Sri Lanka’s apparel sector contributes 6% to the country’s GDP and accounts for almost half of all merchandise exports. The sector provides direct employment to 350,000 workers and an additional 700,000 Sri Lankans receive livelihood opportunities as part of the larger supply chain. Sharad Amalean, Chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), talks about…
The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming On the request of US President Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a video call with his US counterpart on March 18th. 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of China (Peoples Republic) and USA relations which were initiated by President Nixon who visited Chairman Mao in 1972. During the…
Soaring oil, dipping foreign reserves jolt $81 billion economy Facing default, island-nation in talks with IMF for bailout Bloomberg – Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has caused a humanitarian crisis and convulsed global financial markets, is now threatening to crush an $81 billion economy more than 4,000 miles away in the Indian Ocean. Hit by…
Government discussed plan with visiting IMF officials Monday Forex reserves shrinking ahead of $1 billion bond due in July Bloomberg – Sri Lanka is seeking financial support from the International Monetary Fund, reversing the government’s earlier resistance as efforts to bolster its foreign exchange reserves and manage looming debt payments have been complicated by…
By Prof. Samitha Hettige Fidel Castor got too close to the Soviet Union (USSR) in the early 1960s and the Kennedy administration in the USA was worried. The USA was not at peace until it stopped the USSR installing missiles in Cuba. “Bay of Pigs” should be studied again by those concerned about the Ukraine…
By Christopher Budd The current Russia-Ukraine crisis is unprecedented. One aspect of the current crisis is the very real concern around increased cyberattacks on an unprecedented scale. The concern is reasonable: there’s simply no way to know what’s going to happen next. And the concern stems not just from nation-state actors and their proxies: cybercriminals,…
Advocata’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI) , which tracks the monthly changes in the retail price of a select basket of food items, recorded a decrease of 1.5% from January 2022 to February 2022. The overall decrease was driven by the falling prices of beans (40%), green chillies (15%) and brinjals (13%). However, prices on average…
By Dilani Hirimuthugodage and Piyumi Rasangi Sri Lanka obtained its first-ever Geographical Indication (GI) certification on 02 February 2022 for ‘Ceylon Cinnamon’ from the European Union due to untiring efforts during the last nine years. Ceylon Cinnamon is now in the register of Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) and it was…
Demonstrates resilience with monthly tally of US$ 488 million, eclipsing pre-pandemic figures Sri Lanka’s apparel exports in January 2022 achieved the highest level for that month in the last five years. This performance demonstrates the industry’s underlying strength as it bounced back from the sustained shocks from the impact of the pandemic over the last…
The Silk Road Journal by Mahika Ming Invasions and energy issues are heard more in the news these days while some are trying to imagine a world without superpowers Russia and China. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was established in 1949. Great China is one of the oldest human civilizations and was invaded and…
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