Coconut growers urge protectionist measures

Sri Lankan coconut prices are no longer determined by supply and demand but the manipulation of the import duty structure on edible oil, said D.V. Aponso, new chairman of the Coconut Growers' Association of Sri Lanka.

"The Central Bank report for 2000 says that the price of coconuts was less than the production price. The coconut grower needs to get protection from assault by so-called globalisation and their proposed tariff structure," he told the 7th annual general meeting of the association held in Colombo recently.

He said coconut growers can't compete with palm oil as an acre of palm trees yields four times the oil yielded by an acre of coconut trees. "Most palm trees in Malaysia and Indonesia are more than thousands of acres in extent and benefit from the economies of scale. Further there are heavy subsidies for planting new areas, replanting, development and marketing," Aponso added.

Lion beer gets ISO and FDA approval

"Lion" beer recently made its mark in the quality arena by being the only brewer in Sri Lanka to be ISO certified and also take its place among the few elite Asian brewers which have received such certification, the company said in a statement.

Comprehensive in its coverage of all aspects of the manufacturing process (from raw materials to finished products in the market), ISO certification is specified as a must by all major retail chains in Europe and America.

The ISO certification of "Lion" was achieved through close collaboration with Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Ltd. (LRQA), the oldest, largest and the most credible independent third party certification societies in the world, the statement said.

Founded in 1760, Lloyd's has certified over 30,000 companies in over 113 countries worldwide including corporate giants and household names such as BMW, Unilever, (Bestfoods, Birds Eye, Wall's), Heinz, Kelloggs, Philip Morris (Kraft, Nabisco), Cadbury, DHL, Shell and 3M to name just a few.

In addition to its initial ISO certification of "Lion", Lloyd's continues to conduct Surveillance Audits of the "Lion" manufacturing process every six months as well.

Prasanna Amerasinghe, Director, Marketing, of "Lion", said buyers of "Lion" in international markets such as the UK, USA, France, Switzerland and Australia had specified that ISO certification is a must for "Lion" to be marketed in those countries.

He said that "Lion" had gone one step further by also obtaining FDA Approval (The US Food and Drug Administration) for its brands since the USA has now become a big market for "Lion".

"Lion" has also been awarded certification by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and Deutscher Akkreditierungs Rat (DAR) for its manufacturing and packaging of beer, which now assures consumers in international markets that "Lion" is truly of international quality, he was quoted as saying in the statement.

Golden jubilee trade show in Japan

Fifty years of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Japan will be celebrated on a grand scale in Japan, in September 2002. It will be a complete Sri Lankan show focusing on its rich heritage, culture and handicrafts.

The event is being organised by the Sri Lanka mission in Tokyo with assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka Tourist Board and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), the EDB said in a press release.

Mr. Nilam Alawdeen, Partner, Sri Lanka Jewellery Ltd, has extended his support to organise a Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery show at the Hilton, Tokyo, to coincide with the celebrations. He invited Mr. Kazuo Ogawa, President of Taj Enterprises, Tokyo, and Managing Director, Mr. Atal Parekh, to address a seminar on "Designing jewellery for the Japanese market" organised by the EDB.

The EDB release said the Japanese market is very important to Sri Lanka as nearly 55 percent of the Sri Lankan precious stones are exported to Japan.

ADB president re-elected for new term

MANILA – The Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank last week unanimously re-elected President Tadao Chino for a new five-year term.

The new term begins on 24 November 2001. The ADB quoted Mr. Chino as saying that he was gratified by the trust and confidence placed in him by the Board of Governors and that, with the Governors' continued support and cooperation, he would endeavour to maximise ADB's contribution to freeing the Asia and Pacific region of poverty. Mr. Chino became ADB's seventh President when he succeeded Mr. Mitsuo Sato on 16 January 1999

5 million ballpoint pens sold monthly

Five million ballpoint pens are sold in Sri Lanka per month with schoolchildren being the main users, industry sources said last week.

These figures were revealed at a news conference called to launch the Luxor range of writing instruments by Walker and Greig Ltd (WGL), a subsidiary of Brown and Company Ltd.

Luxor manufactures Parker and Waterman Pens in India and also sells a range of writing instruments like highlighters, markers, plastic and metal ballpoint pens, dual writers, refills and colour pens.

"Parker pens are more than writing instruments - they are used more for image," said C. N. Radhakrishnan, General Manager of WGL.

WGL is planning to capture the local market by introducing functional pens for day-to-day usage. "Luxor pens could write for one km non-stop," Radhakrishnan said.

WGL officials said children prefer to use colourful or fashionable pens while 92 percent of the market comprises plastic ballpoint pens with at least 30 competitors in the market.

seminar on Information Technology in the US

An information session for entrepreneurs living in the US, interested in Sri Lanka's IT workforce and funding opportunities, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 6th from 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

The session, "From concept to funding to market" is being organised by Nextventures Ltd, a leading venture capital firm in Sri Lanka and Laksoft Technologies Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the Sri Lankan embassy in Washington DC, Nextventures Ltd said in a statement.

The purpose of this information session is to bring together a panel of experts from US universities, financial and computer industries and Sri Lankan government representatives to discuss the possibility of taking a good idea to the market, using the IT talent pool available in Sri Lanka.

The session is ideal for those who have great ideas but are at the very early stages of equity funding. The panelists will discuss the investment opportunities available in Sri Lanka, including venture capital funding and Board of Investments (BOI) incentives. Panelists will discuss first hand experience in going through the process.

The panel will comprise J.D.A. Wijewardena, Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC, Mr. Nissanka Weerasekara, CEO, Nextventures Limited, Dr. Ananda Gunawardena, co-founder, Laksoft Technologies and senior lecturer, Computer Science Faculty, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, Dr. Bandula Wijay, scientist and founder of Poly-Tech Inc, Leocor Inc and BinLab Inc in Houston, Texas and Dr. Hilarian Codippily, senior economist/consultant at the World Bank in Washington DC. Mr. Duminda Ariyasinghe, senior marketing manager, Heinz North America, Pittsburgh, PA, will be the moderator.

Nextventures Limited is a fund management company specialising in venture capital, in search of entrepreneurs with new ideas.

It provides financial and management support to project ideas to develop into the major businesses of tomorrow.

Looking beyond

Recessionomics - Of cabbages and emirs

By Arjuna Mahendran

Before the US attacks last week, and despite looser fiscal and monetary policy in the US, consumer spending was definitely weakening. Consumption was being fed by low mortgage rates which induced home-owners to borrow against their properties whose prices had firmed despite a falling stockmarket.

The terror attacks on the WTC and Pentagon have accelerated the cyclical decline in the growth of the US economy. The stockmarket indices are now falling at a faster rate than before September 11 which will shortly impact on real estate prices too. So consumption in the US will rapidly contract in the next two quarters.

Already airlines and investment banks have laid off tens of thousands of workers in the US pushing the unemployment rate over 5%. The cut in the Fed funds rate has been reciprocated by all major central banks across the world and monetary liquidity is being pumped into the global financial system at an unprecedented rate. So there is no imminent threat of a stockmarket crash in the US or elsewhere.

Rather, the risk is that of stagflation next year. The wave of mergers and layoffs we are seeing in the US and Europe will result in a significant reduction in excess capacity in these economies by early or mid-2002. Sensing this, producers will gladly start raising their prices even as oil prices remain high causing inflationary pressure. That is when the Fed will have to start tightening monetary policy once more despite a slower rate of growth in the US.

So what does this mean for Sri Lanka?

If we go by the precedent of the 1991 US recession, Sri Lanka should have had no trouble riding the recession under normal circumstances. Our exports of garments, tea, and gems are relatively recession-proof, since these are the last items US consumers will stop consuming after all other durable and non-durable goods. Even housemaids should remain in high demand in the Middle East during an oil price boom.

But domestic circumstances are clearly different now from 1991. Our logistical infrastructure has been damaged and neglected. The port of Colombo could have vastly benefited from the forthcoming assault on Afghanistan and other rogue states by providing a neutral safe haven for transshipment of cargo in the region. And we could have provided some R&R for the marines in what looks like a longish war ahead.

The newly expanded container ports of Salalah (Oman) and Aden have been taking business from us. Now that these ports are directly situated in the theatre of war, we could have grabbed back our share if not for our war risk premium going up. Instead, the new Nava Sheva container terminal in Mumbai (run by P&O) will derive the most benefit.

Also, we cannot absorb the high cost of imported oil now that our export income is likely to fall to US $ 4.5 billion this year against 5.5 billion in 2000. The government is about to borrow from foreign banks at commercial rates of interest. This would have been acceptable to tide us over a cyclical downturn in exports over the coming 12 months, on the reasonable assumption that export performance will improve next year.

But the Katunayake debacle has arguably dealt structural change in the working of the economy. Henceforth all our external transactions will have an in-built risk premium. This depletes our longer-term competitiveness whether it be in exports, tourism or port and airport charges.

Therefore it is very likely that foreign borrowings will become a new and regular feature of our fiscal landscape. When interest rates start rising next year with the expected economic recovery, our debt-service bill will also rise.

At the rate we are going, I fear we could fall into a debt trap like Pakistan did in the 1990s. A succession of droughts devastated cotton and textile exports and violence in Karachi kept foreign investment away from the country. So the country started borrowing commercially to meet its foreign exchange needs.

A few years ago it was on the verge of defaulting on its US $ 30 billion of external debt when the army took over the running of the country and entered into a fairly successful economic restructuring programme with the IMF.

Quo vadis, Sri Lanka?

Mentoring at SL Airlines

SriLankan Airlines has given new life to the old methods of corporate management training, with the introduction of its 'mentoring to management trainees' programme, the airline said.

The programme aims at enhancing the professional and personal development and success of management trainees.

Shama Nandasinghe, Senior Manager Central Procurement, one of the mentors said: "Traditionally, company investment in management training generally failed to retain most of them at the end of the training.

They eventually leave the company due to various reasons, the most common being that they do not feel comfortable working in the company. If they had someone to talk to, someone to confide in, they may have stayed back."

Manager Human Resources, Menik Dias Amaratunga, who is co-ordinating this programme, said it is an enriching experience for both the manager and the employee and works at developing a sense of ownership, belonging and 'welcome to the family concept'.

Gateway opens branches in Panadura and Wattala

Encouraged by their rapid growth, Gateway will open two more branches in the suburbs of Colombo a press release said. Gateway currently operates 5 branches in Colombo (Borella, Bambalapititya, Kollupititya, Millennium Park, Nugegoda) and one each in Kandy, Kurunegala, Negombo, Gampaha, Galle and Matara.

Gateway also has two branches in Bangladesh and recently signed up with NCC UK a landmark agreement to take their programmes of study worldwide.

At each of these branches, Gateway offers courses in Computer Studies and English Language Computer courses for school leavers and adults, which are carried out by the Gateway Centre for Information Technology (CFIT) whereas the children's programmes are conducted by the Gateway Kids School of Computing. The Gateway Language Centre offers several courses for school leavers and adults under the banner of 'English for Life' and a group of courses for children named 'English for Young Learners'.

Rhino Roofing assists drought victims

Rhino Roofing Products limited jointly with "Sirasa" and other few other companies distributed dry rations and drinking water to drought victims in Puttalam and Batticaloa area. This is the second project Rhino Roofing was involved. In January this year the company provided roofing sheets to the cyclone victims in Padaviya and Medirigiriya areas.

Picture shows Assistant Marketing Manager Rhino Roofing Products Ltd., handing over a can of drinking water to the Batticaloa District G.A. and other officers.

Guide Ambuja Camp an unprecedented success

The first ever 'Guide Ambuja Camp', held especially with a view to helping home builders was an unprecedented success a press release said.

The camp that was held at Kalutara, primarily for home builders was crowded with builders and prospective builders, all of whom were anxious to obtain as many useful tips as they possibly could from the Ambuja engineers who were on hand to assist them in their queries the press release further said. Deputy Mayor of Kalutara Mr. Bahurdeen was the Chief Guest and declared the camp open.

House builders, wives, professionals, government personnel and even housewives with children visited the camp to gain information and discuss their individual require-ments and problems.

Apart from construction related problems, reno-vations and alterations to existing buildings, as well as how to obtain the best finishes, were all subjects that were raised at the camp.

Parfumerie launches Hermes fragrances

Colombo's top perfume store, the Parfumerie, last Tuesday launched a line of exclusive fragrances from the House of Hermes in France a press release said.

The elegant launch, which took place at the chic Barefoot Garden Café, saw the sophisticated and sensual 'Rouge Hermes' taking top billing, together with 'Caleche', '24 Faubourg', 'Hiris', 'Rocabar', and 'Eau d'Orange' in men's and women's lines.

Rouge Hermes is the newest fragrance from Hermes and is being launched around the world this year the press release further said. Parfum d'Hermes, created in 1984 by Akiko Kamei, has given birth to Rouge Hermes. Rouge Hermes carries on the original olfactory creation, while preserving its soul, and is indeed a very seductive and beautiful oriental scent which charms with floral, amber notes.

Continuing the women's line is 'Caleche', vibrant and luminous, and then 'Hiris', pure and contemporary personifying the 'H' as in Hermes and Iris as in the flower and the goddess. The radiant and sensual '24 Faubourg' embodies the world famous and fashionable address of the Hermes flagship store in the French capital Paris.

Seylan Bank video conferencing expands

Seylan Bank, having recognized the importance of interface with immediate family members and others who are the inspiration to these people came out with the novel idea of satisfying this emotional need by establishing a video conferencing facility as a first step between the Seylan Bank Foreign Currency Centre in Colombo and the Hadi Express Exchange managed by Seylan Bank in Dubai in May 2001 a press release said.

Thereafter, Seylan Bank expanded the facility to Sri Lanka Express Exchange in Muscat, Oman and locally to Kurunegala, Matara and Ambalangoda branches of the Bank the press release further said.

Seylan Bank in collaboration with Balaka Exchange Pte Ltd., No. 10A, Roberts Lane, Off Serangoon Road, Singapore, recently inaugurated the Video Conferencing facility in Singapore enabling Sri Lankans working in Singapore to have audio visual communication with their loved ones in Sri Lanka.

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