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News
Millions
of rupees made as commissions at Pramuka The payment
of this commission, currently under investigation by the Central
Bank, totals more than Rs. 30 million. Lawyers for the aggrieved
depositors told the Supreme Court at a recent hearing on the Bank
issue that these "illegal" commissions should be recovered
and credited to Pramuka Bank. The list of
such commissions as filed in Court by the Central Bank is as follows: New
effort to improve Sri Lanka-Japan trade, investment ties The embassy
said in a statement that Japan is one of the markets that the government
has identified to expand its economic co-operation through active
and vigorous promotion in the fields of trade, investment and tourism
opportunities. With this in
mind the embassy with the Sri Lankan business community in Japan
is to form the Sri Lanka Business Council, under the guidance of
the Overseas Business Promotion Programme launched by the Ministry
of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the Commerce Department. A preliminary
meeting was held for this purpose at the embassy premises recently
which was attended by representatives from 37 Sri Lankan business
organisations in Japan. During the meeting it has been decided that
formal inauguration of the Business Council would be held in October
this year. Ambassador Karunatilaka Amunagama, explaining the significance of forming a Business Council, said he hoped it would further strengthen friendship, goodwill and understanding among business organisations in Japan and act as a bridge between the Sri Lankan and Japanese business community ".The following were selected during the preliminary meeting to carry out initial work of the Business Council. Seminar
on standard road work designs It is organized
in association with the University of Moratuwa. The aim of the seminar is to provide an exposure on contemporary standards adopted internationally in road construction to the relevant governmental and private sector agencies engaged in the Road Construction so that these standards could be followed locally in the development of the road network, which is vital to the national economy. Dialog
GSM donates educational material through Asia Foundation The Asia Foundation's
"Books for Asia" programme provides English language educational
and professional materials to hundreds of Sri Lankan institutions
and organizations. These texts, which would otherwise be unaffordable and unobtainable, are selected by the recipient institutions themselves to ensure that they are appropriate for their needs. HNB
student managers' conference in Trinco HNB's Deputy
General Manager (personal banking) C.P. Abeyawickrema said the objective
of the conference was to inculcate a saving habit and to develop
banking knowledge among students. He advised student managers to build up their reading habits and communication skills and to update their knowledge to meet the challenge in global technology development. (SG) Jobs
for the boys vs boys for the jobs Creation of
employment has been the topic of discussion for sometime now by
the private sector. We also learn that there has been a major deviation
in the discussion, with the reported desire of some to determine
who should be where and in what form in the hierarchy of things.
When discussing national issues, it is important that focus is placed
not on the 'whom' but on 'what needs be achieved'. After all, we
are all Sri Lankans of different sizes, colours, shapes and creed,
wishing for a better future for our motherland. In that context,
peaceful coexistence and cohabitation are core values we, without
doubt, need to hold and practice. How can citizens of repute advise
others on cohabitation, if we are unable to practice it ourselves. Strange times
we live in. Ministers seem to forget what they read or whom they
meet. They seem to pin blame on others when they have indeed been
parties in the doing. Some seem to get cold feet and take the easy
way out of even elephantine tasks. When some in the private sector
are denied the generation of power, that seems to plant seeds of
discontent elsewhere. Back on the
jobs front, the call has been for the private sector to create jobs.
Job 'creation' in the public sector has now been frozen as a result
of pressure from institutional donors. In the past, public sector
jobs were used by successive governments to muster support from
the electorates without any consideration of the contribution the
jobs made to the economy. Since creation of jobs is a function of
the creation of new value, the question we should be focusing on
is, is the necessary and sufficient conditions for creation of such
new value are in place in the current economic, social and political
context in Sri Lanka? In spite of
the ceasefire for over a year, direct foreign investment has been
short of expectations. Local investments have been mostly focused
on the trading sector. Significant investments in the service, agricultural
and export manufacturing sectors where the most potential for job
creation exist, has been slow in the making. The much talked about
donor funds are yet in an embryonic stage. There is a
general 'wait and see' mood still prevailing on all fronts. The
'leaders' of the South have been unable to discuss and establish
a position of consensus on solving the issue of ensuring lasting
peace and national reconciliation. All this is very relevant to
the issue of creating jobs. The private
sector has for some time now lamented that the education system
at universities and other institutions do not prepare the guys and
the gals for the types of jobs available in the market place. The
skills to jobs mismatch and is focused on at each discussion. Preparing unemployed
graduates for the available jobs had been strategically privatized
sometime ago with the setting up of "Tharuna Aruna". The
results the private sector produced for several years was nothing
to crow about. There was no way of meeting the needs of the graduates
through the training provided and the funds supporting the effort
apparently ran dry. Now donor funds to the tune of $ 10 million
have been infused to rejuvenate the project and the private sector
once again is squarely given the responsibility to not only train
10,000 graduates within the year, but also to give them gainful
employment. The 'JobsNet' system of matching those seeking jobs
with available jobs without interference from politicians is also
now operational. The 'Jobs for the guys and gals' culture of the
past will now need to be replaced with a 'Guys and gals for the
jobs' culture. Indeed, a tall
order for the private sector. The engines of growth will need to
fire on a united front pulling on all its pistons to achieve it.
The writer is a former public servant with wide international experience in public/private sectors, in a range of disciplines. He could be reached through The Sunday Times on ft@sundaytimes.wnl.lk Ad
industry delegation to attend "AD ASIA" in Jaipur Recently, a
team from Ad Asia's Organising Committee consisting of Times of
India President, Pradeep Guha and colleagues Ramesh Narayan and
Goutam Rakshit made a presentation of the planned programme and
line-up of speakers to the Four A's and other interested media and
marketing people, in Colombo. Ad Asia 2003
is billed to have a star-studded cast of advertising, marketing
and media celebrities including "Positioning" Guru Jack
Trout, Direct Marketing Guru Lester Wunderman, Coke's famous ex-CMO
Sergio Zyman, TBWA Chairman and CD Trevor Beattie, who created attention-getting
campaigns for Wonderbra and FCUK, Goodby Co-Chairman and CD Jeff
Goodby of "Got Milk?" fame, Professor C.K. Prahalad who
teamed up with Gary Hamel to write the landmark book "Competing
for the Future", "Maverick" author Ricardo Semler,
Mindshare Chairman Irwin Gotlieb, and STAR TV Chairman James Murdoch
among others. "Singapore Girl" creator Ian Batey will
lead a Chairmen's roundtable with three of India's most influential
- Reliance's Mukesh Ambani, Birla's Kumar Mangalam Birla and Infosys'
Narayan Murthy. The congress,
to be held at the state-of the-art Birla Convention Centre, will
cover a wide variety of topics in sessions covering the future of
communications, the best of Asian advertising, great campaigns that
build great brands, social marketing, delivering audiences, the
consumer pyramid, and business vision, according to a 4 A's statement. Jaipur in Rajasthan, the land of romance and royalty, is laying out lots of after-hours of entertainment and attractions to create a memorable event for delegates, including a golfing day and an Indian-style Mela. A special 25%-off rate is being offered to Sri Lanka delegates. The early bird deadline too has been extended for Sri Lanka till 31st August. Those interested in joining the Four A's delegation are requested to contact Ameer Ahmed (0777900888), Kenneth Honter (589448) or Nimal Gunewardena (586825).
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