and supporting the farming community as well as the local entrepreneurs.
Cargills philosophy has always been focused on community development and contributing towards a better Sri Lanka.
Located at Katana, the facility has been built with an investment of Rs. 4 billion and spans a 28-acre expanse – a symbol of the company’s continuous commitment to enhance supply chain logistics and improve productivity and efficiency to drive economic activity at the grassroots.
This facility has the capacity to distribute 50 000 CBF per day on average. Deploying the latest in technology across 325,000 sq. this space is dedicated to developing local businesses, from demand planning to cost reduction, the benefit of which will be directly passed on to the consumers.
The distribution centre will also enable Cargills to serve small and medium scale entrepreneurs better and offer them easy access to markets while delivering affordable nutrition across the nation. Cargills also has an extensive fleet which covers approximately 45 rounds across Sri Lanka every day, linking all its suppliers across the Island.
Commenting on the opening, Arjuna Kumarasinghe, Chief Operating Officer of Cargills Group, said, “Our newest investment is more than a landmark of excellence in operations and technology, it reaffirms our commitment towards developing the nation while uplifting small and medium entrepreneurs and farmers across our island nation through greater integration of our supply chain.
This is located centrally, in proximity to the airport and the port to ensure smooth logistics. We believe that our distribution centre will become yet another building block of our journey towards building a sustainable business whilst contributing towards the progress of our nation.”
Reaffirming its commitment to the environment this facility is equipped with 1 megawatt solar power and a rainwater harvesting system.
This distribution centre will implement Cargills’ commitment to develop small and medium entrepreneurs, while allowing Sri Lanka to focus on home grown products without relying on imports.
Cargills believes that the value created for entrepreneurs and consumers through the centre will reduce the burden at a time when food inflation has reached its highest in the country.
At present Cargills has more than 900 suppliers out of which around 320 are small and medium entrepreneurs.
The company has a base of 20,000 farmers who will also benefit from the enhanced infrastructure as the distribution centre has been designed with the intention of expanding in the future to help local food producers and create export opportunities.
The country’s first migratory bird park and eco-tourism zone established in Hanthane, Kandy will be opened by President Ranil Wickramasinghe today as a major step towards promoting Avitourism based on bird watching.
Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority (SLTDA) in its strategic plan has identified avitourism as a target for development. Sri Lanka has 70 internationally recognized important bird and biodiversity areas (IBAs)
The Hanthana International Bird Park and Recreation Center will be declared open by President Ranil Wickramasinghe on the 20th Monday at 03.00 pm. The park will be open to the public from the 23rd.
Located adjacent to the Hanthane Tea Museum premises, this 27-acre exotic bird park and eco-tourism zone is home to over a hundred species of migratory birds.
The chairman of the migratory bird park and eco-tourism zone Nishantha Kottegoda said that the park, which consists of birds endemic to foreign countries, migratory birds, etc., also has a unit to treat and release injured birds.
Established at a cost of Rs 490 million, foreign birds are housed in large cages in the bird park, and animals are taken care of by a staff of nearly one hundred.
This park has been established based on a study of non-endemic birds to Sri Lanka over a period of 40 years. It is also special that many foreign birds can be bred in this country.
The first phase of the bird park and eco-tourism zone, which will be opened by President Ranil Wickramasinghe, has facilities for local and foreign tourists to watch migratory birds, an educational training center for animal science students, a bird orphanage, a bird shelter and a quarantine unit.
Nishantha Kottegoda, chairman of Hanthane Foreign Bird Park and Ecotourism Zone, further stated that this park also has a unit for breeding and exporting foreign birds, an educational and recreational center for school students, and a natural bird study center.
Officials said that the bird park will be similar to those seen in Indonesia and Singapore.The park also has added attractions so visitors can spend an entire day inside the park.
Initially the park will have 100 birds but it will be expanded in the months and years to come.
While most birds are currently caged, officials said that the future plans include having the birds in large cages for people to walk through.A ferris wheel, aquarium and other attractions will also be included in the park in future.
While a vast number of tourists visit the island, they come here for sun, beach, sand, and culture and wildlife tourism.
As such there is untapped potential to develop this niche market due to abundance of rare birdlife in the country.
A research study revealed that international birding tour organizers to Sri Lanka and even local bird tourism organizers do not take their visitors to the majority of the internationally designated birdlife areas.
As such the potential to expand this niche is very high. Sri Lanka tourism development authorities are to undertake carefully targeted promotions to create awareness in the international markets and also educate the hotel trade, the local tour organizers and tour guides about the potential to develop this lucrative niche
ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants Pakistan to provide subsidies only to the people who need them, saying that the resources should be diverted from the rich and wealthy towards the poor segments of society, The News reported Monday
The comments came from the Fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva while speaking in an interview with an international broadcaster on Sunday.
Georgieva said that the global lender asks Pakistan to take steps to be able to function as a country and not to get into a dangerous place where it needs debt restructuring.
“My heart goes to the people of Pakistan. They have been devastated by the floods that affected one-third of the population of the country,” said the managing director.
“We are emphasising two things: one raising tax revenues, as those who are making good money in public or private sectors need to contribute to the economy. Number two is to have a fairer distribution of precious resources by moving subsidies only towards the people who really need them. It shouldn’t be that the wealthy benefit from subsidies. It should be the poor [who] benefit from them,” she said.
“And there the Fund is very clear. We want the poor people of Pakistan to be protected.”
Sources told The News in background discussions that the IMF could help Islamabad overcome its looming balance of payment (BoP) crisis only by ensuring that the country remains able to pay its debt obligations without plunging into default.
“It would be a call of the Government of Pakistan to seek debt restructuring from its Paris or non-Paris Club countries when the need arises,” said the sources.
The revival of the IMF programme will be a pre-requisite step for seeking any debt restructuring, so the government is focusing on it at the moment, said the sources. When the stage would come across after the revival of the programme, then debt restructuring — especially from non-Paris Club countries — might be considered for moving towards the desired objectives, they added.
Pakistan will require external debt servicing both in the shape of principal and mark-up amounts to the tune of $27 billion in the next financial year. The ongoing IMF programme of $6.5 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) will expire on June 30, 2023, and there is no possibility of any further extension in the ongoing EFF arrangement.
Pakistan will have to seek a fresh loan from the Washington-based lender after the expiry of existing EFF programme, keeping in view the massive external debt servicing requirements and the possibility of lower foreign exchange reserves.
However, at the moment, the IMF’s review mission has made it clear that the government will have to undertake tax revenues from all those who possess income to contribute to the national kitty.
There are only around 3.5 million return filers out of over 200 million population, so there is a need for broadening the narrow tax base.
Under the IMF’s prescriptions, the government unveiled the mini-budget, slapping additional taxes of Rs170 billion and it was expected that it would be passed by the National Assembly on Monday (today).
Secondly, the lender has underscored the need for removing untargeted subsidies and diverting the resources towards the poor so that they can benefit from them.
Under the IMF programme, the government abolished the power sector subsidy for export-oriented sectors and did away with the Kissan package.
The government has requested the IMF for providing an adjuster on the flood-related expenditures to the tune of Rs472 billion and the Fund mission agreed to it.
For the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the government has jacked up allocation from Rs360 billion to Rs400 billion for protecting the poorest of the poor from inflationary pressures, which are expected to witness a surge and could cross the 35 percentage mark by June 2023 from the existing CPI-based inflation standing at 27.6% for January 2023.
Source: GEO News
The Port City is slated to break ground on the Colombo International Financial Centre (CIFC ) Phase One 3 towers, Villa plot and the Marina hotel in the third quarter.
The Duty Free complex within the Port City is set to open in May 2023 as well, Colombo Port Commission Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody said dismissing a recent article which alleged that the Port City stirs white elephant fears.
“The Portcity Colombo’s basic infrastructure is scheduled to be completed by the year end,” Weerakoddy added.
A Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC) study shows that Port City Colombo can significantly impact GDP, FDI inflows, and improve our BOP and create over half a million new jobs.
A realised master plan for the Port City provides 5.7 million square meters of built-up area valued at US$ 15 billion.
Given the shifting external global environment, the challenges are obvious and they need to be managed going forward by hiring the right skills, meeting new international investment demand profiles and ensuring policy consistency.
The overall country environment will certainly play its part. Therefore economic stability is key. Playing down these challenges in favour of negative sound bites will be counterproductive and defeatist at best, Weerakkody added
All set for the opening of Colombo Port City US $ 7 million Duty-Free (DF) shopping Mall in May this year after the completion of the interior design work to offer duty free shopping to tourists as well as Sri Lankans and expatriates returning from overseas giving them more choices of shopping,investment promotion ministry sources said.
It will first open as an “IKEA Style Warehouse Model” shopping mall and will develop into a competitive shopping complex in the coming five years. It will also be the first Downtown Duty-Free Mall in Sri Lanka and in the region.
Colombo Port City Duty-Free Regulations have been drafted and are awaiting Cabinet approval for the determination of the duty free allowance and other limitations in purchasing products and luxury items at the shops of the mall, a high official of the ministry opined..
Further these products can be purchased by all passengers who arrive and leave the country via Colombo Port , Colombo or Katunayake Airports with the valid passport and boarding pass as the proof of travel.
The government is now looking at the possibility of offering a revised, enhanced Duty-Free allowance and limitations for Sri Lanka passport holders who return back to the country, he added.
The facility will be managed by two of the world’s leading DF operators, transforming Colombo Port City as a regional shopping destination.
Battered by man made fertilizer crisis due to the stupid policy of shifting to organic farming overnight by banning chemical fertilizer imports, Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector gets a sigh of relief following the government’s efforts to modernize agriculture after reversing all previous policies.
These previous ill advised measures have devastated and hammered by losses as diminishing purchasing power of the people eats into agriculture-linked companies.
In order to develop the battered sector President Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken prompt initiative of agricultural modernization in 2023 to feed Sri Lanka’s growing population and become a net exporter of food, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said
Taking a cue from this initiative Agro World (AW), a game-changing agri-fin-tech start-up based out of Sri Lanka is set to address and solve some of the key pain-points faced by the agribusiness sector stakeholders.
The solution provided by Agro World addresses almost all the issues and challenges faced by the farmers of any scale, may it be a small-holder farmer, or a mid-sized commercial farmer, or even a plantation with over hundreds and thousands of workforce.
However, despite its significance, the sector has remained largely traditional and outdated, lacking access to financial and technological resources that could help the farmers and producers maximize their yield/output which in turn reflects in higher profitability.
The industry has long struggled with inefficiencies, wastages, post-harvest losses, and reduced profitability due to several reasons, but most importantly the lack of systematic coordination and collaboration among the farmers, suppliers, buyers, and government organisations related to the agribusiness sector.
The new IT solution of Agro World is aimed at connecting all the agribusiness stakeholders to communicate, and collaborate in real-time, unlocking the full potential of the industry and driving growth and mutually beneficial progression for all.
Agro World is a platform that connects farmers with investors and lenders, providing them with the most needed financial support.
Therfater it provides the farmers with the knowledge on scientific growing and best cultivation practices where the platform also connects the resources (quality agro input) required for cultivating, so that the farmer is facilitated with everything necessary for a thriving farmland.
The platform leverages on advanced algorithms such as; computer vision technology, machine learning to provide farmers with personalized recommendations, use of spectral technology for early identification of pest and disease detection.
It creates awareness on the use of blockchain for smart contracts, cost effective traceability and identification, satellite monitoring to capture heuristic data and insights of the farmland, which helps to make better decisions and increase their profits.
It also provides near-real-time data and analytics, allowing farmers to track their performance and make informed decisions based on those users friendly and easy to understand dashboard reports.
Agro World takes a proactive approach by pre-identifying the market conditions with various crops, supply and demand, and recommendations, ‘when’ and ‘what’ to grow, to get the maximum yield and benefit, in turn enabling to secure the best price for the produce.
Introducing and setting up the ‘Farm-gate to Buyer’ concept where the producer sells the produce directly to the buyer, which is done with an intent to shorten the travel time and distance which in-turn reduces the non-value adding costs and post-harvest losses.
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The hearing of the writ petition demanding the postponement of the Local Government Election in response to the ongoing economic crisis may not be needed for expedition, the lawyer appearing for the petitioner has informed the Supreme Court today (20).
He further noted that a motion was filed to expedite the hearing, which was scheduled to be held on February 23, due to the planned postal voting of the LG Polls scheduled for February 22, 23 and 24, adding that any further move in this regard may not be necessary given that the postal voting has been postponed.
Accordingly, the petition challenging the holding of the LG Polls will be taken up before the Supreme Court on February 23 as earlier declared.
By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The government has decided to issue a circular banning business class foreign travels requisitioned by senior government officials including the President’s Secretary and the Prime Minister’s Secretary during official foreign tours.
The relevant circular will be issued within this week, and the move comes in in compliance with the government’s policy of slashing government expenditure to address the country’s economic crisis, revealed President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.
The President’s Secretary emphasised that the government officials too shall be making commitments when the people of the country are suffering.
The relevant circular will also be imposing a spending limit on the hotels checked in by government officials during their foreign visits.
Among the government officials entitled to business class foreign tours were the judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, the Cabinet Secretary, the Ministerial Secretaries, the Attorney General and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
