Why Sri Lanka

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Peace has brought rapid and sustainable development to Sri Lanka. After a hiatus of 30 years property prices are booming and inward investment accelerating. She is blessed with unspoilt beaches of golden sand, a vast lush hill country resplendent with tea estates, water falls, coconut and rubber estates, ancient cities, monuments and a fauna and flora that will take your breath away. It is one of the last places on earth where nature's way still reigns supreme.

The country has 14 airports with paved runways, 1449 km of railway lines and 97,286 km of roadways, 6 English language newspapers, 5 English language local TV and 5 radio station with 42 % computer literacy among the young, 1 million internet and 14 million mobile phone users. During the global financial crisis the Sri Lankan stock market gained over 100% in 2009, - one of the best performing markets in the world. Sri Lankan economy growing now at 8% per year.


Upper Kotmale tunnel 


President Mahinda Rajapaksa will open the Upper Kotmale tunnel, which is 12.9km in length today. This is the longest tunnel in Sri Lanka, Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.
The public can view the tunnel on November 5, 6 and 7 from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm. Transport and security will be provided to the public.
Access to the tunnel will be limited at a time to prevent congestion, the Minister told a press briefing yesterday.
According to the Minister, water will be filled in to the tunnel next year. Electricity generated by this project (150 MW) will be added to the national grid by December next year. The total cost of the project is Rs 44 billion, Ranawaka said. The Sri Lankan Government provided Rs 10 billion and the Japanese Government provided Rs 34 billion. This year the country burnt around 9,132 million units of power. It is estimated that this number will go up to 9,554 million next year. The Upper Kotmale Project will provide five percent of this requirement. It annually provides 409 GW hours of electricity, he told the briefing at the Government Information Department yesterday.
The project will save Rs 8 billion per year. It has no negative impact on the environment. There will be no power cuts in the future.
When President Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the country, only 60 percent of the population had electricity but this percentage has now increased to 80 percent.
The whole country will have electricity by 2012, Ranawaka said. The Minister said Sri Lanka is one of the countries which provide electricity 24 hours.
Small industries will immensely benefit from this development. Boilers and burners of the Norochcholai power project will be fired on November 17 at the auspicious time of 9.00 am coinciding with the commencement of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term in office, the Minister added. (Courtesy DN)
Colombo Stock Exchange’s main price index, All Share Index (ASI) again crossed 7000 points a while ago after breaking the elusive mark in September 28, 2010.

The day’s turnover up to now is Rs.1.3 billion and with ASI up 35 points from yesterday to 7028.





Sri Lanka’s Human Development Index (HDI) has progressively increased up to 0.659 in 2010 compared to 0.513 in 1980.
This increase is mainly due to favourable social indicators of literacy and life expectancy.
Sri Lanka is also recorded to have a considerably high level of gender equality, with a GII of 0.599.
While this shows high levels of gender equality, especially regarding maternal health standards and educational opportunities for women, there are several areas including the labour force participation and parliamentary representation for women, in which Sri Lanka is still lagging.
The 25th anniversary issue of the Human Development Report titled The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development - will be launched globally today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who helped devise the HDI for the first Human Development Report in 1990, together with the late economist Mahbub ul Haq, the series founder.
The 2010 Human Development Report includes the HDI rankings of 169 countries. Norway, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, occupy the top four spots of the list and have been labeled as “Very High Human Development Countries,” along with the 38 other countries that have been listed in this category.
The report reveals that most developing countries made dramatic yet often underestimated progress in health, education and basic living standards in recent decades, with many of the poorest countries posting the greatest gains.
The countries that have made the fastest progress in human development from 1970 to 2010 are Oman, China, Nepal and Indonesia. (Courtesy DN)


The Government and the World Bank jointly signed three project agreements totalling US$ 125.4 million yesterday for Small and Medium Enterprise Development, North East Local Service Improvements, and Sustainable Tourism development.
“The three projects will help Sri Lanka reap maximum benefits of the peace dividend and make further progress towards becoming a middle income country,” said Acting World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka Amit Dar.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Facility Project supports the Government’s efforts to improve access to finance for SMEs affected by the Global Financial Crisis. The US $ 57.4 million in support will strengthen access to finance for Sri Lankan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The project aims to incentives banks to provide credit to SMEs while building their SME lending capability over time,” Economist, World Bank and the project’s Task Team Leader Cecile Niang said.
The US$50 million North East Local Services Improvement Project is designed to augment resource transfers and building capacity of local authorities, the bottom tier in the Government structure, so that they are well equipped to deliver much needed local services to the citizens in an accountable manner.
“This project will support repairing and rebuilding critical infrastructure - from rural roads, culverts and bridges to public buildings, waste disposal, and rural water supply,” said World Bank Sr. Rural Development Specialist and project Task Team Leader Seenithamby Manoharan. “Importantly, all infrastructure projects will be identified and prioritized by the citizens themselves.”
The Sustainable Tourism Development Project aims to facilitate environmentally and socially sound investments in the tourism sector, focusing particularly on the eastern part of the country. The US$18 million will additionally build capacity in the tourism sector’s institutional structure to improve efficiency in service delivery.
Daily Mirror



Govt. going ahead with Las Vegas plans


Legalisation of casinos and betting centres in any part of the country
Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardene confirmed the Government’s intensions to go ahead with legislation to legalise casinos and betting centres throughout the country
 “The Government claims it wants to attract tourists. Malaysia which records an annual tourist arrival of 15 million a year has only one casino in Genting Highlands, a few hours drive from the capital, Kuala Lumpur. However, this move is purely to help all the Government’s friends to operate casinos and betting centres,” he said. Ironic enough, it comes in the same year where Sri Lanka, a Buddhist country, is to observe Sambuddha Jayanthi, the 2600 years of the Buddha’s first sermon after enlightenment, he added.


Sunday Times 


Sri Lanka the fastest growing Asian economy after China- Singapore Dy. PM and Defence Minister 


In the run-up to the commencement of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term, Sri Lanka’s contemporary achievement received a glowing testimonial from an important political personality in the East Asian region, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Singapore, Teo Chee Hean.

The Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister was delivering the keynote address as guest-of-honour at the 6th International Conference of South Asia on the theme of ‘South Asia in the New Decade: Challenges and Prospects’, organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS) which has been rated three years running by the Times Higher Educational Supplement as one of the world’s 25 top universities.
Speaking on Thursday at the Mandarin Orchard hotel in Singapore, Teo Chee Hian observed:
"Sri Lanka has emerged from a decades-long civil war, and is enjoying an economic revival. It is currently the second-fastest growing Asian economy after China, a fact not lost upon the IMF, which recently upgraded Sri Lanka to middle income emerging market status.
Like Brazil, Sri Lanka enjoys an adult literacy rate of just over 90%. Sri Lanka’s gross enrolment ratio, which gives an indication of school attendance, is also comparable to that of China.
What is particularly noteworthy of Sri Lanka’s growth is the narrowness of its gender gap. In the Global Gender Gap Report 2010 published by the World Economic Forum, which measures gender-based disparities on economic, political, education and health-based criteria, Sri Lanka ranked within the top 20, the only South Asian country to do so. Closing the gender gap is not just an issue of gender equity; it is also one of harnessing the current human resource potential, and uplifting the potential of the next generation. The most important determinant of a country’s competitiveness is its human talent – the skills, education and productivity of its workforce.
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