2014-08-06
FACETS Sri Lanka 2014, the prestigious International Gem and Jewellery Show that showcases hundreds of local and foreign exhibitors, will be held from 4th - 7th September at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre.
This year’s exhibition will comprise over 150 booths with a variety of Gem and Jewellery that include precious and semiprecious gems.
2014-07-29
Sri Lanka has been selected to host one of the world’s leading conferences on natural rubber Global Rubber Conference (GRC) 2014.
The three-day international event will be held from 27 to 30 October 2014 at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo.
Global Rubber Conference 2014 themed “Sowing the Seeds for Sustainable Future” is expected to bring together over 700 experts and delegates representing over 25 countries.
2014-07-23
In 2001, economist Jim O’Neill famously coined the term ‘BRIC’ to refer to the newly emerging economies of Brazil, Russian, India, and China. In 2014 O’Neill has now popularized a newer and what the BBC calls ‘fresher’ term – MINT – Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey (put forward by Fidelity Investments).
In a time where many developed nations are facing a crisis with regard to their ageing population, what makes MINT stand out, according to O’Neill, are their favourable demographic statistics. Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey are four of the world’s most heavily populated emerging economies, with populations of 118, 237, 174 and 73 million respectively. To add to that in the next 20 years all four countries will see a rise in the number of economically active workers to inactive - meaning they will have a declining dependency ratio. What this will do is ease the burden off the government. In recent years an increasing dependency ratio has plagued countries from the UK to Japan, putting pressure on government budgets and the shrinking work force. Thus the demographics of MINT will certainly be a source of envy for their more developed counterparts.
2014-07-01
The EDB recently held a workshop in Batticaloa to introduce the Fair Trade Concept to the Craft sector in the Eastern Province. The workshop was attended by around 40 participants representing giftware, lifestyle and handloom products. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Paul Myers, Expert on Fair Trade from U.S.A and there was a lot of interest shown by the companies /individuals present.
2014-06-25
The North Western Provincial office of the SLEDB, successfully conducted the awareness seminar/workshop on Cut foliage & flowers for the export Market on 20th June 2014 in the auditorium of District Secretariat-Kurunegala with the participation of 102 Cut foliage & Flowers out growers in North Western Province. The programme was organized by NWP-EDB with the assistance of Department of Agriculture.
The main objective of conducting this seminar was to increase the capacity of export oriented cut foliage out growers in the Province by way of enhancing Technical/Market awareness and facilitating linkages between out growers and exporters in order to develop consolidated supply base of quality Cut foliage & flowers for exports from Regions.
2014-06-23
The Sri Lankan Embassy in Israel in collaboration with the Export Development Board in Sri Lanka, Ministry of External Affairs in Sri Lanka, LR Group in Israel and the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce in Israel, has organised a ‘Business Forum’ for the Sri Lankan and Israeli business communities from 25 to 27 June, in order to strengthen bilateral, commercial, trade, cultural and other relations between the two friendly nations.
Main topics to be dealt with will include tourism, technology, water, energy, medical, apparel, employment, agriculture, green house cultivation, diary, fish, flora and fauna, diamonds, gems, jewellery, rubber, hospital, pharmaceuticals, highways, construction and any other topics by the prospective delegates based on their requirements.
2014-06-10
Sri Lanka Export Development Board in collaboration with the Consulate General Office in Toronto, Canada organized the Sri Lanka’s participation at SIAL Canada 2014. . Five Sri Lankan food & Beverages exporting companies participated in the programme.
2014-06-09
“International Education Fair 2014”; an annual education promotion programme will be held on 13th& 14th June at the Art Gallery - Malé. This s being organized for the fourth consecutive time and this time it is being organized as a national event by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka High Commission in Maldives and Millennium Concepts –Maldives. AOD – The International Design Campus – Sri Lanka joins hands with them as the Gold Sponsor. This promotional programme mainly includes the “Study in Sri Lanka” concept and these two day exhibition will be followed by few Networking meetings with the Ministry of Education Malé.
The Maldivian Government encourages deserving Maldivian students to pursue higher studies overseas by granting education funding. There is also a constant growing demand among the youth to study overseas. There were 1,000 Scholarships which have been announced by the President in March 2014. Promoting study opportunities, raising awareness of the company profile or generating sales leads can be achieved by participating in this event.
2014-06-06
As bilateral trade with China crossed $ 3 Bn, one of the biggest ever trade and business delegations from Sri Lanka is flying to grace the 22nd Kunming international Fair in China which kicks off tomorrow June 06.
“Sri Lanka has been taking part in this event when it was held for the first time in Beijing in 2007. With one of the biggest EDB supported delegations, we are hopeful of good results this year as well” said an upbeat Rishad Bathiudeen (Minister of Industry and Commerce) on the eve of 04 June.
2014-03-27
The exports of textiles and garments from the island nation of Sri Lanka surged by 23.4 percent year-on-year in the first month of 2014, according to a press release on ‘External Sector Performance – January 2014’ issued by the Economics Research Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Textiles and garments, which is the main contributor to the growth in industrial exports from Sri Lanka, grew by 23.4 percent to US$ 412 million in January 2014, compared to exports of $333.9 million made during the same month last year.
2014-03-24
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Major General Qasim Qureshi made an open invitation to Sri Lankan exporters to utilize the current Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP) scheme Pakistan enjoys with the European Union (EU) and expand trade between the two countries through the existing free trade agreement (FTA).
“Pakistan’s new GSP plus scheme with the EU is an opportunity for Sri Lankan exporters. For that we should jointly explore whatever is possible within the rules and regulations of the trade concession,” Qureshi said during a discussion held at the National Chamber of Commerce, recently.
2014-02-19
Sri Lanka's apparel and textile sector exported a record US$4.3bn in2013 and its Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) has predicted overseas sales will continue rising this year.
The JAAF president Noel Piyatilake told just-style the industry is targeting an ambitious target of US$6bn in exports by 2020, making Sri Lanka one of the world's top 10 apparel exporting countries.
2014-02-10
The sixth edition of the Footwear and Leather Fair 2014 exhibition organized by Sri Lanka Export Development Board in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Industrial Development Board and Footwear and Leather Products Manufacturers Association kicked off yesterday at the BMICH.
2014-02-09
Sri Lanka’s apparel industry is looking towards China this year aimed at finding new brands and increasing chances of promoting garment exports via a new gateway with trade concessions for its existing buyers to the East Asian partner.
But reasons for the shift in market focus would also be due to the fact that industries need to align themselves with wherever the free trade agreements (FTA) are entered into by the government, Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association Chairman Yohan Lawrnce told the Business Times.
The Chinese market is said to have grown in addition to a good demand for luxury goods due to the large spending capacity by its locals. As a result of the rising income levels this new emerging market was today becoming a brand and quality conscious market.
2014-02-01
Sri Lanka will continue to receive the benefit of the European Union (EU) GSP facility for another 10 years beginning from January this year, Industry and Commerce Minister Rishard Bathiudeen said yesterday.
He said the EU has been Sri Lanka’s largest trade partner next to the United States and the bilateral trade volume exceeds US $ 5 billion a year.
“Total trade between Sri Lanka and EU which was at US $ 3 billion in 2004 rose to US $ 4,946.18 million in 2012. Apparel, diamonds, tea and rubber products became the major export items,” he said.
2014-01-31
Apparel exports in 2013 have reached an all-time record of US$ 4.3 billion compared with US$ 3.8 billion in 2012, said Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) acting Chairman Noel Priyatilleke.
Speaking at the JAFF 10th Annual General Meeting he said that nevertheless, the challenge ahead of us is not only to sustain this business but also to grow because the Government expects Sri Lankan apparel, tea and rubber to fetch a turnover of US$ 10 billion by 2016 and Sri Lankan apparel has also to be among the first ten apparel exporter countries of the world by 2020.
The time has come for us to explore all possible avenues to reach this target and I do believe that Sri Lankan apparel can achieve it, because of the visionary leadership given by the stalwarts of our industry coupled with the business-friendly environment created by our Government. Let us get together to perform this task.
2014-01-26
Cinnamon To The World event streaming live on www.cinnamontotheworld.com/events.php at 3.00 p.m. Sri Lankan Time
2014-01-24
Sri Lanka produces more than 800,000 metric tons of fresh fruit and vegetables annually while around 90 per cent of her processed food is being exported to the European Union market.
In addition, Sri Lanka is utilizing improved techniques in crop cultivation, especially under poly tunnels. Optimum input application, pest and disease control, post-harvest management and quality packaging are other features of our food production sector, Export Development Board Directoress Jeevani Siriwardena said.She was addressing joint talks between Maldives and Sri Lankan business delegations earlier this week.
2014-01-09
Sri Lanka has garnered more than $4.6 Mn orders at the recently concluded Kunming Int’l Fair in China-and this too is only from the initial overview of Kunming outcomes rather than any in-depth totals. “I am pleased of the performance of the delegation of 119 companies and businesses that I led to Kunming. I commend EDB for this successful facilitation effort” said a satisfied Rishad Bathiudeen (Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka) on 31 July in Colombo.
