An Investment Gem Hidden In Too Much Pessimism by Rainer Michael Preiss, ‘Forbes,’ New York, August 7, 2019 Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speaks at the 30th anniversary of the Colombo Stock Exchange ceremony in Colombo on December 2, 2015 . ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Legendary billionaire investor George Soros famously observed that “the most… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Economy
Sri Lanka Growth Diagnostic Analysis
by Harvard U’s Center for International Development, January 2018 https://srilanka.growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/publications/sri-lanka-growth-diagnostic https://growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/files/growthlab/files/growth_diagnostic_for_sri_lanka_1.pdf Abstract: Throughout 2016, CID conducted a growth diagnostic analysis for Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Government of Sri Lanka, led by the Prime Minister’s Policy Development Office (PDO), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). This presentation report aggregates collaborative quantitative and qualitative analysis… Read more »
US Millennium Challenge Corporation
by US Millennium Challenge Corporation, July 2019. Pictures from US Amb. Teplitz’s Twitter feed, July 30, 2019 The land project will initially focus on districts in the Central, North-Western, North-Central and Eastern Provinces. Highlights of MCC Compact Scorecard FY19 More info, including 2017 Constraints Analysis
SL Governor Dodges Ki’linochchi DCC Meeting
Colombo’s military and departments confronted by TamilNet, July 29, 2019 …SLA was having only seven acres of lands… …CSD was refusing to release the 310 acres of lands at the Civic Centre Village and 105 acres at Marutha-nakar… The so-called Civil Security Division (CSD) and the occupying SL Army, which come under the SL Defence… Read more »
Sampanthan Insists on Implementing UNHRC Resolution, Adopting New Constitution
As top priorities for Lanka by ‘The Island,’ Colombo, April 8, 2019 Former Opposition Leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan told Parliament, on Budget 2019 voting day, last Friday, that implementing of the UNHRC resolution and the adoption of a new constitution are two issues of utmost importance to the country today. Sampanthan’s statement: Before I commence my… Read more »
What Sri Lanka’s 2019 Budget Tells Us About Its Economic Health
by Umesh Moramudali, ‘The Diplomat,’ Tokyo, March 27, 2019 In the aftermath of political turmoil, Sri Lanka’s government will be hard-pressed to manage debt and growth in 2019. Following one of the most dramatic political crises in the recent history of South Asia, Sri Lanka’s government budget for 2019 was approved by the majority of the parliament… Read more »
Sri Lanka Refuses to Hand Back Military Occupied Land
By Athula Vithanage, Journalists for a Democratic Sri Lanka, Europe, March 22, 2019 UN WebTV Thousands of acres of land occupied by the military in northern Sri Lanka will not be released to their rightful owners despite ongoing protests. Scores of war displaced Tamil families have been protesting for more than two years by the… Read more »
The Vanni – Civilian Land under Military Occupation
Displacement, Resettlement, Protests by Society of Threatened Peoples (STP) & National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), February 2018 https://www.tamilguardian.com/sites/default/files/File/180301%20STP%20Report_Vanni_SriLanka_low.pdf https://www.gfbv.ch/wp-content/uploads/sri-lanka-vanni-e-lang.pdf https://www.gfbv.de/fileadmin/redaktion/UN-statements/2018/Sri-Lanka_HRC_Statement_February_2018_EingereichtvonGfbVSchweiz.pdf Oct. 28, 2018
Master Plan for Economic Development in the Northern province Launched
by The Sunday Times, Colombo, February 22, 2019 The ‘Framework for an Economic Development Master Plan’ aiming to be a tool to create a ‘blueprint’ for long-term growth and development of the Northern Province was launched today at the Finance Ministry. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, addressing a gathering at the launch said during the last four… Read more »
HRW: “Why Can’t We Go Home?”
Military Occupation of Land in Sri Lanka by Human Rights Watch, New York, October 9, 2018 https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/10/09/why-cant-we-go-home/military-occupation-land-sri-lanka Summary On April 29, 2017, the Sri Lankan navy high command announced it would release 100 acres of land that security forces had been occupying in the Mullikulam area since 2007 to the original owners. For the displaced… Read more »
Release of Land
Sri Lanka Army had released over 69,000 acres of land in North and East since 2009 by ColomboPage, December 17, 2018 Sri Lanka Army said over 69,000 acres of land that was used by the Army in the North East following the end of the war had been released since 2009. The Army said since… Read more »
Entrepreneurs in Jaffna?
Take a look in Ammachi! by Jekhan Aruliah, ‘LankaBusinessOnline,’ November 26, 2018 Soon after I moved to Jaffna in 2015 I heard rumours of this fantastic food court run by war widows. Friends driving North from Colombo said they found it somewhere on the A9 near Killinochchi in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. It was a… Read more »
Indo Sri Lankan Fishery Dispute
Solving the problem in a win win situation by Punsara Amarasinghe, ‘Countercurrents.org,’ May 12, 2018 Co-Written by Punsara Amarasinghe & Eshan Jayawardena Also posted in Indian Defense Review on May 21, 2018 entitled ‘India, Sri Lanka must solve fishery dispute bilaterally.’ The Palk Bay, a narrow strip of water separating the state of Tamil Nadu… Read more »
90,000 Northern Families in Shanties or Homeless
What happened to Govt. promised housing? Opinion by Jekhan Arulian, ‘LankaBusinessOnline,’ September 26, 2018 In October last year I had the privilege of participating in the blessing of a new water well in the Killinochchi District of the Northern Province. Its construction had been funded by the UK based charity Child Aid Lanka. The family on… Read more »
MCC: Sri Lanka Constraints Analysis
by US Millenium Challenge Corporation, Washington, DC, 2017 https://assets.mcc.gov/content/uploads/constraints-analysis-sri-lanka.pdf We argue in this report that Sri Lanka faces the following three binding constraints to private sector investment and economic growth: (1) policy uncertainty (especially tax and tariff policy); (2) inadequate access to land; and (3) poor transportation and logistics… The state reportedly owns approximately 80… Read more »
CPJ: Mahaweli Land Grabbing & Related Issues
edby Commission for Justice and Peace of Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, August 30, 2018 Mahaveli Development 180830 Condemnation of the Land grabbing by the Mahaveli-Development Authority and some other related issues The Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna strongly condemn all the measures taken by the Mahaveli-Development Authority to acquire the… Read more »
Water Resources and Agriculture Development Strategy North East Province
Volume 1 & 2 Special Emphasis on Irrigation Project in North by Saravanamuttu Subramaniam Sivakumar, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna, February 2015, 2nd edition, 10.13140/2.1.3996.4961 Go to publication Download Abstract 2. Status of Water Resources With the increase in population, industrialization and urbanization, demand for water has increased. Population has increased from 1.9 million in… Read more »
How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port
by Maria Abi-Habib, ‘The New York Times,’ June 25, 2018 HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — Every time Sri Lanka’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, turned to his Chinese allies for loans and assistance with an ambitious port project, the answer was yes. Yes, though feasibility studies said the port wouldn’t work. Yes, though other frequent lenders like India… Read more »
Sri Lankan Lawmakers Target Reporters in Times Investigation
by Maria Abi-Habib, ‘The New York Times,’ July 3, 2018 NEW DELHI — Angered by a New York Times investigation detailing how China seized ownership of a seaport in Sri Lanka, a group of Sri Lankan lawmakers denounced the newspaper on Monday, focusing their ire on two local journalists for the newspaper. On Monday night, the lawmakers,… Read more »
Misery as Strategy
The Human Cost of Conflict by International Crisis Group, Brussels, May 31, 2018 In conflicts across the world, levels of displacement and hunger are increasing. The tactics used by leaders, governments and non-state armed groups have much to do with that misery. From Syria to Yemen, from South Sudan to Venezuela, war and political crisis… Read more »