Business sentiment continues to crawl up despite the uncertainties that prevail Sri Lanka’s GDP is forecast to contract by 5.5 percent this year, according to a recent update to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Outlook 2020 report, with the regional lender noting that “while the impact of the lockdown due to COVID-19 on economic activity…
The Beijing Swift – By Prof. Samitha Hettige © China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) published a sustainable development report for Sri Lanka recently. The report is titled “Witness Happiness” and was launched online simultaneously from Colombo and Beijing. The report mainly highlights CSCEC’s practices in Sri Lanka and mainly contains official data of the…
The Beijing Swift – By Prof. Samitha Hettige © The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held its 2020 Foreign Ministers meeting in Moscow recently. It is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance and was created at the turn of the century in Shanghai, China at a gathering of the heads of state of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Other than the PRC…
The Beijing Swift – By Prof. Samitha Hettige © China’s ancient maritime Silk Road reached South Asia, Africa and the Middle East through the South China Sea (SCS). The Suez Canal was not in existence in 1403 AD and therefore, the voyages of Chinese Admiral Zhen Ho ended in the Middle East. Since the Emperor…
By Prof. Samitha Hettige © There is discussion on the Millennium Challenges Cooperation (MCC) agreement once again in Sri Lanka. One feature in the MCC is developing transportation facilities to improve connectivity in Sri Lanka. Laos sometimes referred to as the land of million elephants is bordering the Peoples Republic of China. Transport facilities in…
Biz confidence rebounds following election and with an eye on the post-COVID era While the plaudits for Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 response continued to flow in and the successful conclusion of a largely peaceful election was duly recognised, the country faced yet another challenge in the form of a nationwide blackout in mid-August. A technical problem…
By Prof. Samitha Hettige © Everyone in Sri Lanka is discussing about power generation and distribution related issues during the past few days. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or the 21st Century Silk Road has initiated more green energy initiatives with partner countries than any other international development initiative in the world. We should…
Expressway to development along the Belt and Road The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the transnational development drive initiated by the Peoples Republic of China. It is also known as the 21st century Silk Road. Ancient Silk Road connected China with the Persian empire and Europe through Central Asia over land. Maritime Silk Road…
Coronavirus disruption keeps hope subdued. Will the gradual opening up of the economy and a win for President Rajapaksa at the general election improve the situation? The Covid19 lock-down and curfew disrupted most economic and social activity during March and April of 2020 and as a result our survey was not conducted for…
( LMD) Five years to July 2020 – Positive sentiment in relation to the economy has been maintained from the previous month with 44% (versus 42% in June) of corporate executives consulted in the latest LMD-Nielsen Business Confidence Index (BCI) survey stating that the economy in general ‘will improve’ in the coming 12 months. A…
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