News

Sampath ties up with Asian Alliance

By Udeshika Dissanayake

Sampath Bank made its first move from banking into the financial sector with the opening of an insurance desk at their Nawam Mawatha branch recently.

Asian Alliance Insurance Company the latest addition to the insurance sector which commenced its operations in December last year, tied up with Sampath Bank to provide insurance services to Sampath customers.

Its first alliance with the bank was with the introduction of Sampath Sanhida in March which offered a critical and accident insurance cover by them free of charge to the account holder

General Manager Sampath Bank Mr.Anil Amarasuriya said bank assurance was a popular tool in other countries and the move was the first step from banking into the financial services sector.

"The choice of this company was because the bank was looking out for a strategic partner with most insurance companies not willing to give a strategic holding whereas Asian Alliance was agreeable to this when the company goes public" he said at the opening of the insurance centre.

The present shareholders of the company are Asia Capital which holds a 66 per cent stake while the remaining stake is held by Richard Pieris Limited

The branch at Nawam Mawatha was chosen due to it being in a convenient location with no hassle of parking and the large number of executives working in the complex while the two companies hope to launch several other insurance outlets at selected Sampath Bank branches Mr.Amarasinghe added.

The insurance desk at the Sampath branch will be handled by Manjula Kumarasinghe, Manager Business Development, Asian Alliance Insurance and will function during normal banking hours providing tailor made solutions to its customers. These solutions will offer personal as well as corporate needs of clients.

Science Land launches Thibus Word Translator

By Akhry Ameer

Science Land Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. has introduced the Thibus product range, a Sinhala-English Word Translator, the latest addition to their range.

The word translator uses a database of 100,000 English words and 130,000 uses Sinhala words to translate.

The software package translates from English to Sinhala and vice versa through an easy to use interface. It also includes over 35,000 technical terms from law, medicine, architecture, accounting, etc. that can be individually activated and de-activated. The word translator offers instant switching between the two languages and also acts as a thesaurus for both Sinhala and English. It also accepts wildcard character word searches, where letters are represented by symbols when the spellings are not known. The selections that are made can be easily transferred to the Windows application through its cut and paste features. The product package contains a "hardware lock" for protection purposes, which needs to be attached to a computer's parallel port, the software CD/diskette, manual and transparent stickers containing Sinhala characters. The characters may be pasted on top of the keys, which can be converted to the standard Sinhala keyboard, phonetic form or even individually configured to the user's preference using the software provided.

Science Land Corporation (Pvt) Ltd. was formed by three university undergraduates and started operations in 1994. Prior to this the undergraduates designed software for Sinhala and Tamil fonts and marketed it through Dynamic Ram (Pvt) Ltd. Today, Science Land has over 6000 of its Thibus product packages in the hands of users such as government organizations, banks, other blue chip companies and individuals. The other add-ons in the Thibus product range are the Sinhala spellchecker for MS Word, Sinhala sorting toolkit and fonts. A complete solution is also marketed by Science Land called the Thibus Trilingual Software System that allows the use of Sinhala and Tamil in databases, internet and email, for both IBM and Apple compatible environments. Warranties, phone-in technical support and software updates are offered as after sales services to clients.

Flying as a career once again for young Lankans

Becoming a pilot might seem a tough process, but when one compares it to the many years that must be spent in becoming a doctor, lawyer or other professional, it isn't too hard. Actually, it takes a much shorter time, and costs far less to become a trained pilot either in Sri Lanka or abroad, than to get a university education in the West.

All this is good news for youngsters who would like to be pilots some day. How exactly does one become a pilot?

The first step is to obtain a Private Pilot's License, commonly known as a PPL. Most Sri Lankans do this at one of the two local flying schools, Asian Aerospace College which is operated by Lion Air, or Asian Academy of Aeronautics which belongs to Sky Cabs.

"We have training programmes going on at all times, so it is easy for youngsters to qualify for their PPLs," said Capt. Suranjan de Silva, Managing Director of Asian Academy of Aeronautics. Obtaining a PPL usually takes only about 3-4 months and is granted by the Director General of Civil Aviation in Sri Lanka.

Students then spend many hours in classrooms and also in the air, learning everything from aircraft knowledge and checklist precedures, to engines, airframes, instruments, theory of flight, navigation, meteorology, aviation law, radio telephony, instrument flying, night flying, etc. The actual flying is usually on Cessna 150, Cessna 152 and Piper aircraft. There are morning classes for full-time students, and evening classes to cater to those who do fulltime jobs.

The next step is to obtain a Commercial Pilot's License, known as the CPL. This takes more time, usually 10-14 months.

The exams are also tougher, since Sri Lanka follows the British system known as UKCAA, which requires that would-be pilots pass many subjects, as well as flight tests. "One of the forms that a new student fills out is sent to the DGCA, and the government does a security check on each individual," said Capt. Romesh Mendis, Director Training at the Asian Aviation Centre. "Once this is done, students must take a medical test, and then the DGCA gives them a Student Pilot's License."

The number of local pilots is nowhere near the demand from national airline, SriLankan which recruits about 10 foreign pilots every month. At present the airline has 120 local pilots and 80 foreign pilots. The airline quietly marked a significant milestone late last year, when it commissioned its first female First Officer, Anusha Mohamed.

''We are taking in 20 Cadet Pilots between April 2000 and March 2001,'' said Captain Dick Hutton, SriLankan Airlines' Chief Technical Officer. ''Eight have already begun training.'' Meanwhile, a general dearth of pilots worldwide ensures that foreign airlines continue to recruit pilots from SriLankan Airlines. This, together with the national airline's continued expansion, means that SriLankan will continue to look for local pilots for quite some time.

SriLankan Airlines has a rigorous procedure to select pilots. Firstly, pilots apply with qualifications that they have obtained from all over the world, which are all different to each other. So, the airline uses a combined system that makes allowances for many types of flying qualifications.

Interestingly, most pilots agree that one doesn't need a strong background in physics or mathematics to become a pilot, although it is an advantage. What is essential is a good knowledge of the English language, which is used in radio communications around the world. Flying is also a skill that requires a lot of experience.

However, since most Sri Lankan pilots are aiming to fly for the national carrier, it is always a good idea to make sure that one meets the minimum educational requirements of SriLankan Airlines.

Being licensed to fly one type of aircraft, such as a Lockheed Tristar, doesn't allow one to fly another type, like an Airbus A330. So switching to another type of aircralt (known as converting) involves weeks of training in classrooms and simulators, as well as fresh flying tests and exams.

SriLankan Airlines maintains strict standards for its pilots, and goes to great lengths to ensure those standards are maintained by the new and converted pilots. Hence the long time taken over training, the airline officials say.

The SriLankan training programme has been kept busy with the huge effort of training its existing pilots to fly the new Airbus A330 aircraft. Between November 1999 and March 2000, 110 Tri-star pilots were converted to A330 pilots, representing 70% of the pilot cadre.

With more and more computer technology now in the cockpit, pilots must also keep themselves "current,'' which means that their knowledge of flying is tested every few months by the airline and the DGCA.

Many choose an easier, if rather more expensive option, by going abroad for their CPLs. Favourite countries are Australia and the UK. The United States is also very popular since the FAA testing procedure is considered much easier.

"You have to be careful in choosing a foreign flying school. Some are very good, with dozens of aircraft and experienced instructors. But others have just one plane and a pilot, although they may look good on paper,'' cautioned one young pilot.

The Asian Aviation Centre in Colombo, is affiliated to two flying schools in the United States - Airgo International in Chicago and the United States Flight Academy in Texas. This allows Sri Lankans to undergo much of their training for the CPL in Sri Lanka, before going on to the USA to complete the course and the tests. Once one gets a CPL, it's a process of waiting for the next intake of Cadet Pilots at SriLankan Airlines.

Qualified candidates first go through an interview. Then they are given a three and half hour written test for technical knowledge. Those who top the list are then sent for a psychometric test. Shortlisted candidates are then sent for simulator tests in India or Singapore. Although this is a costly process, the candidates must be checked for their ability and aptitude to fly.

Once a candidate gets through all these stages, there is a final interview. Those who are selected are then given six months of courses in classrooms, before they even step into an aircraft. Cadet Pilots undergo many months of training in classrooms, simulators, and on board aircraft.

Although all of them have already qualified to fly small aircraft, they still need to learn a lot before taking the controls of a jet aircraft, which is a massive change. They face a challenge when they first fly heavy and powerful modern jet aircraft such as the Airbus A340s and A330s of SriLankan.

The whole process to become a First Officer on an A320 takes about one year. It takes quite a while before a young pilot reaches the ultimate goal of being captain usually 7-8 years. In the meantime, young pilots carry the designation of First Officer (SriLankan Airlines' All-Airbus fleet does not have Second Officers, as the Tri-Stars did).

If one is good enough to be chosen by the national carrier, then his or her flying career really begins to take off.

Healthy profit for HNB

HNB, now in the midst of a hostile takeover controversy has reported a good half year performance. Pre tax profit recorded a growth of 11% to reach Rs. 466.9mn for the period under review, the post tax profit recorded a growth of 24% to reach Rs. 404.2mn. Due to prudent tax planning, the Bank was able to reduce its tax liabilities by Rs. 30mn over the corresponding period in the previous year, bank release says.

The Bank's total asset base increased to Rs. 87,002mn from Rs. 68,716mn over the previous year, a percentage growth of 27%. The customer deposits increased by 19% to reach Rs. 57,631mn. The advances portfolio, inclusive of leasing, recorded an increase of 22% to reach Rs. 52,058mn. The net interest income of the Bank recorded an increase of 18% mainly due to the increase in the spread on the advances. Releasing that the Banking Sector will have to work within an environment of thin margins, HNB has already taken steps to expand income from fee based activities. The growth in the area of fee based income during the first six months of the year has enabled the Bank to show a commendable growth in profits.

To be in line with the expanding loan portfolio, the Bank provided Rs. 133.4mn for possible credit losses. This is an increase of 49% over the corresponding year provision. The total credit loss provision as at end June 2000 stood at Rs. 1,046.8mn. A provision of Rs. 19mn has also been provided for the diminution in value of investments.

Shareholders' funds expanded further to Rs. 5,410mn. This growth of 40% is mainly due to the rights cum public offer of Rs. 1.050mn launched during the previous year end.

The Bank has made strategic investments of Rs. 197mn compared to the investment as at the corresponding period in the previous year whilst disposing of short term investments amounting to Rs. 19mn.

Record second quarter for UAL

Union Assurance Ltd., Company's net income for the second quarter ended 30th June, 2000, is Rs. 30.1 million, a significant increase over the previous quarter's net income of Rs. 15.6 million. This puts Union Assurance's half-yearly results marginally behind the corresponding results in 1999, a company release said.

UAL's net income this year is Rs. 45.7 million, when compared with the previous year's figure of Rs. 49.7 million. Revenue grew 16.9%, with total revenue increasing to Rs. 905.5 million, from Rs. 774.3 million last year. Increases came from both arms of the business, with the Life Division generating a comfortable 40% growth, from Rs. 246 million in 1999 to Rs. 343.6 million in 2000, and the General Division increasing by 6.2%, from Rs. 529.3 million in l999 to Rs. 562.3 million this year. Union Assurance's Net Assets have grown by 6.8%, to Rs. 717.3 million in the half year ended 30th June 2000.

Dipped Products say worst effects of Asian crisis over

Dipped Products Limited, one of the larger rubber glove manufacturers and a significant contributor to Sri Lanka's export earnings, has expressed an opinion that the worst effects of the south east Asian currency crisis on its core business are now perhaps over.

In its recently released annual report for 1999-2000, the DPL Group says its commitment to strategic investments in product diversification, capacity enhancement and continuous improvement of product and process quality, despite the adverse economic conditions of the past two years, has left it with a reserve of capacity to draw on when market conditions change. The report however, cautioned that whilst the underlying condition that caused the economic crisis is over, the impact on the company would be felt over a period, says a company news release.

For example, Neoprex, the Group's new nitrile industrial rubber glove plant at Kottawa, has found very good market acceptance for its products. However, output from this facility reached a little over half its rated capacity last year, holding out great promise for the future. Neoprex is a "thrust industry" and enjoys a ten-year tax shelter.

Following the success of Neoprex, the DPL Group has installed a second production facility at Weliweriya which will add a further 20 - 25 per cent to capacity and augment the group's product range, the report reveals. This company is also eligible for thrust industry status.

Dipped Products has also reported plans to set up a project to manufacture fabric lined nitrile gloves at the premises of Palma, one of its factories at Kelaniya. The group's product portfolio will be further diversified when planned investments into a medical glove plant takes place. According to the Managing Director's review in the report, preliminary work on setting up this plant is now fairly well advanced.

The report said greater focus has been given to marketing DPL product range and capability. Product brochures and internet Web sites are being launched for this purpose. The Group also participated at one of the main consumer market fairs in Amsterdam in May 2000.

Among other developments during the year under review were the use of new innovative methods in packaging to upgrade processes to improve presentation and streamline manual operations. Development in many packing processes has led to reductions in re-work, minimised packaging defects and increased productivity. Plant availability has increased by the introduction of the "Total Productive Maintenance" through effective participation of shop floor personnel in plant maintenance operation, the report states.

It said the Group has also invested heavily in both capital and management time in the installation of a Mapics Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) package. This was in part to overcome the problems associated with the millennium change. The improvement in productivity that will follow from this system is yet to be garnered. However, the company is confident that the system now in place will make the Group much more cost effective and competitive.

Despite the adverse trading conditions DPL also continued to invest on systems to improve quality assurance to customers. During the last two years, the Group has developed an automated defect tracking system. Linked to structured process control, it allows speedy detection of process and product variably and helps bring about consistency.

DPL manufactures gloves in conformance with the ISO 9002 Quality Management System, which is independently certified by the Sri Lanka Standard Institution. DPL products also conform to other international standards such as ASTM (American Standard for Testing Materials), JIS (Japanese International Standards) and CE (EEC Standards).

In the plantation sector, DPL's subsidiary company Kelani Valley Plantations Ltd (KVPL) will benefit from the emergence of both tea and rubber from the bottom of their respective commodity cycles. Prospects for rubber look especially bullish due to a number of factors including rising oil prices (which affect synthetic rubber), stronger economic conditions in South East Asia and strong performance of western economies especially in Europe. The forecast for tea is also good in the near to medium term as it would take some time for the crop shortages in India and Kenya to be balanced, the report said.

Estate tea and rubber production had increased by 6 per cent and 4 per cent respectively in 1999. Yields have risen 19 per cent for tea and 7 per cent for rubber compared to levels before privatization.

Other factors that contributed towards the growth to tea and rubber was the consistent implementation of improved agriculture and field operational practices in all aspects of land and crop management, soil conditioning in the plantations (enrichment of degraded land is being done by the introduction of compost), and a mechanised uprooting system to increase the output of rubber trees uprooted. In the plantations that lack labour, mechanical harvesting and pruning of tea is particularly successful. New tea driers installed in Tillyrie, Robgill, Ingestre, Ederapolla and Halgolla have helped increase the plantations' production and improve quality.

VPL has also made a conscious effort to improve housekeeping practices. Several training programmes are being conducted to introduce the "5S" philosophy to the plantation staff and a few plantations have made considerable progress in this area. All 26 plantations are computerized to provide financial accounting and wage related information to management at the plantation level.

The report adds that a major area of opportunity for KVPL is in forestry products. KVPL has the land and the management capability to plant 200,000 trees in the next five years. This could be in some of the less accessible lands and also in ravines and other uncultivated areas. The growth of these trees could have a significant impact on watershed management of the country and contribute to the absorption of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Sri Lanka has a deficit of high quality timber, which we have the means to meet, from forestry development. However, none of these projects can get off the ground without reconsideration of the current regulations on felling trees, the report observes.

The Managing Director's review concludes that, "We are confident that we can deliver a better year in the Millennium".

Thilan calls for non-competitive behaviour among apparel exporters

By Akhry Ameer

BOI Chief Mr Thilan Wijesinghe called for "non-competitive behaviour to prosper beyond 2004 when Sri Lanka loses quota allocation on apparels" at the 5th

A GM of the National Apparel Exporters Association last week.

Mr. Wijesinghe attributed the decline in our market share to several reasons including the establishment of NAFTA, the European Union and the Africa Bill, the e-commerce revolution, quota free apparel exports and the loss of human capital to other areas like Mid-East jobs as waves of globalization that affect apparel exports.

In order to overcome these problems he called for a collective minimization of non-competitive behaviour. He explained the seven patterns of non-competitive behaviour outlined by Michael Fairbanks and how they relate to Sri Lanka.

Some of them are the poor understanding of customers where the local organizations tend to produce goods and then try to look for markets; paternalism where the government feels over-responsible for the success of the industry and conversely the organizations depending on the government; failure to forward integrate where the local firms tend to rely on intermediaries.

Mr Wijesinghe observed that a shared vision and a proper strategy as some of the factors of a framework for action necessary towards eliciting competitive behaviour.

Spelling out some of the initiatives being taken by the BOI to counter the waves of globalization he said that the BOI aims to bridge the gap in the fabric base, human resources development, e-commerce and logistics infrastructure, market research and local and international PR and image building.

To enhance the fabric base the BOI would provide cash subsidy for factory additions, subsidy on electricity for spinning and weaving and negotiate with India in establishing a domestic trading area for Indian fabric.

The BOI would also part fund the setting up of training institutes for apparel design and marketing provided that it is run by the private sector.

In addition the BOI is to implement an EDI project and to fast track stage two of ELVIS that would further minimize transparencies in quota allocation.

On the market research, Mr. Wijesinghe said that no proper research has been carried out so far and stressed the need for research which again could be achieved through funds from the BOI and the private sector.

He also said that although the Sri Lankan apparel industry excels in safety, quality and HR standards these have not been made use of in building an image for Sri Lanka in the international market.

The BOI intends to hire professional trade negotiators in Washington, European Union and New Delhi for this purpose, which too would require funding from both parties.

Mr. Wijesinghe also said that the apparel exporters should work towards paradigm shift towards providing a service. This would in turn help the industry by becoming a hub for exhibitions, fashion in the east, air and freight routes, etc.

He cited the Swiss watch manufacturing industry's literal shift to the jewellery business in the 60's to compete with Japanese market as an example.

Mr. Wijesinghe also called upon the Association to nominate a core team comprising small, medium and large scale exporters and other support services to work closely with the BOI in implementing these plans and further strengthen the industry.

The Association also announced the sponsorship of their welfare project, the Ranaviru IT Training Institute, at their AGM. This project aims to sponsor and implement an Information Technology Training Institute for the benefit of the members and families of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

The Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders Association and the Sri Lanka garment Buying Offices Association would join hands to sponsor the proposed institute at a cost of Rs. 8.2 million.

The institute would arrange an affiliation or franchise with the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) so that it may benefit by obtaining recognition for its courses and in other areas.

The proposed location of the institute would be either Nittambuwa or Anuradhapura. It would be run by civilian staff under the supervision of a Board that would include representatives from the association, Directorate of Welfare of the Sri Lanka Army.

Sponsorship presentations by the representatives of the three associations were made to the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Lt. Gen. Sri Lal Weerasooriya. The commander in his speech of acceptance commended this effort as a morale boosting, meritorious act to the armed forces.

He also recognized the association's previous efforts in setting up of the successful Ranaviru Apparels project for disabled soldiers.

The Chairman of the BOI in his address also said that he would look into the possibility of supporting this supporting this project by linking it to the BOI's plans to set up 50 IT centres in rural schools.

Mr. Premalal Mendis succeeds Mr. Ajith Wijeysekera as Chairman of the Association for the year 2000/01.

New from Hewlett Packard

The Hewlett Packard company recently introduced a new range of electronic products to the market. They are the HP e-vectra desktop computer, the HP Scanjet 53000 c Scanner and the HP Desk jet 840c plus printer.

The new, dictionary- sized e-PC, which weighs just 3.8Kilograms, can be wall-or under-counter- mounted. It combines PC functionality with e-service tools and support to create a desktop that improves service experience for users and IT managers alike.

The new HP Scanjet 5300c scanner will support connectivity to Apple's popular Macintosh computers. The new Mac solution that ships with the HP Scanjet 5300c scanner is designed to run on Mac OS 8.5 and above, and the scanners are compatible with all Macintosh systems with the power PC processor and USB ports, including iMacs and IBooks.

The HP Scanjet 5300 Mac-compatible scanner represents a leap forward for scanners in this price range. The new offering from HP will deliver industry-leading 1200 dots per inch (dpi) optical resolution; exceptional image quality; and easy-to-use, intuitive software.

The new HP Deskjet 840c plus printer features built in-photo-quality printing with HP's award winning PhotoREt11 colour layering technology.

The printer offers an alternative photo mode, which prints upto 1,200 dots per inch(dpi)-(600dpix1,200 dpi on photo paper.)The Deskjet 840c Plus printer users also will benefit from the inclusion of HP Colorsmart3, a feature found in the Deskjet 900 series printers. Colorsmart 3-the latest advancement in HP Colorsmart technology-delivers features that intelligently analyse documents.

The desk jet 840c printer's fast print speeds of upto8pages per minute(ppm) in black and upto 5ppm in colour will help users quickly create projects a company release said

Elizabeth Arden Millennium skin care

Refirms, revitalises, rehydrates, renews and restores. Yes, that is what it promises, fulfilling the dreams of every woman.

Elizabeth Arden Millennium products are luxurious and pampering an alternative to tired, dry, older-looking skin. Millennium recalls skin's youthful ability to effectively conserve and use its vital inner moisture. It promises to relax dry lines and renew and revitalise your skin. This will leave you looking radiant and will defend skin from environmental stress.

Millennium product cater to a variety of customers, like those whose skin has reached a turning point, those taking extra care of skin, those having dull, dry and tired skin, or those simply wanting to boost their skin or taking the plunge to invest in her skin's future. Whoever it may be there is no age limit! You could be that smart woman in your 40's, 60's or even older.

Millennium customers should take notice that all products are all`ergy tested and clinically tested which makes you use it with confidence.

Millennium improves the cell renewal rate by an average of over 25%. In a group of test subjects with an average age of 42 years, the cell renewal rate in, skin treated with millennium was more than 25% faster, on average than in untreated skin.

Millennium improves both cell quality and skin appearance. Within several days of use, the overall condition of skin had noticeably improved - an indication that newer, more moist, better quality cells were rising more rapidly to the surface.

After several months of use you will notice that severely dry skin had progressed to showing only slight to almost no signs of dryness.

FCB wins Taco Bell

Taco Bell, a leading fast food restaurant chain in the United States of America has awarded their entire advertising account to FCB San Francisco and FCB Southern California.

Taco Bell, which specializes in Mexican Food, has over $ 5 Billion in sales in the US and is one of the three brands owned by Tricon-Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Two of these brands operate in Sri Lanka presently.

This win follows on the heels of two other massive international accounts - Compaq and Boeing, which were won by FCB recently.

Founded in 1873, FCB Worldwide is the fifth largest advertising agency globally and the largest in the United States of America, with approximate billings of $9 billion.

Servicing clients in 86 countries around the world, FCB Worldwide's roster includes S.C. Johnson, DaimlerChrysler, Bristol-Myers, Nabisco, Ray-Ban, Quaker Oats, Coors and Beiersdorf.

FCB Worldwide is ranked No. 1 in the US and No. 5 worldwide. The Agency is the largest of 3 agency brands owned by True North Communications Inc., the holding Company.

Minds FCB is the local office of FCB Worldwide, currently servicing leading local and multi-national blue chip accounts such as Lakspray, Sri Lanka Telecom, Ericsson, Dialog GSM, Toyota, Citibank, Samsung and Triumph International.

New accounting software from TCS

TCS announced its brand new business accounting software 'Personal Accountant' targeted at small business and home segment. The Product will be made available through TCS' Premium business Partner M/s AIMS Computer International (Pvt) Ltd., a news release said.

The Personal Accountant has been specifically redesigned to address the need of the small business segment. It has everything that the user would expect of an accounting software rich functionality, the latest in technology and simple easy-to-use user interface. It supports Multi Company business accounting general ledger, Receivables/payable, Flexible invoicing, Stock management and Exhaustive reports with export facility.

Since its launch 6 months back, personal accountant has already sold 80,000 copies all across India. After establishing Personal accountant in other countries, TCS intends to take the Sri Lanka market by storm. The higher end software E.X. Next Generation 2.0 will also be released in due course. EX Next Generation, today in Sri Lanka has more than 600 users and is marketed through its strong distribution channel partners.

As the original package E.X. Next Generation being priced at Rs. 39, 500/- a need was felt for an accounting software at the lower end of the market segment which satisfied the basic needs of students willing to take up accounting as their career, small businessmen and professionals. With this in mind TCS and AIMS are proud to announce the launch of E. X. Personal Accountant a re-engineered accounting software that will satisfy all the requirements of the SOHO (Small Office Home Office) and SME (Small Medium Enterprises) market segments in Sri Lanka. This product will be launched in the first week of August 2000 at a price of Rs. 9,950/-, however an introductory offer of Rs. 6,950/- will be made during the first 45 days.

Respect yourself and others says Shirley

Self-assertiveness was the focus of a presentation by Major Shirley Silva at a recent Sunday Times/Celltel Business Club meeting. Major Silva is a personnel skills development trainer.

"There are three ways to confront a situation- acceptance, fight or flight" Major Silva said. He dwelled on the different implications of being passive or aggressive in order to help Business Club members gain an insight into their behaviour patterns.

He defined aggressive behaviour as manipulative. It involves getting your way at the expense of other people, making sure you always come out the winner without consideration for others.

However being passive entails putting up with anything in order to avoid rocking the boat, he said. Passivity may result in your being a victim and not saying anything at a difficult time and feeling awful about it afterwards, Major Silva said. Being passive may result in your losing self respect because you are dominated and cannot change things. Being assertive involves being honest with your self and being able to say what you want feel or need although not at the expense of other people.

Being confident, positive and understanding another persons point of view is essential to be assertive.

Rational adult behaviour and the ability to negotiate and reach workable compromises is fundamental to being assertive. Self respect and respect for other people is also apart of an assertive persons armour.

In order to be assertive it is necessary to listen actively to what is being said and show that you understand what is being said. It is necessary to state your feelings and views.

Assertiveness behavioural techniques involve the use of body language, negotiation, anger control, active listening and the broken record technique (repeating). Major Silva also gave members some tips on how to develop listening skills, how to say no effectively and how to give praise or criticism.

Celltel awarded flagship status by BOI

Celltel Lanka Limited, the pioneer cellular company in Sri Lanka has been granted Flagship Status by the Board Of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) in recognition of the investments made by the company since it became a BOI company in 1993. Celltel had invested over US $ 65M during this period - an investment of US $ 15M more than the stipulated investment for Flagship Status. Celltel Lanka Limited is a 99.8 per cent owned subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular S. A.

In a statement BOI Chairman, Thilan Wijesinghe said he was proud that Flagship Status has been granted to Celltel as it was one of the largest investors in the telecommunication sector in Sri Lanka and the pioneer of cellular technology in South Asia.

He recalled that Celltel had begun its commercial operations in Sri Lanka in 1989 when the investor climate was rather bleak, but had moved ahead regardless to consolidate its formidable presence in the country's telecommunications sector, says a news release.

Celltel's Chief Financial Officer Riyaaz Rasheed added that "the Flagship Status awarded to the company has enabled Celltel's tax holidays to be extended to a period of 15 years". Furthermore, the company is now able to enjoy the benefits of tax concessions and easing of exchange control on imports. Mr. Rasheed was very optimistic that shareholders would be greatly encouraged by this new development, as it was clearly indicative of the continuing support given by the Government of Sri Lanka. He stressed that "the benefits received via the Flagship Status will also promote the industry as a whole, because Celltel will be in position to pass on some of these gains to the end-users, which will result in tremendous growth within the industry."

Celltel recently commissioned its digital GSM network with an investment of US $ 10M, offering subscribers the benefit of breakthrough technologies in communications, information and entertainment. Its new network "Infiniti" is operated alongsde the company's existing analog network which services more than 110, 000 subscribers. Celltel coverage spans all major cities in Sri Lanka excluding the North and East.

SLT connects rural Boyagoda

After centuries of isolation, the people of Boyagoda have finally been connected to the rest of the world, through Sri Lanka Telecom's National Telephone Network, using modern wireless radio technology.

Rural and remote Boyagoda is about ten kilometres off the Colombo- Kegalle main road, nestled on a valley surrounded by uneven terrain. Due to its distance and somewhat inhospitable terrain, the provision of basic utilities had always been a big problem for these folks. It was virtually impossible to provide telephone services through normal landline cable telephony, and the costs for doing so would have been prohibitively expensive. Therefore, lack of these basic necessities had caused many longtime residents of the area to leave their ancestral village in search of greener pastures.

Sri Lanka Telecom, having considered requests from the residents of Boyagoda, took necessary steps to provide telephony to this area using the latest radio technology, DRMASS (Digital Radio Multi Access Subscriber System). On the first day after its launch of operations, SLT provided 14 telephone connections, an SLT release says.

Sri Lanka Telecom has already provided telephone services deploying RLL (Radio Local Loop) and DRMASS technologies, to very remote and difficult areas such as Putuhapuwa, Norochchole, Laggala and Diyabeduma where landline technology is practically impossible or prohibitively expensive.

APIIT - Lanka complimented

Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) Lanka, one of the most reputed IT Training Institutes in the country, announced that the first monitoring visit from Staffordshire University which has validated its courses of study has been successfully concluded, with the renewed commitment of the University to strongly support APIIT Lanka to offer the best IT education in Sri Lanka, says a news release.

The validation agreement between APIIT Lanka, and the Staffordshire University was signed in January 2000. This agreement validates APIIT Lanka's Diploma and Higher Diploma programmes to be equivalent to the first year and the second year of a University Degree programme of Staffordshire and 16 other Universities in UK and Australia including Monash University. This validation for APIIT has been given only after stringent evaluation and assessment of the total facility, by a 6-member panel from the Universities of Liverpool, Bradford, Manchester Metropolitan and Staffordshire.

Staffordshire University is internationally well known for its computer school. This dedicated school for Information Technology related disciplines was formed over 35 years ago and now has over 2000 full time students and boasts of a 85 member strong faculty. Twenty percent of its student population is from outside Britain. The University awarded its first Information Technology degree in 1964; first ever Information Technology degree awarded in the world was in 1963.

Course for accountants

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Certified Institute of Management Accountants of Australia, to provide training and research material in the area of Management Accounting for the benefit of Members of ICASL. Arising from the above the Institute is conducting in August 2000 a course on "Strategic Management Accounting " of 7 days duration with technical collaboration of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Australia (ICMA). This course was conducted twice previously with great success,. a news release said.

JKH and SLT sign agreement

John Keells Holdings and Sri Lanka Telecom signed a Rs. 240 million agreement to build the countrys largest Wide Area Network (WAN) connecting 150 JKH locations, a release says.

The network will provide voice, data and other multi-media services such as video conferencing, connecting the JKH head office and other metropolitan offices, JKH supermarkets, hotels and plantations country wide. The latest state-of-the-art technology will be used for this project.

It would be of great benefit not only to the two organizations but also to the country as a whole said JKH Chairman Ken Balendra. Sri Lanka Telecom CEO, S. Hashimoto said that this venture clearly demonstrated the confidence the corporate sector had in SLT.

A time of change for Lloyd's agents

The inaugural Global Conference of Lloyd's Agents was held on London at the CafÈ Royal from the 10th to the 12th of July, 2000. The theme of the conference was "A Time Change'

Lloyd's Agents in Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives-Aitken Spence & Co. Ltd., was represented at the conference by Mrs. Nimmi de A Guneratne, LL.B, Attorney-at-Law, F.C.I.I., who is the General Manager of the Lloyd's Agency, and the Managing Director of Aitken Spence Insurance (Pvt) Ltd.

She had the honour of being appointed the area Representative for the Indian Sub-Continent and made a presentation at the conference, reflecting the views of ten Lloyd's Agents in the region, and also gave an insight of the reaction of Asian countries to legislative and economic changes.

The main objective of the conference was to provide an opportunity to identify the challengs facing the Lloyd's Agent and the impact they might have on their fortunes and business. The conference was concluded successfully with a gala dinner in the Painted Hall of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, says a news release

More Business

Return to Business Contents