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Monday December 11th, 2023

Activists urge elections commission to fix poll date with public safety in mind

ECONOMYNEXT – A group of Opposition political activists are urging the Elections Commission to resist pressure from political elements to fix early dates for the Parliamentary General Elections which were postponed by the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of our people. If some party wants to hasten the electoral process in the midst of the COVID19 outbreak in Sri Lanka, it will gravely undermine the dedication of our doctors, healthcare workers and other government servants who are working around the clock to suppress the spread of the pandemic in the country,” the letter said.

The activists, Lihini Fernando, Rasika Jayakody, Charana Kanankegamage, Namal Wijayamuni Soysa and Dhanushka Fernando asked the Commissioners to consult all relevant stakeholders in the health sector before deciding on the Election date.

In their letter the activists said that the Secretary to the President Dr P.B Jayasundara in a letter to the Chairman of the Elections Commission on April 06 indicated that the government’s intention is to “have the Parliamentary election before the end of May, irrespective of the unprecedented health crisis the country is grappling with.”

The President has constitutional powers to revoke the Gazette notification to dissolve Parliament enabling the current legislature to function until September 2020. This will give ample time for the Elections Commission to prepare for the election without exposing the public to the risk of COVID19. All political parties in Parliament have pledged to support the government to run the country until the end of Parliament’s term and in this context, we believe, there is no need to unnecessarily hasten the electoral process jeopardizing the public.

Therefore, we request the Elections Commission to make a decision on the election date considering the matter from a public safety perspective. As political activists of the opposition, we have written to the Elections Commission urging them not to give way to political pressures and consult all relevant stakeholders in the health sector before deciding on the Election date.

The President has constitutional powers to revoke the Gazette notification to dissolve Parliament enabling the current legislature to function until September 2020. This will give ample time for the Elections Commission to prepare for the election without exposing the public to the risk of COVID19. All political parties in Parliament have pledged to support the government to run the country until the end of Parliament’s term and in this context, we believe, there is no need to unnecessarily hasten the electoral process jeopardizing the public, they said.

“Therefore, we request the Elections Commission to make a decision on the election date considering the matter from a public safety perspective,” they said. (Colombo, April 11, 2020)
By Arjuna Ranawana

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Sri Lanka wants university research to lead to commercially viable products

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s ministry of industries wants to ensure commercially-ready products and services are produced by university research, by facilitating partnerships with factories and entrepreneurs.

After a currency crisis, Sri Lanka’s government is in a drive to boost its trade balance by increasing exports.

“Our export basket hasn’t changed recently, partly because our small and medium entrepreneurs don’t have sufficient research and development facilities (like the multinationals) to innovate their products for the export market,” Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, Chaminda Pathiraja said.

“At the same time, state universities and research institutes produce a large amount of research findings yearly, which end up sitting in those institutions; they don’t reach the industry,” Pathiraja said at a press briefing to announce a program on commercialization of new products and research, to be held tomorrow at the Waters Edge.

The networking forum will bring innovators and manufacturers together to focus on the commercialization of research for the value added tea, coir, spice, dairy products, gem and jewellery and packaging products industries.

“We want to encourage collaboration, through programs like our University Business League etc, so that the research output can be commercialized, and what is produced by our factories can increase in quantity and quality. We must focus on the export market.”

The objective of this program, he said, was to reduce the gap in acquiring innovators’ ideas and skills by the investors, and ultimately boost the manufacturing sector’s efficiency in alignment with the export market.
(Colombo/Dec11/2023)

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Sri Lanka rupee opens at 327.00/50 to the US dollar

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee opened at 327.00/50 to the US dollar on Monday, from 327.00/30 Friday, dealers said.

On the Colombo Stock Exchange, both indices opened up: The All Share Price Index 0.28 percent at 10,823, and the S&P SL20 0.35 percent at 3,113.85.

Bond yields were up.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2026 was quoted at 14.05/20 percent from 14.05/15 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.01.2027 was quoted at 14.05/20 percent from 14.10/25 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.07.2028 was quoted at 14.20/50 percent from 14.20/35 percent.
(Colombo/Dec11/2023)

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Sri Lanka promoting Buddhist tourism from Vietnam, ASEAN

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka is planning to boost Buddhist tourism by linking temples in the country with those in East Asia, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said after to welcoming a delegation of monks from Vietnam.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Minister Sabry have initiated a temple-to-temple program where 100 Sri Lanka temples will be linked with counterparts in the Association of South East Asian Nations region.

“Tourism development will get a lot of growth with the temple-to-temple program,” Minister Ali Sabry said.

Along with the delegation of monks, five travel agents from Vietnam were also invited.

Under the first phase of the Temple-to-temple programs, several monks from Sri Lanka had received invitations from Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam the Foreign Ministry said.

The Temple-to-Temple diplomacy program will be extended to Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Cambodia during the second phrase of the program.

Sri Lanka is targeting 2.3 million tourists in 2023, after getting about 1.5 million this year. (Colombo/Dec10/2023)

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