By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Emirates Skywards, the award-winning loyalty program of Emirates and flydubai, has partnered with Dilmah Tea to offer members an exciting opportunity to experience the lush tea plantations in Sri Lanka.

Starting from Friday, members can bid Miles with Skywards Exclusives for a chance to win a stay at the Tea Maker’s Private Retreat. The once in a lifetime opportunity includes a tea-making masterclass, a unique culinary experience inspired by tea, food pairing experiences with tea and a visit to explore the tea fields.

Ring in International Tea Day in the heart of a tea plantation Starting from 200,000 Miles, Emirates Skywards members can bid and win an all-expenses paid trip to Sri Lanka, including:

The package also includes transportation to and from the airport, meals at the all-day dining restaurant at Hilton Colombo, and all meals and beverages at the Ceylon Tea Trails.

Travel dates will be from 18 May until 24 May 2023. What better way to celebrate International Tea Day on 21 May than by being at the heart of a tea plantation!

Emirates and Dilmah Tea have enjoyed a successful partnership for more than three decades, brewing the finest teas on-board and in Emirates’ airport lounges worldwide. The airline continues to take the Dilmah brand name to 140 destinations across six continents through its extensive network.

Each year, the airline brews 33 million cups of Dilmah tea for its customers from a specially curated tea menu available in all classes. More than 10 different varieties of tea are available on-board, including popular choices like Dilmah Ceylon Black Tea, Moroccan Mint, and Breakfast Tea.

Premium passengers can also savor the aromatic flavors of Emirates Signature tea blend made exclusively for the airline by Dilmah and served only in First Class. Inspired by flavors of the UAE – the exquisite tea has rich aromatic notes of rose, almond and ginger.

Emirates Skywards continues to offer more than 30 million members worldwide unmatched rewards in the air and on-ground.

Skywards Exclusives is a distinctive airline loyalty program initiative that provides access to exclusive experiences from Emirates’ expansive sponsorship portfolio.

Members can bid and redeem Miles for some of the world’s most prestigious sporting and cultural events, including exciting events featuring Real Madrid, AC Milan, Dubai World Cup, SL Benfica, Emirates FA Cup, and other sports such as golf, tennis, and cricket.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council has strongly protested against the “unacceptable and hasty decisions” taken by the authorities which has affected the import and export sectors of Sri Lanka.

Issuing a statement, the Council said that the import and export sectors of Sri Lanka, which comprise the critical and crucial economic segments of Sri Lanka and which contribute to the country’s overall commercial activities, have been seriously affected by the recent action of the Minister of Ports and Shipping.

The Council is perturbed by introducing and implementing the gazette No.2321/62 new gazette annulling the Gazette No. 2041/10 dated 17th October, 2017, which was originally introduced on 27th October, 2013, to the benefit of Importers and exporters, since its introduction.

The benefits to importers and exporters which have accrued since the implementation of the Gazette No. 2041/10 dated 17th October, 2017, have prevented several anti-competitive practices which have been carried out by service providers for several years before its implementation, the statement said.

The annulling of the Gazette No. 2041/10 has created a ripple effect, which will result in Sri Lanka’s imports and exports becoming costlier and uncompetitive, due to the unethical surcharges which will be levied, and which will lead to the loss of the country’s market share in the global market.

After 2017, the relevant legislation in Sri Lanka recognized the concept of an all-inclusive freight cost for imports and exports, which was payable by the contracting party.

A Delivery Order payment was the only fee that was payable outside of the all-inclusive freight cost. What this meant was that when importing goods on a Cost Insurance Freight (CIF) basis, the importer was only required to pay the local delivery order fee.

“It is the responsibility of the shipping line to subsequently pay the Sri Lanka Ports Authority for the unloading and loading of vessels, which is the stevedoring charges. In an all-inclusive freight payment, these charges are in turn, paid in US dollars by the shipping line to the SLPA,” the statement said.

The statement said that a recent article which was published on 10th April, 2023 in the print media, incorrectly alludes to a leakage of foreign currency which prevailed prior to the implementation of the new Gazette 2321/62.

“The information contained in the media article regarding dollar leakage is a gross misinterpretation of the facts. Paying the cost of goods in international trade is an accepted norm and has to be the total of all services rendered for the goods to reach the buyer.

The original Gazette No. 2041/10 strongly supported this by establishing the need for the contracting party to pay all charges so that there is no breaking of costs at different points.

On the contrary, rescinding the Gazette No. 2041/10 has now authorized any operator/provider of a service, to levy any amount, at any point, irrespective of the terms of the contract,” the statement added.

The Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council said that it is their hope the “unacceptable and hasty decisions” which have been taken will be re-visited, to address the interests of the country first and not to cater to the selfish and own advantage of a section of the logistics community.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Bangladesh has extended the repayment period of Sri Lanka’s $200 million loan by further six more months.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan central bank sought time from Bangladesh to make the first installment of the $200 million credit by March this year, hoping that it would be able to restructure its debt by then. However, the restructuring was not done, Dhaka Tribune reported.

Now, Sri Lanka is seeking six more months and its first installment will be payed by August this year and another installment by September, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder.

He was speaking to a group of journalists after a meeting with P Nandalal Weerasinghe, governor of the central bank of Sri Lanka, at the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington on Friday.

The Sri Lankan governor confirmed that it would need no further extension, Talukder said.adding that when a loan repayment period is extended, it is not free of cost. It adds more interest.

Sri Lanka, facing its worst economic crisis in history, borrowed the fund from Bangladesh in May 2021.

Colombo could not start repaying the loan and announced its external debt default in April of 2022 amid a deepening crisis.The loan repayment period has been extended thrice.

As per the agreement with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh was supposed to receive an interest payment of Libor plus 2% if the amount was returned in three months.

The Libor, the acronym for London Inter-Bank Offered Rate, is a benchmark interest rate at which major global banks lend to one another in the international interbank market for short-term loans.

The three-month Libor averaged around 0.53% in 2021.Last month, Sri Lanka secured a $2.9 billion programme from the IMF to tackle its huge debt burden.

The country owes $7.1 billion to bilateral creditors, with $3 billion owed to China, followed by $2.4 billion to the Paris Club, and $1.6 billion to India,.

The government also needs to renegotiate more than $12 billion of debt in eurobonds with overseas private creditors, and $2.7 billion on other commercial loans.

Bangladesh has extended the term of the US$ 200 million loan that was provided to Sri Lanka under a currency swap by one year with effect from May 2022.

The US$ 200 million currency swap was extended by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to Sri Lanka in 2021.

In December 2021, the Bangladesh Bank extended the validity of the credit facility provided to Sri Lanka by three months, after the expiry of the first three-month tenure of the credit facility.

In March 2022, Sri Lanka sought another US$ 250 million currency swap from Bangladesh.

The request for a US$ 250 million currency swap came on the back of the US$ 200 million currency swap that was extended by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to Sri Lanka in 2021.