Business
Korean ambassador visits the Governor of Central Province
On 09th December 2021, Korean ambassador to Sri Lanka, Santhush Woonjin JEONG visited Kandy, Central Province and met with the Governor of Central Province, Lalith U. Gamage at the Governor’s office. They engaged in a fruitful discussion on opportunities for cooperation between Korea and Sri Lanka.
Both Ambassador JEONG and Lalith U. Gamage reaffirmed their commitment to continued cooperation in areas such as tourism, education, economic and cultural collaboration in advancing interests on areas of mutual benefit to both countries.
During the discussion Ambassador Santhush emphasised that the Central Province is rich of abundant history and beautiful landscapes. “I hope more and more Korean national tourists visit these wonderful places. As the Korean Ambassador, my priority is to intensify people-to-people exchanges and promote cultural cooperation between Korea and Sri Lanka. Many Sri Lankans are keen on learning the Korean language. This year, the Korean language was officially adopted as a foreign language for the Advanced Level curriculum and by 2023 students can choose to sit for Korean language examination as part of the University entrance examinations. I intend to promote the Korean language education in Sri Lanka. I am ready to explore the potentials in Korea-Sri Lanka partnership, especially cultural exchanges, tourism, Korean language education and employment cooperation. Recently, the Government of Korea decided to resume the entry of new foreign workers to Korea, including Sri Lankan workers. As my Sri Lankan name “Santhush” means happiness, Korea would like to share happiness together with Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan people.”
Furthermore He thanked Hon. Lalith Gamage for the cooperation extended to secure the public safety of Korean residents and tourists in the Central Province. “I sincerely appreciate the diligent efforts of the authorities concerned for ensuring the health and safety of Korean residents in the Central Province amidst the pandemic. Korean residents and Korean businessmen in Sri Lanka are playing an important role to bridge our two countries and peoples. The safety and health of Korean residents is of paramount importance to me and the Korean Embassy.” Ambassador Santhush further requested that “I hope their safety and well-being continue to be well taken care of. It will indeed further elevate our bilateral ties.”
Lalith Gamage extended a warm welcome for Ambassador Santhush to the Central Province and mentioned that the Central Province is looking forward to engage with the Korean Embassy to promote educational interests such as ICT projects and vocational training initiatives. Echoing the Ambassador’s wishes, he also emphasised the importance of people-to-people exchanges and intensifying tourism especially to the Central Province.
First Secretary of the Korean Embassy, Ms. Miyeon LIM and the Research Officer, Mr. Jeonhun BYEON accompanied the Ambassador during the meeting.
Business
‘Reforms within World Bank likely to benefit Sri Lanka’
By Sanath Nanayyakare
Parameswaran Iyer, the World Bank Executive Director for India and Sri Lanka has told State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe that various internal restructurings within the World Bank could benefit countries like Sri Lanka.
The State Minister mentioned this on April 15 on his X (Twitter) account.
“Mr. Iyer congratulated the Sri Lankan authorities on implementing the series of difficult reforms. He updated us on the various internal restructurings within the World Bank and how these changes could benefit countries like Sri Lanka, and assured his fullest support to Sri Lanka,” Semasinghe noted.
Semasinghe, who is in Washington D.C. for the 2024 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and related ancillary events is accompanied by Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central bank of Sri Lanka and Mahinda Siriwardena, Secretary to the Treasury.
The Spring Meetings comprise joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee and the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee events. The ancillary meetings will be held from April 17 to 19.
“We kicked-off the IMF/WBG Spring meeting with a very productive bilateral discussion with Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF. Mr. Okamura commended the Sri Lankan authorities on strong programme implementation and excellent reform progress. He emphasised the need to preserve the hard earned gains Sri Lanka has experienced since the beginning of the IMF programme and continue strong ownership.”
“I, along with Governor of the CBSL and Secretary to the Treasury, explained to Mr. Okamura the recent socio-economic developments and the authorities’ commitment to ensuring continuity and consistency of macroeconomic policies and reforms undertaken under the programme,” the State Minister noted.
For some years now, the World Bank has been engaged in a series of reforms to modernise and simplify its lending practices in response to concerns by borrowers.
Presenting a paper on the topic the World Bank had recently said the following:
“Among the concerns were that cumbersome and inflexible procedures were impeding rather than facilitating operational work, were not keeping pace with the capacities of our partner countries, and thus were potentially hindering the development impact of Bank-supported development interventions.”
An area has been identified in need of modernising project restructuring and changes in procedures to strengthen the impact of operational work, according to the paper.
Furthermore, it has identified more effective supervision tools such as project restructuring coupled with clear procedures and reinforcing corporate incentives would help improve project implementation results.
It proposes to modify the approach to restructuring during project supervision, to aim for improved developmental outcomes by project closing.
The proposed approach is based on the potential of increasing implementation effectiveness, particularly for projects in the portfolio that contain risk factors.
The paper has also identified current obstacles in order to improve outcomes through more proactive and early restructuring before project problems become irreversible.
However, the timeline is still not clear as to when the proposed changes in the World Bank’s lending practices will benefit countries like Sri Lanka.
Business
Sri Lanka Tourism concludes another round of Roadshows in Australia
The Australian travel industry in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne had a chance to experience Sri Lanka as an exciting travel destination and network with dynamic Sri Lankan travel agents, when Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau organized three roadshows in Australia as part of its worldwide promotion tour.
The three events, organized in coordination with the High Commission of Sri Lanka to Australia, and the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne, drew over sixty to seventy selective travel agents and tour operators in each of the three cities.
Brisbane was followed by the second roadshow in Sydney, where over 75 Australian travel trade companies and 25 media representatives and influencers attended the event, which saw fruitful business discussions between Australian and Sri Lankan participants.
The opening remarks at the second roadshow were delivered by Ms. Chithranganie Wageeswara, the Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia. Chalaka Gajabahu provided the keynote speech on the new global positioning of Sri Lanka. Sandith Samarasinghe, the Sri Lankan Consul General in Melbourne, also addressed the attendees. Sakura Wijethunga, the Sri Lankan Airline Manager for Sydney, represented the National carrier in Sri Lanka.
The conclusion of the series of Roadshows in Australia was held in Melbourne, with over 50 Australian agents and 35 media representatives participating.
(Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau)
Business
ComBank appoints new Chairman and Deputy Chairman
Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC has announced the appointment of top international investment banker Sharhan Muhseen as Chairman, and financial services professional Raja Senanayake as Deputy Chairman, effective Monday, 22ndApril 2024.
Muhseen, previously Deputy Chairman of the Bank, succeeds Prof. Ananda Jayawardane as Chairman upon the latter’s retirement, and Senanayake, a non-executive director, fills the vacancy created by Muhseen’s elevation to the position of Chairman of the Bank.
Sharhan Muhseen is a senior Investment Banker with extensive experience in the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets. He has served in senior capacities working with company boards and senior leadership teams of financial institutions across Asia to help drive their Strategic Corporate Agendas and Roadmaps. He previously worked in best-in-class global investment banks, Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan in leading regional coverage roles. He was also an Associate Director of Deloitte.
Muhseen’s most immediate previous role was as Managing Director, Head of South East Asia Financial Institutions Group (FIG) and Head of Asia Insurance at Credit Suisse based in Singapore. In his Investment Banking career spanning over 20 years, Mr Muhseen has completed landmark mergers and capital raising transactions in excess of USD 100 billion. The Asia FIG sectors team at Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse has won the “FIG Asia House of the Year” awards from the Asset magazine for several years under his leadership. Multiple transactions he led have been awarded as best country deals and best financial sector capital raise transactions.
Muhseen is credited with several leading research reports including reports on Banking sector efficiency, currency depreciation and budget deficit in his role as Head of Sri Lanka Banking Sector Research Coverage and Lead Economist at Jardine Flemming. He has also worked at Standard Chartered Bank in the Corporate Banking Division, where he started out as a Management Trainee and at Rodman and Renshaw Stock and Commodities Broker based in Chicago. He has also acted as senior advisor for TPG and BNP Paribas.
He has experience at the policy level, working as a Team Leader at the National Council for Economic Development (NCED) under the Ministry of Finance as well as a Director at the Task Force to Rebuild the Nation (TAFREN), the Presidential Task Force for rebuilding the economy after the 2004 Tsunami.
-
Sports7 days ago
Only if Buultjens knew that teams have pulled out of rugby sevens!
-
Business7 days ago
Mallika Hemachndra Jewellers offer a glittering new year with gold and smiles
-
Business7 days ago
HNB and Ideal Motors partner up once again to offer exclusive perks on Mahindra automobiles, Powerol generators
-
News5 days ago
Sinhala and Tamil New Year auspicious times
-
News7 days ago
Wigneswaran considers himself best Tamil candidate to run for President
-
Business7 days ago
Vietnamese billionaire Truong My Lan sentenced to death for $44bn fraud
-
Business5 days ago
The $2bn dirty-money case that rocked Singapore
-
Business7 days ago
‘NSB continued to prove its resiliency within economic shudder’