Business
Ladies Circle International shines a light on Sri Lanka with APAC mid-term meeting in Colombo

Ladies from around the world who arrived for the APAC Mid-Term Meeting of Ladies Circle International (LCI) have been enjoying Sri Lanka’s sunshine, beaches, wildlife and history as they prepare to deliberate on how to make a difference to those less fortunate by supporting community projects and raising funds for the needy, both locally and internationally. The meeting was held at the Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo, on 24th and 25th February, 2023.
LCI is currently a community of 13,000 women across 5 regions, globally. A community of 2032 women in the Asia Pacific across 7 countries, LCI defines friendship as a remarkable experience sharing a bond with ladies from different parts of the globe with different cultures and upbringing, and yet share a common goal and language in friendship. Every Circler endeavours to make a difference to those less fortunate than them by supporting community projects and raising funds for the needy, locally and internationally.
“Our aim is to promote international friendship, understanding and goodwill by encouraging members to extend their knowledge of each other and other people,” said Martina Santoro, President, Ladies Circle International (LCI). “We are non-political and non-sectarian. We promote, co-ordinate & develop working relationships with Round Table International, Tangent International, Agora Club International and Club 41 International, wherever possible.”
“Having been given the opportunity to host the Ladies Circle international APAC Mid-term meeting, we hope to help bring tourism back into Sri Lanka and show the internationals what our beautiful country has to offer,” said Sanjana Selvarajah, President, Ladies Circle Sri Lanka. For us it is an opportunity to bring awareness about circling and the opportunity to build friendships and bonds with others from around the region and the rest of the world. It is also an opportunity to bring about international exposure for our country. We are very grateful to our sponsors for helping us to make this event a possibility, particularly our main sponsors Nippon Paint Lanka for the tremendous strength they have been to us.”
Ladies Circle works closely with Round Table International, a similar organisation for men. Round Table Sri Lanka (RTSL) is an organization of non-political and non-sectarian young men between the age group of 18 and 40 / 45 with an aim to promote service, fellowship and goodwill in national and international affairs. It carries out multiple projects and initiatives for fellowship and community service as well as to build competency and capacity of its members.
Business
Oil prices rise as Saudi Arabia pledges output cuts – Opec+

Oil-producing countries have agreed to continued cuts in production in a bid to shore up flagging prices.
Saudi Arabia said it would make cuts of a million barrels per day (bpd) in July and Opec+ said targets would drop by a further 1.4 million bpd from 2024.
Opec+ accounts for around 40% of the world’s crude oil and its decisions can have a major impact on oil prices.
In Asia trade on Monday, Brent crude oil rose by as much as 2.4% before settling at around $77 a barrel.
The seven hour-long meeting on Sunday of the oil-rich nations, led by Russia, came against a backdrop of falling energy prices.
Total production cuts, which Opec+ has undertaken since October 2022, reached 3.66 million bpd, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
Opec+, a formulation which refers to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, had already agreed to cut production by two million bpd, about 2% of global demand.
(BBC)
Business
Manpower services agency wins accolades for its contribution to foreign employment sector

Its MD says. ‘go abroad only if you can work hard’
Siraj Manpower Services, one of Sri Lanka’s leading foreign employment agencies, was honoured with the Three-Star Award at the ‘Golden Awards’ 2023, organised by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE). This award ceremony was organised to honour foreign employment agencies that have made a significant contribution to the development of the foreign employment sector, which is a major source of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka. Siraj Cafoor, Managing Director of Siraj Manpower Services, was presented with the award at the award ceremony which was held at the BMICH in Colombo under the patronage of Minister of Foreign Employment and Labour Manusha Nanayakkara.
Having been established in 2002, Siraj Manpower Services (www.sirajmanpower.lk) has earned a reputation in the field of foreign employment by winning the trust of customers for more than 20 years. It has been offering job opportunities in the Middle East countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia as housekeepers, drivers, sanitation workers, labourers and also jobs related to the apparel industry. All these workers are entitled to approved salary scales certified by the SLBFE.
“We always stand for the safety of workers who go abroad through our organisation. We work to solve the problems that arise in relation to the contracts that the workers have entered into. I must mention something special to those who go abroad for employment. That is, you should keep in mind that you go abroad only to work. Go abroad only if you can work hard. You have to remember that you are going abroad to earn some more money and achieve the advancement of your family.” said Siraj Cafoor.
Business
Ports Minister invites Singaporean investors to develop Colombo North Port

The Minister of Ports, Navigation and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva was on an observation tour on 3rd of June to witness the operations and development of Singapore’s main port. During the tour, he had a special discussion with the head of PSA International Private Company which carries out the operations and development of the Singapore port.
Won Chee Fung, CEO of the company’s Middle East and South Asia arm said if there are investment opportunities for development and operations in the ports of Sri Lanka, they would like to apply for them.
The Minister told him that since the government has planned to start the development of the North Colombo Port, a suitable investment plan and proposal could be made for it. He also requested the heads of PSA International Private Company to provide a suitable proposal for the development of Trincomalee Port.
PSA International is one of the few largest companies operating in ports in the world, and 37,000 million containers are handled per year in Singapore’s main port alone.Officials including Assistant Vice President of PSA Company Lim Wei Chang, Chairman of JCT Oil Bank Company, Lakmal Ratnayake and representatives of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Singapore also participated in this discussion.
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