Business
Winners of Korean language speech contest felicitated
On January 21 ambassador Santhush Woonjin Jeong had the pleasure to meet the winners of the Korean language speech contest and felicitate them at the Korean embassy. The ambassador offered congratulations to the winners and expressed his appreciation for their excellent skills in speaking Korean.
Due to the prevailing pandemic, the Korean language speech contest was held online last December as an event of “Korea Week”. The embassy of the Republic of Korea in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Kandy King Sejong Institute Center successfully organized the Korean language speech contest and awards ceremony on a virtual platform.
On this occasion, the ambassador conveyed his deep appreciation for all the participants and the organizers of the Korean speech contest for their interest and commitment to further Korea- Sri Lanka ties amid the pandemic. “I believe that you are the bridge which connects Korea and Sri Lanka. Your interest and dedication to learn the Korean language is an example of our strong ties which have transcended national borders”.
The ambassador further stated that the year 2021 is a significant year for Korea-Sri Lanka bilateral relations. “From 2021, the Korean language is officially adopted as a foreign language for advanced level curriculum by the Ministry of Education in Sri Lanka. It will be a leap forward to elevate our cultural bilateral relations”. Further more the ambassador expressed the unwavering support and assistance of the government of Korea in the expansion of Korean-language education in Sri Lanka. Last year people to people exchanges were blocked by the pandemic, however the establishment of the King Sejong Institute has provided a great opportunity for the Sri Lankan public to learn and familiarize themselves with the Korean language and culture.
The Ambassador revealed that despite the differences of our two cultures we are united by the mutual respect and love shown to each other’s culture and language. He stated that “more Sri Lankan youth should be encouraged to learn the Korean language and become important assets to promote Korea-Sri Lanka friendship. I hope that friends from all walks of life in Sri Lanka will continue to work together to take our bilateral relations to another level and create a brighter future for our two countries. It is our strong belief that the student exchanges and cultural relations will keep strengthening and therefore will continue to make a greater contribution to consolidate our ties”.
The Ambassador elaborated that learning the Korean language would open the window to many job opportunities in Korea. The Korean government policy of “equal pay for equal work” has further elevated the engagement in labour cooperation in recent years. About 23,000 Sri Lankan employees are presently in Korea. Around 520 million US dollars were transmitted by them from Korea to Sri Lanka in 2019. The migrant workers bridge both countries in more ways than one, as they continue to contribute to the economic advancement of Korea and Sri Lanka.
The Ambassador also mentioned that the public health authorities in Sri Lanka have effectively implemented measures to battle Covid-19 here in Sri Lanka. Likewise the Korean authorities have taken aggressive anti-coronavirus efforts to combat and contain the pandemic. Many Sri Lankan workers live safely in Korea.
The Ambassador briefly touched upon the economic cooperation between Korean and Sri Lanka. He stated that “Korea is thankful to the international society including Sri Lanka for the support extended to Korea in the past. Now the time has come for Korea to repay by assisting Sri Lanka to achieve its development objectives. As a true friend, Korea would like to share the technological know-how and resources to help Sri Lanka achieve the so called Miracle on Kelani River like the Miracle on Han River”.
The Korean speech contest has successfully contributed to deepening the cultural ties between the two countries by providing recognition for the Sri Lankan youth who embark upon a new journey to broaden their future possibilities by learning Korean. The Korean Embassy will deepen and strengthen the Korea- Sri Lanka friendship in 2021 as well.
The following students of the Korean Speech Contest were awarded prizes by His Excellency Santhush Woonjin JEONG at the awards ceremony. Kulara Wickramarachchi, a medical student won the first place. Her parents received her award on her behalf. Dhananjaya Jayasinghe and Thanushi Rajapakse won the second place for their fluent Korean linguistic skills. The third award winners were Aheesha Dilshani Jabir and Gimhani Dikkumbura. All award winners were presented certificates and prizes in the presence of their parents. Moreover they had the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with the Ambassador. They suggested that since there are numerous Sri Lankans who are keen to learn Korean, the establishment of more Korean language institutes will greatly benefit them.
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SLT-Mobitel, the nation’s ICT and Telecommunications Service Provider recently partnered with Spotify, to mark their launch in Sri Lanka. Spotify is a paid premium music streaming app which allows subscribers to listen to music to their hearts content. Both, SLT-Mobitel Post-Paid and Pre-Paid customers will now be able to enjoy Spotify by activating a monthly recurring subscription or one-time subscription plan and access unlimited music streaming and downloading facilities.
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by Sanath Nanayakkare
Anyone conversant with the elements of a political economy would know that Sri Lanka is using its ‘sovereign power’ to manage the different dynamics of the economy in a sustainable manner, Professor W. D Lakshman Governor of the Central Bank said on Wednesday.
“Some critics are saying that we adopt a so-called modern monetary theory. That’s not the case. In fact, Sri Lanka is using its sovereign power in a number of economic aspects to honour its external debt repayment commitments as well as to reduce its debt burden in the medium term as well as achieve resilient growth in the medium to long term, he said.
“We make policy decisions to boost our gross foreign reserves, meet our external debt servicing, to facilitate monetary expansion, to boost our GDP growth, to strengthen our current account balance and manage our domestic and external economic variables in a sustainable manner. This is not a modern monetary theory. This is an age-old tool used by central banks around the world when the circumstances demand it, he said.
“Certain trade-offs will be necessary when dealing with an economy which has a big fiscal gap to bridge. There are efforts to push Sri Lanka towards the IMF again which would in turn have influence on our policymaking. We have taken policy measures to stabilize the economy and we have adequate reserve levels to meet our debt repayments. Meanwhile, we are in negotiations with overseas central banks and multilateral agencies to further boost our reserve level and it would materialise within a matter of weeks,” he noted.
“One of the tools the Central Bank has introduced is in respect of repatriation of export proceeds into Sri Lanka and conversion of such proceeds into Sri Lankan rupees in order to strengthen the foreign exchange situation of the country,” he said.
The Governor made these remarks while delivering the keynote speech at a webinar organised by the Veemansa Initiative led by its Managing Director Luxman Siriwardene – the former Executive Director of Pathfinder Foundation.
The webinar revolved round the topic ‘External debt situation in Sri Lanka: Are we heading for a resolution or crisis?’
Professor Sirimal Abeyratne, Prof. Sumanasiri Liyanage, Dr. Nishan de Mel and Dr. Ravi Liyanage were the other speakers on the panel.
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By Hiran H.Senewiratne
CSE produced signs of a rebound yesterday with both indices closing positive, though turnover remained low. Central Bank Governor W.D Lakshman’s recent statement on managing foreign reserves gave some boost to the market yesterday, stock market analysts said.
The index experienced a zigzag movement within the early hours of trading; thereafter, it recorded a slight up-trend as it reached its intraday high of 7,439. Later, the market witnessed a down-trend at mid-day, followed by a sideways movement and closed at 7,372, gaining 43 points during the month of February, market sources said.
It is said the banking sector dominated turnover with a contribution of considerable parcel trades in Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank and HNB.
Further, the Commercial Bank’s impressive quarterly results during the recent turbulent period also built investor confidence. Commercial Bank was able to register a18 percent net interest income when other banks were reporting a decline. Its share price increased by Rs. 3 or 3.5 percent. On the previous day, its shares started trading at Rs. 85 and at the end of the day they moved up to Rs. 88. Due to the positive growth results, the bank announced a Rs. 4.40 dividend per share, plus a Rs. 2 script divergent for every share.
Further, Sampath Bank shares also appreciated in both crossing and retail. In crossings its shares appreciated by Rs. 1.At the end of the day they moved up to Rs. 154.50. In the retail market, its shares moved up by Rs. 2 or 1.3 percent. Previously, its shares fetched Rs. 154 and at the end of yesterday they moved up to Rs. 156.
Amid those developments, both indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 104.48 points and S and P SL20 rose by 67.78 points. Turnover stood at Rs. 3 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Sampath Bank, where 3.9 million shares crossed for Rs. 602.2 million, its share price being Rs. 154.50, HNB 375,000 shares crossed for Rs. 39.4 million, its shares traded at Rs. 105, Pan Asia Power 9.5 million shares crossed for Rs. 33.2 million, its shares traded at Rs. 3.50 and Access Engineering 1.2 million shares crossed for Rs. 28.2 million; its shares traded at Rs. 24.
In the retail market top five companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, Expolanka Rs. 450 million (10 million shares traded), JKH Rs. 205 million (1.3 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs. 199 million (34.9 million shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs. 191 million (1.2 million shares traded) and Dipped Products Rs. 137.7 million (2.8 million shares traded). During the day 101 million share volumes changed hands in 18046 transactions.
During the day, Expolanka, the biggest contributor to the turnover, saw its share price appreciating by Rs. 6.20 or 15 percent. Its share price quoted on the previous day was Rs. 41 and at the end of trading yesterday it moved up to Rs. 47.
Sri Lanka’s rupee quoted wider at 193.50/195.50 levels to the US dollar in the spot next market on Thursday while bond yields remained unchanged, dealers said. The rupee last closed in the spot market at 194.50/195.00 to the dollar on Wednesday.
