The government has embarked on a formal program to strengthen the banking system in order to establish the financial stability of the country, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Emphasizing that he is in no way ready to turn Sri Lanka into a beggar country, the President stated that we as Sri Lankans must stand up with our own efforts and that the necessary program has been presented in this year’s budget.

The President mentioned this while addressing the function held Wednesday (23) at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall to commemorate the 86th birthday celebration of late Minister Lalith Athulathmudali.

Pointing out that Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali’s perception is to elevate Sri Lanka to the top of the international arena, the President further mentioned that he will establish a university named after Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali in Sri Lanka in the future for the study of post-graduate courses.

A digital space was also introduced at the occasion by the Lalith Athulathmudali Foundation to provide the Sri Lankan youth with the facility of independent access to the international market.

This project called ‘Lanka Dollar’ was launched recently to mark the commencement of a digital platform that enables Sri Lankans to earn foreign exchange from home.

‘Youth to Globe’ digital platform especially caters to youths to work for foreign employers without leaving the country.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief guest at the launch that was held at the BMICH in Colombo at the invitation of former minister Ravi Karunanayake as the chairman of the Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Foundation.

Delivering a lecture on the occasion to commemorate the late politician, the president said the project would give a great boost to build a digital economy and for youth development

Karunanayake said in his speech that ‘Youth to Globe’ would be a turning point in the revolutionary journey brought about in higher education by the late Lalith Athulathmudali through his Mahapola scholarships.

The project aims to improve language, technical know how and other skills and to provide consultancy and coordination services for work-from-home international jobs.

Networking and promoting the field’s professionals and to act as an influencer in related decision-making are its other purposes.

The core objective is to retain the country’s human resources and to be a key source of foreign exchange earnings with the minimum use of resources.

This project by the Ceylon Global Trust will be assisted by the local branch of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) with consultancy services offered by local and foreign experts

Sri Lanka’s Regional Plantation Companies are experimenting with mechanization like use of shears for harvesting tea has led to better yields as they struggle to improve labour productivity amid losses caused by low prices.

In order to improve the plucking efficiency and to overcome the shortage of pluckers, more and more estates are resorting to the use of harvesting shears.

“It is expected that the use of the shears will mitigate this anomaly to some degree but greater effort is required to catch up with the outputs of other countries.”

Sri Lanka’s Tea Board has initiated mechanized tea harvesting as fear of labor scarcity in the industry with no quality or production loss is expected, E.A.J.K. Edirisinghe, Commissioner of the Tea Board said

He said the Tea Research Institute (TRI) has already carried out research collaborating with Japan, and identified that efficiency can be improved, while preserving the same production capacity in estates.

“Machine plucking and hand plucking are two different techniques and when you do hand plucking only, the best buds will be plucked.

When plucking from the machine, we will train the tree for the machine by grooming the tree,” Edirisinghe told reporters at a media briefing on Thursday (24).“Then every 15 days, there will be new buds because of the way we groomed the tree.”

He said currently 55 lands in each TRI division have been cultivated with a motorized tea harvesting model and the cultivators are asked to grow according to the new model.

However, in a publication last year, the TRI mentioned that none of the mechanized harvesting machines tested in Sri Lanka could harvest tea shoots selectively, leaving tender shoots on the bush.

The harvested crop contained mature foliage and twigs etc. which were to be removed by manual sorting.

Average output of machines is in the range between 50 (small machines) and 350 (large machines) kg/day. But, the sorting and cleaning process need more labors, industry experts say.

The machine plucking extends the frequency of harvesting (plucking round) due to non-selective harvesting of shoots. Industry experts say tea yield under mechanical harvesting could fall 30-50 percent in comparison with that of manual harvesting.

Officials from Planters Association of Ceylon have said machine tea harvesting was tested, but it cannot be implemented in Sri Lanka due to the damage it does to the tree.

“But when you start plucking after grooming, the buds will come on the same layer. Then there will be no damage,” he said, adding that countries like Kenya, Japan and Malaysia use the method without any drop in quality and quantity.

Tea Board and Tea Small Holding Development Authority (TSHDA) will provide 437,000 rupees per acre of tea land for those who follow the new model along with a special irrigation system.

In a clear sign of regaining tourism in the island nation following the launching of tourism ministry’s promotion programmes including the latest nautical tourism initiative, China is to open a new market for Chinese cruise ships in Sri Lanka.

This was an immediate reaction of the China’s latest action to support the country to overcome the current challenges by expanding its assistance for the revitalizing of foreign exchange earning sectors including tourism.

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong today assured President Ranil Wickremesinghe that China would continue to extend its support to overcome the current challenges faced by Sri Lanka.

They reviewed the progressive bilateral & multilateral negotiation on the debt issue of Sri Lanka and denounced misinformation by foreign media on China.

“All ingredients already provided by nature, it is time, Sri Lanka is to take a special interest in emphasising that Sri Lanka really concentrate on developing the Nautical Tourism as a special niche in its new phase of Tourism Development”, official sources said.

Tourism Ministry also explores the possibility of partnering top blue-chip companies to enter the lucrative 40 billion dollar cruise line business that is estimated to carry 22.3 million passengers, with the market growing at 3.2% in volume.

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing says that it is actively exploring the possibility of Chinese cruise ships and yachts visiting Sri Lanka with a view to attracting more Chinese tourists to the island nation.

Sri Lankan Ambassador, Dr. Palitha Kohona has had a very successful virtual meeting with the Vice President of the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA), Zheng Weihang, on 23 November 2022.

Vice President Zheng said that Sri Lanka will be promoted as a new market for Chinese cruise ships.

On 15 November, he had attended a conference of Chinese cruise ship operators, where he formally proposed that Sri Lanka be designated as a destination for cruise ships after the travel restrictions are relaxed.

Vice President Zheng added that CCYIA plans to organize exhibitions of Sri Lankan products in Shanghai (Nov 2023), Shenzhen (Nov 2023), and Haikou (Apr 2023) and the association will also organize exhibitions and sales outlets on Chinese cruise ships to promote Sri Lankan gems, tea, artifacts and other products.

He had proposed creating four/five Sri Lankan cruise itineraries. Ships will dock at Sri Lanka’s ports for a day and give the passengers the option of taking tours in the region close to the port thus engaging land operators as well.

He specified that the CCYIA will work with the Embassy to promote Sri Lanka at cruise-related conferences Sri Lankan Ambassador responded that the Embassy will also assist with these goals actively.

Sri Lanka has three well-established ports for cruise ships: Colombo, Galle, and Trincomalee. Dr. Kohona stated that there were many cruise visitors from Europe before the pandemic, and recently welcomed the Cruise ship VIKING MARS with 900 tourists on board.