Lanka at IT & CMA' 2000 

IT&CMA is one of the premier MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) related events within the Asia-Pacific region, with some 250 exhibitors and an equal number of buyers and over 1,000 trade visitors participating. These buyers visit IT&CMA to explore the possibility of venturing in to new tourism destinations in the Asia & Pacific regions, says a news release 

In addition, this year's IT&CMA comprised of over 21 country pavilions from the Asian region where each country depicted different product images and the developments for the new millennium. 

The Sri Lanka booth while maintaining the corporte identity depicted the variety and diversity of the island. His Excellency D.Y. Liyanage, High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Malaysia, and Ms. Aruni Wijewardane, Deputy High Commissioner visited the Sri Lanka booth. 

IT&CMA has proved to be one of the potential exhibitions where numerous contacts have been established with the world MICE Tourism industry. Sri Lanka booth was ideally located at the centre of the hall along with country pavilions such as Macau, Malaysia and Korea. 

The members of the Sri Lanka delegation made definite contacts and had ample networking opportunities with the buyers who visited the Sri Lanka booth. . 

SLT Metro region achieves major milestone

This is the very first time in the history of Sri Lanka Telecom's Fault Clearance activities that this seemingly impossible target of 'Zero Faults' (no unattended fault left overnight) was achieved. 

This landmark achievement was made possible due to a series of progressive steps taken, firstly by striving to reduce the number of faults reported, while at the same time in clearing the reported faults expeditiously.The rapid upgrading of the network, together with the digitalization of the telephone exchanges, considerably reduced the number of faults reported on a daily basis. In addition to this, the faults were cleared effectively by the introduction of modern Fault Clearance Systems, streamlining of maintenance and repair activities, setting-up of Call Centers -'121' for efficient Fault Reporting, etc. 

"But most importantly, the real success came with the 'People Factor', when every single member of the Metro Regional Team put their heart and soul with total commitment and dedication, which contributed to an attitudinal change, high motivation and morale to somehow achieve this seemingly illusive target of 'Zero Faults'", said Mr.G.S.P. Rodrigo, SLT's Head of Metro Region.

Telephone faults have always be a major bugbear for subscribers, as well as for the SLT, over the last so many years. 

In the past it used to take many days and sometimes even weeks and perhaps months, for a phone line to be repaired. Even as recently as 1999 there used to be around 8,000 faults reported in a single day. However out of this, less than half could be cleared within the same day, resulting in a backlog being continuously piled-up, causing great inconvenience to many subscribers.

Today this figure has drastically been reduced to around 1000, due to the effective preventive measures taken. 

On average, up to 96% of all reported faults are cleared within 24 hours in the Metro Region. SLT is now continuously trying to improve this, by gradually moving towards a system, whereby all faults reported in a single day, are cleared within the same day.

At the Awards Ceremony recently to felicitate all those who made this 'Zero Faults' dream a reality, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom Mr. Lalith de Mel said, "This major milestone to record a zero fault could be considered as the single most important achiev-ement made by SLT this year". "After all, what is most important to a telephone subscriber is a phone that works, and if it becomes faulty, to have it repaired, as fast as possible" he added.

SLT's CEO Mr. Satoru Hashimoto said, "This demonstrates our commitment to Customer Care and we must now begin to build a strong reputation as a customer-focused and market-driven organization," He also urged the outstation regions to emulate this admirable feat of clearing all faults reported within the same day.

workshops on estate financial management 

The preamble to the brochure prepared by NIPM in connection with this workshop states that the planter lives in a changing environment and it has never been so good for the privatised plantation sector.

It goes on to say that the plantations having effective financial control systems in place will have more time available to concentrate on functions like product quality and marketing. 

According to the training faculty staff attached to NIPM, accounting still remains a mystery to many plantation managers/asst.Managers. 

Many see it as difficult, while having to work with numbers put them off. Many managers not only in the plantation sector see it as common sense deliberately wrapped in impenetrable conventions and formats, so that specialists can keep their monopoly.

The NIPM states, the real purpose of this special workshop is to unravel these mysteries in a clear format relevant to plantations that reduces complexity without over simplification. The workshop has been designed with a view to application in plantation management rather than with accounting from a purist perspective and consequently not to become enmeshed with the intricate concepts of it.

To draw an analogy no one should understand how all parts of a motor vehicle work in order to drive it. This programme may be about driving but not of mechanics. It sets out to allow the participant to monitor how the vehicle is doing on the road by reading the appropriate dials and signals. The workshop is absolutely devoid of technical rigour. 

This workshop consists of seven modules namely introduction to key financial statements, financial statements of the estate, tools of financial analysis, fund flow and working capital management on estate, an insight into management accounting on estate, information needs of estate and corporate level management and internal control systems for the estate. 

The workshop will be of 2-4 days duration depending on the specific requirements of the participants and NIPM is quite willing and prepared to conduct the workshop in the respective company premises in any planting district.

They are also prepared to allow workshop contents to be discussed, added, deleted or flexed in any manner to suit their own requirements.

The workshop will also be conducted at the main training centre Aturugiriya. The NIPM also indicates that very valuable reference material (not mere handouts) will be made available to the participants which will be useful in practical application of plantation accounting and financial concepts. 

The training faculty staff of NIPM have had an overwhelming response from the Plantation companies contacted so far and 130 planting personnel have confirmed their participation at 5 workshops to be conducted shortly at several planting districts and at Aturugiriya. 

SLIM recognises top local brands at symposium

This prestigious event is held with a view to recognising the success of local brands that have made it to the top of their respective fields. It provides a forum for successful Sri Lankan brands to share their learnings and experiences with the objective of transferring best practices to the rest of the Marketing/business community. 

Local brands recognised in such a manner in the past are HNB, Arpico, Clogard, Puttalam Cement, Vanik and Dankotuwa Porcelain

This year the 3 brands which will present their success stories are - Siddhalepa, Sirasa and Dilmah. 

Creators of the brand themselves will address the gathering enabling participants to experience first hand the passion and excitement of how dreams became a reality.

The Siddhalepa story will be related by Managing Director - Asoka Hettigoda. The story behind this success was the untiring focus on quality in order to compete with international brands. This has enabled Siddahalepa to not only become a household name in Sri Lanka, but also the largest manufacturer and exporter of ayurvedic products in the country.

Nimal Laxapathi-aarachchi Director of Sirasa, will present the story of the new age media channel. Sirasa Radio was launched in 1994, bringing a wave of change to the local media scene through interactive communication. With the launch of Sirasa TV four years later, Sirasa become a market leader of a new concept audio video communications in the country.

Managing Director Malik J Fernando of Dilmah will elucidate on the pioneering and challenging task of how they converted a 3rd world country export commodity, which had been marketed as a raw material for over 100 years, into a global brand thus enabling value addition for the brand the company and the country.

The programme is targeted at CEO's of local Companies and Marketing and Advertising professionals. For further information please contact Tamara on Tel No. 310023

BAM diversifies into Information Technology

The BAM Group is a diversified export oriented organisation engaged in the manufacture of ready-made apparel, latex rubber products, thin film plastic bags and the processing of rough diamonds into polished ones, in addition to IT related services.

The group turnover exceeds one billion rupees per annum and employs 3000 persons. 

Bee Search, the first Sri Lankan search engine, (http://www.bee.lk) is currently indexing more than 50,000 web pages, directly or indirectly related to Sri Lanka, on about 600 web sites.

This number is growing rapidly. Sites suggested by visitors are added to the index after verifying their suitability. Bee Servers will soon become a platform for buyers and sellers to meet. 

The products that will be available at the initial stages will be automobiles, real estate books, computers and accessories.

This will not simply be a replacement for classified advertisement columns, but will contain full featured search facilities for the visitors to find the product they need quickly. 

The lack of a payment gateway between banks has made it impossible to use credit card transactions, but alternative payment schemes such as Sampath Bank's Internet banking facilities will be provided. 

Also banks are working to facilitate more Internet based transactions, and Bee Servers will utilise them when available. 

Some products, such as automobiles and real estate, will not be unutilised for obvious reasons

'Amnesty' from Celltel Lanka

Under this scheme, any person who has ever been a CellCard subscriber and been disconnected, may get reconnected free of charge an also receive surprise bonanza, regardless of he reason for disconnection or the period he or she was inactive. Over the past three months, using the CellCard system has become substantially more affordable, consequent to the offer of free airtime of up to one minute on incoming calls, and new off-peak (8pm to 8am) incoming tariff rated as low as Rs 2 per call of unlimited duration.

Coconet Online unveils 

SL specific sites

By Akhry Ameer

All sites have been designed to carry localized news with magazine style accessibility targeting the South Asian region web surfers. Carrying over 8000 pages of information these sites are the result of 3 years of research, development, structuring and designing. The information is delivered through interactive databases reducing the number of ëclicksí the user has to go through to obtain them. It also offers users an email service. Businesses will also be able to advertise in these sites using the various internet advertising tools like banners, buttons, etc.

The new site addresses are 
 www.SriLankaPage.com, 
 www.SriLankaElections.com, 
 www.SriLankansAbroad.com, 
 www.SriLankanResorts.com, 
 www.SriLankaTravellers.co, 
 www.Justeen.com.

Although these sites span six different addresses according to the various categories, the surfer will only need to access the Sri Lanka Page as this is designed to be a one stop information service directory which will link the other sites according to preferences. 

The site also has information on demographics, economy, life, art, culture, religion, temples, customs, festivals, events, currency, investment and politics in Sri Lanka thus ensuring that the user does not have to leave the site to find information. 

CoconetOnline is a member of the Interlink Group that is one of the pioneers in the Sri Lankan IT industry.

Hayleys in the news

Appointed agent for XES 

Announcing the appointment, Hayleys Photoprint said the company would initially market wide format copiers, printers, digital systems and scanners and subsequently introduce several revolutionary wide format products that would be new to Sri Lanka. 

In Sri Lanka ffrom Xerox Engineering Systems U.K. to finalise the appointment were Arvind Sanghrajka, Business Development Consultant and Mike Rowlett - Senior Vice President and General Manager Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. Mike Rowlett said engineering and architectural professionals in Sri Lanka will now have access to the best Digital Document Systems, printing and reproduction equipment and a robust after sales service, bringing them on par with the rest of the world. 

Commenting on the appointment, Hayleys Photoprint's Director/General Manager Ashan Abeyesundere said his company was privileged to be appointed the sole agent for XES within a few months of obtaining the Xerox agency. 

"This will enable us to effectively cater to the challenging demands of the corporate sector," he added. 

Xerox Engineering Systems is a subsidiary of Xerox Corporation which commenced business in 1906 as The Haloid Company. Xerox (renamed in 1961) is known worldwide today as "The Document Company," . 

Hayleys Electronics wins award

The award for the "Distributor of the year for outstanding achievements in White Goods" in the Middle East and Africa Region was presented at Daewoo's Annual Distributor Conference in Dubai. The White Goods category includes refrigerators, washing machines and cookers. 

This award acknowledges the high quality performance in sales and marketing of Hayleys Electronics during the year, as well as the company's advertising and promotional activities to build Daewoo's brand image and market in Sri Lanka. 

Some of the others in contention for the award were distributors from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Cyprus, Qatar, Lebanon, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, South Africa and Kenya. 

Ms Keshini Ediriwira, General Manager of Hayleys Electronics said: "When selecting award winners, Daewoo Electronics has considered not only the gross business volume but market shares and growth rates achieved in each country as well as the competition and the business environment. It is noteworthy that Sri Lanka was selected from a group of countries with generally much higher average income levels and market sizes." 

Ms Ediriwira said Hayleys Electronics relinquished the Whirlpool Agency when the company became sole agent in Sri Lanka for Daewoo Electronics at the end of 1997. Sales volumes of Daewoo products have increased by 100 percent from the first to the third year of operations. Daewoo is in the top four manufacturers worldwide of VCR's and Mocrowaves and is among the world's leaders in television and White Goods. 

LOLC and Athwela to promote small business

Under this arrangement, a series of seminars targeted at the small and medium size enterprises will be held in provincial cities in the Sinhala medium. The first seminar of the series will be held at the Nupe Cultural Centre at Matara on the 28th of this month. The objective of the series of seminars is to help entrepreneurs to cultivate positive attidutes which will be useful in developing their business activities. 

The seminar at Matara will be addressed by the veteran management trainer, Mr. Nihal Dissanayake, the Chief Editor of Athwela Business Magazine and the former President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, Mr. Deepal Sooriyarac-hchi who is also the General Manager of the Eagle Insurance Company. 

The theme of the series of seminars will be "Self Development" and "Succeeding in Business". The second and third seminars of this series will be held in Badulla on 25th November 2000 and in Anuradhapura on 27th January 2001. 

Two giants join hands 

On the strength of the AAA rating obtained by John Keells Holdings Ltd., NSB granted a facility of Rs. 200 Mn. on a unsecured promissory note lead managed by Nations Trust Bank. This will undoubtedly boost the much needed confidence required for the development of the debt market in the country and also would give the due recognition to the credit rating by Duff and Phelps Credit Rating Lanka Ltd., the only credit rating institution in Sri Lanka. NSB is proud of being the financial partner of John Keells Holdings Ltd., and to be the first financier to join with JKH after obtaining the AAA rating. 

"We were impressed with the bank's ability to price and structure the deal and their initiative in approaching us with a well structured proposal", commented Mr. Vivendra Lintotawela, Deputy Chairman of John Keells Holdings Ltd. "Debt papers of this quality are obviously attractive to us" said Mr. N.B.S.B. Balalle, the General Manager of National Savings Bank. "With volatility in the interest rates market, nimble investors like NSB are quick to move on opportunities of this nature" noted Mr. S.H. Piyasiri, Deputy General Manager, NSB. 

Nations Trust Bank, despite being a relatively newcomer to the financial market was successful in arranging the first AAA rated debt issuance in the country. "We are optimistic that this deal will act as a catalyst for the expansion of the local debt market," said Mr. Anura Gunasekara, General Manager of Nations Trust Bank. 

The Agreement was signed at the premises of NSB on 4th October, 2000, by Mr. L.D.C. Herath, Chairman, and Mr. M.D.M. Rizvi - Director of the National Savings Bank and the Deputy Chairman, Mr. V. Lintotawela, and Director - Mr. Ajith Gunawardena of John Keells Holdings Ltd.

New snack from Ceylon Biscuits

The new products are : Ritzbury "Pebbles" - multi-coloured sugar coated chocolate beans, "Catch Me" - a snack product in 2 variants "Spicy Onion" and "Spicy Chicken". The company also introduced "Roses" - rose-shaped chocolates with a soft butterscotch filling and re-launched Ritzbury Milk chocolate slabs while introducing two new flavours: Orange and Vanilla to the slab range. These new products were formally launched at the Grand Oriental Hotel on 30th September. 

Ritzbury, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd. has been a pioneer in exploring the possibilities of chocolate confectionary in new forms in this country. The company first entered the chocolate business in 1990. They recently purchased a complete line from the UK to manufacture "Pebbles". This product was developed in-house after extensive research, and it is the first time a product of his nature has been locally manufactured. Ritzbury plans to export very large volumes of this product to markets in the SAARC region, epecially India. 

"Roses" comes in a gift pack specially designed and priced to fill a vacuum in the targeted gift market segment. Ritzbury has recognized the need to broaden its product range to satisfy the customer needs. More variants to the chocolate slab range will follow in the coming months. 

"Catch Me", the trendy new snack pack is packed in a triple laminated pack under special procedure which ensure total freshness. The company invested in state-of-the-art production lines from the USA and Italy for the manufacture of this product. 

With the expansion of the company's product range, two distribution networks Ranges "A" and "B" have been established. The "A" Range will distribute Ritzbury Chocolates and snack foods as well as Lanka Soy Products (Lanka Soy was recently acquired by Ceylon Biscuits). The "B" Range will distribute Munchee Biscuits and wafers.

In the sky

Emirates launches new website

Accessible at www.emirates.com, one of the most innovative features of the site enables the visitor to take a virtual tour of Emirates' fabulous new First and Business Class lounges at Dubai International Airport. They can also view animated images of the Business Class seats in the state-of-the-art Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft. 

Mike Simon, Director Corporate Communications, said "As our flagship web site, this now provides us with a first platform upon which to base much of the airline's future on-line marketing and e-commerce activity, including on-line booking around the network, communication with Skywards members, special offers and e-recruitment." 

"We are already working on some more ground-breaking ideas for the next stage of development." 

The new site allows UAE residents to book flights to any of the airline's 52 destinations. With the aid of "Flash" technology, passengers can plan trips by navigating the Emirates' route map, zooming in on particular destinations and clicking on them to get up-to-date information. 

The new site also enables visitors to check out the status of a flight, whether it will be on the time or delayed. Improved links to Skywards, the frequent flyer programme of Emirates and SriLankan Airlines, enable visitors to join online, while existing members can check the latest promotion and their mileage account. 

Emirates' emphasis or training is supported by comprehensive information on recruitment and the facility to take a virtual tour of the airline's flight training simulators. 

Another of the site's innovations is the new media centre which gives up-to-minutes news and information on Emirates. 

One more from Thai

The new flight will be operated by Air Bus A300-600, the aircraft can accommodate 46 seats in Royal Executive Class and 201 seats in Economy class as per following flight details: 

Bangkok to Colombo on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday Departure Bangkok 2210 hours Arrival Colombo 0030 hours next day. 

Colombo to Bangkok on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday Departure Colombo 0150 hours Arrival Bangkok 0610 hours. 

Shishadara fulfilling a noble cause 

While conventional competitions offer prizes of TV's and radios, cars and other material goods, it is seldom that one thinks of offering educational assistance as a prize, a company release said. That is how the unique Shishadara Programme began. 

This programme, which has run for four consecutive years has proved to be an outstanding success and a source of relief to many students the release said. 

The programme entitles any child who buys 100 gms of Munchee Tkiri to enter the draw. The company then draws 120 entries and awards each of them with Rs. 750 per month for a year. 

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