Economic & Market Bulletin

[August 8, 2005]		Today's Stories
		FEATURE: Economic & Market Bulletin

       A weekly publication of the Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Volume 2:Issue 21 
    05^th August 2005 

     Sri Lanka’s tea exports net 376 million US$ in 6 months 

• Sri Lanka’s exports of tea for the 1^st half of this year increased by 8% to 376 million US$ from 348 million dollars as for the same period last year. January to June 2005 exports of tea amounted to 139.6 million Kg, down from 145.6 million kg during the corresponding months of 2004.
• Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States countries continue to be the largest market for Sri Lanka’s tea this year, taking a total of 33.6 million kilos, down from 34.1 million kilos during the 1^st six months of 2004.
• Sri Lanka’s 2^nd largest buyer of tea this year is the United Arab Emirates, which have taken 14.15 million kilos last year and Syria is the 3^rd largest buyer for the year, having taken 13.95 million kilos, followed by Iran (11.92 million kilos) and Turkey (8.2 million kilos). 

     SA Shippers for end to freight hikes

• The Association of Shippers’ Councils of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (ASCOBIPS) on 29^th July 2005 resolved to join hands with world’s other Shippers’ Councils to bring to an end the “Anti Trust Immunity”, under which the shipping lines resort to “frequent and unjust” freight hikes.
• The delegates were unanimous in their view that in the presence of “Anti Trust Immunity” the shipping lines, which operate under cartels, would continue to resort to frequent and unjust freight hikes, which destroyed business, particularly of small and medium enterprises.

     Development Policy Initiatives

• The Government has taken following initiatives to build public sector capacity to promote the role of both the public sector as well as the private sector, in economic development in the country.

*   National Council for Economic Development (NCED) –coordinate private sector and public sector policy formulation and ensure implementation while empowering line Ministries.   

*   Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA) – strengthen the role of strategic state enterprises.

*   National Council for Administration (NCA) – formation of a public sector wage policy and management of cadre issues. 

*   National Procurement Agency (NPA) - streamlining the Government Procurement Policy and implementing an efficient procurement system. 

*   Administrative Reform Committee (ARC) – streamlining the public service 

*   Modernizing of Revenue Administration – Improving tax administration 

 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Strategies of GOSL

Source: Department of National Budget, National Budget Circular No. 123

Malaysian investment in Sri Lanka Increase

• 21 Malaysian companies have signed agreements with the Board of Investment (BOI) to commence business ventures. These investments are worth Rs. 4,536 million, and is made up of foreign equity of the volume of Rs. 4,106 million and local equity representing Rs. 430 million. 

• The Sri Lanka – Malaysia Business Council, which functions under the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), has taken the initiative of organising on the 2^nd of September the first ever Sri Lanka Business Awards presentation, to recognize the contribution made by member firms towards promoting trade and investment between the two countries. 

• Telecom Malaysia is the largest Malaysian investment in Sri Lanka and Dialog Telekom is the local subsidiary. 

       Sri Lanka’s Clove Exports Increase

• Exports of Sri Lankan cloves during the year 2004 rose as a result of the zero tariff structure of the Free Trade Agreement with India, having increased to Rs. 1.3 billion. Clove exports increased by 87% to 2,977 tonnes in the course of 2004, to compared to the previous year.  Clove production increased by 58% to 3,745 tonnes in 2004, the annual report of the Spices and Allied Products Producers’ and Traders Association (SAPTA) revealed.   

         India to assist in web marketing of tourism in South Asia 

• The Government of India has decided to develop a website on behalf of the SAARC member countries and assist in web marketing of tourism in South Asia.

• This was disclosed by the Indian Tourism Minister Smt. Renuka Chowdhury, addressing the gathering at the annual SAARC Tourism Minister’s Meeting held in Colombo on 29^th July, 2005. 

• According to her the cultural linkages of the SAARC region can be developed for jointly marketing tourists attractions. 

• India has accounted for the largest number of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka for the first six months in 2005, with a figure of 54,618.

• Sri Lankan airlines currently operates 88 flights weekly to 11 destinations in India and thereby has become the largest foreign airline operating to India. 

         Donor funding for Skills Development and Vocational Training  Ministry

• The International donor agencies have signed an Agreement with the Skills Development and Vocational Training Ministry to grant Rs.27 million for the technical education development project aimed at developing the country’s technical education.  The objective of the project is to improve public sector technical education by developing the quality of the Technical Colleges in the country by selecting one from each province.

• Under the project, new technical education programmes like Biomedical, ceramic and clay, food technology, marine technology and others will also be introduced.  The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and USAID are the international donor agencies that pledged financial support for the project. 

           Air Sahara plans services in Colombo – Tiruchi sector

• Air Sahara has planned to introduce services on the Colombo – Tiruchi – Colombo sector by November 2005.  The service would be an extension of its existing Chennai – Colombo – Chennai flight, which has a four-hour waiting time at Colombo.  The Airline had planned to operate this service between Colombo and Tiruchi utilising this time gap.

            High powered Investment Committee holds sixth meeting

• The High Powered Committee on Investment and Project Facilitation held its sixth meeting on 2^nd August 2005.The member of the committee emphasised the need to allocate land for identified projects expeditiously to ensure speedy implementation of investment projects.

• Long outstanding projects/investment related issues were resolved at this meeting. Among them were Havelock City Mixed Development Project of Shin kwan Investment Singapore Ltd. with an investment of US$ 30 million, a Hospital Project of US$ 20 million as a joint venture between Raffles Hospital Singapore and Aitken Spence and Company Ltd. and Hallmark Property Development Ltd. a US$ 8 million housing project.

               Exchange Rates on 4^th August, 2005 

                 EXCHANGE RATES OF GULF CURRENCIES 

                 STOCK MARKET

Source – Financial Times (5^th August, 2005)