By Hiran Senewiratne in Jaffna
The heads of big business organisations visited Jaffna last week to explore the possibility of investing in the peninsular and reviving trade links between the north and south now that a permanent truce is in place and peace talks are to begin shortly.
Among those in the delegation were senior officials of John Keells, Aitken Spence, Tokyo Cement, Keangnam, MTN Networks, Sampath Bank and state institutions such as the Export Development Board and the People's Bank.
Deputy Chairman of John Keells Jagath Fernando said the company was interested in setting up a Keells supermarket in Jaffna town. A joint venture hotel project between John Keells and Aitken Spence was also finalised with the government allocating ten acres of land.
Minister of Industries Rohitha Bogollagama, who led the 60-member delegation, said the government would give priority to repairing infrastructure in Jaffna, particularly telecommunications, highways and power as well as reviving fishing and small and medium enterprise.
The Lanka Cement plant in Kankesanthurai would be refurbished in three months with private sector participation to help expedite re-construction work in Jaffna, he said.
The cement factory was closed in 1990 when fighting flared up, throwing 3,000 people out of work. The government will use 150,000 tonnes of clinker lying at Kankesanthurai, Bogollagama said.
A vigorous programme of work needs to be launched to revive business and industries in the region, he said.
The ministry hopes to conduct a series of mobile secretariats to inquire into the problems currently faced by industrialists in Jaffna, he said.
The Industrial Development Board will strengthen its branch office network in the region and the Export Development Board will establish new branch offices to support the needs of private enterprise there, he said.
The Industrial Development Board is to allocate Rs. 100 million to help set up ten industries at the Atchchuveli Industrial Zone while the Board of Investment is considering setting up an agro-based industrial processing zone there.
By Murali Jayadeva
Keerthi Gunawardena, Managing Director, Graphic Systems, received the coveted National Productivity Award 2001 at the recent award ceremony organised by the Ministry of Enterprise Development and the NIBM.
Gunawardena has been a winner right along for excellence in graphic systems. He won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1999 presented by FCCISL and also the silver and bronze awards subsequently at FCCISL award ceremonies. Established in 1991, Graphic Systems has served the nation for more than ten years with consistence in quality and service. Gunawardena said his company had also received recognition by the International Award Actualidada 21st Century for their excellent business management, high quality and efficient service.
Graphic Systems is a specialised printer in the area of Non-Carbon Required (NRC) business forms in sheets, which are needed by banks and financial institutions for duplicating customer transactions without the use of messy carbon papers. Graphic Systems serves clients locally as well as offshore, its MD said.
A labour union at the Unilever tea factory that was closed said it would continue to agitate until its members win back their jobs and dismissed a company announcement that workers had rejected an attractive offer of compensation.
The Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Workers' Union (CMU) said Unilever had closed its Mabole tea bagging plant although it was still making profits and had offered workers a "meagre compensation" under a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
A CMU statement accused the multinational of misleading the public by "painting a false picture of workers rejecting a very attractive offer". Unilever closed the factory on February 6 without giving prior notice and before the completion of an inquiry by the Commissioner of Labour, it said.
Union labour is protesting against such "unreasonable actions" by picketing and other lawful means available, it said.
"We, the workforce of Lipton and Brooke Bond, have had a hand in building the world-wide reputation of Unilever tea as a foremost multinational tea manufacturing and producing organisation which has operated in Sri Lanka for a period of 116 years," the CMU said.
Although the company offered a scheme of up to 40 months' salary on voluntary retirement and the normal gratuity applicable to any employee of Unilever, only three of the 518 affected workers are eligible to the compensation by having 30 years service and being five years to retirement, it said.
"It is with the objective of preventing this very influential organisation from putting its workers on the streets with a few pennies in the pocket that the trade union has refused the unreasonable VRS and taken to protesting on the streets in search of justice," the CMU said.
The Commercial Bank's poast-tax profit rose to more than Rs. 1 billion in a year it described as "one of the most difficult for the Sri Lankan economy."
Bank chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya told reporters that profits grew by 15.2 percent to Rs. 1.3 billion, staying ahead of the inflation rate of 14.2 percent for the year.
"These results were achieved amidst what could be considered as one of the most difficult years for the Sri Lankan economy," he noted.
"For the first time since independence, the Sri Lankan economy in 2001 recorded a negative GDP growth, estimated to be in the region of minus 0.6 percent."
Detailing some of the highlights of the bank's performance in 2001, managing director Amitha Gooneratne said deposits grew by 23.4 percent to Rs. 46 billion, and advances by 15.8 percent to Rs. 43.4 billion.
He said credit growth was particularly noteworthy, considering the conditions in which it was achieved.
"Firstly, adverse economic conditions dampened credit demand in the economy. Secondly, the government's decision to route all funding needs of state corporations exclusively through the state banks impacted adversely on credit growth of the bank," he explained.
Gooneratne said the ratio of non-performing loans to total advances had increased marginally from 8.7 percent at the end of 2000 to 10 percent as of December 31, 2001, mainly due to the adverse economic conditions and the total loan portfolio not achieving the anticipated growth.
The bank's branch network has grown from 41, five years ago, to a milestone 100 in 2001.
The automated teller network of the bank now comprises 115 ATMs.
Mercantile Leasing Ltd (MLL) has been appointed a participating credit institution under an ongoing credit line of US $ 100 million offered by the Indian government to Sri Lanka.
The agreement to this effect was signed by Asoka Sirimanne, Managing Director of MLL, A.L. Somaratne, Director of MLL and Sarath de Silva, General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon (BoC). This agreement facilitates the importation of capital goods, consumer durables and food items of Indian origin from India within a period of three years from 2001 at attractive rates of interest.
This facility is the third foreign backed funding line extended to MLL. The company was the successful recipient of a substantial portion of an Asian Development Bank facility for equipment leasing under Project DFL -IV, while the International Finance Corporation had also extended facilities to establish dollar denominated leases as well as for the issue of a debenture.
This latest credit line would enable MLL to offer its clients extremely attractive rates for leasing of capital goods of Indian origin including tractors, buses, heavy vehicles and land vehicles which are in very high demand in Sri Lanka.
Aitken Spence and Company Ltd plans to list four million debentures of Rs. 100 each on the main board of the Colombo Stock Exchange. Subscriptions open on March 26.
The issue consists of two million two-year unsecured redeemable debentures with interest payable semi-annually and two million four-year unsecured redeemable debentures with interest payable either semi-annually or annually. DFCC Bank is managing the issue.
hSenid Software International, one of the leading software development companies in Sri Lanka, is launching a new client-server based application, hCRM© - the newest addition to its current suite of products. hCRM© caters mainly to the travel and tourism industry sector whilst striving to improve the business performance through intensive customer care. By managing customer preferences and identifying their behavioral patterns, the travel and tourism businesses will be able to make better strategic and operational decisions.
This will result in better services to customers, enhanced customer loyalty, and overall business performance, a company statement said.
hCRM© is a synonym for customer knowledge. The system lets companies get to know their customers (tourists, visitors, hotel guests, etc.) thoroughly and, as a result, identify and create various target segments with similar preferences and purchasing behavior. Having a comprehensive knowledge of their customers, companies can improve their decision-making process concerning the marketing activities over the long and short run. hCRM© proves to be the most useful in time when a company needs to react to rapid changes in customer behavior – the system's very short response time helps the companies gain a competitive advantage in the field of business.
The Colombo branch of the Association of Certified Professional Marketers (ACPM) was formally launched by the President-elect of the World Marketing Association (WMA), Hermawan Kartajaya, during a visit to Sri Lanka recently.
Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake and top CEOs including Chandra Jayaratne, chairman, Ceylon Chamber, Roberto M. Moran, Country Chairman, Shell, and Ranel Wijesinha, former president, Institute of Chartered Accountants were among those present at the launch.
The Certified Professional Marketer - Asia Pacific, is the only post-graduate level professional status in the world, conferred by a regional federation.
Although initiated by a group of Sri Lankan status holders, the ACPM was launched as a global association designed to unite CPM status holders around the world under one umbrella.
The mission of the ACPM is to establish the Association as the largest global Association of Professional Marketers and CPM status as the symbol of the professional marketer.
Network365 (www.network365.com), a leading provider of world-class application platforms enabling a mobile lifestyle, won the Best Wireless Application Developer Award at the recent GSM Association Awards 2002 held in Cannes, France.
Sri Lankan born Raomal Perera is the founder and CEO of this rapidly emerging mobile technology company headquartered in Ireland. Prior to founding Network365, Raomal co-founded the NASDAQ quoted company ISOCOR also headquartered in Ireland. ISOCOR became the global leader for messaging software. Raomal is also a co-founder and non-executive director of the leading Sri Lankan software engineering company for e-business - Affno.
"This is a major endorsement by the global GSM industry of the company's mzone technology that is being used by telecom operators worldwide to deliver a range of services to mobile phone users. Key customers include Hong Kong CSL, Èesky Oskar Mobil in the Czech Republic, Digifone / mmO2, Meteor Mobile Communications and Manx Telecom / mmO2, who is using Network365's technology in Europe's first 3G trials on the Isle of Man," a company statement said.
Commenting on the award, Perera said, "The GSM Association Awards are one of the most prestigious awards in the wireless industry, designed to reward companies with specific recognition through a wide variety of award categories. They mark the importance of wireless technology and set a high standard for these solutions worldwide. We are delighted to win such an award which emphasizes the benefits which our mzone suite of products brings to users worldwide".
The Network365 product range, known as mzone™, is a complete mobile application infrastructure enabling a world of mobile experiences. mzone addresses all the elements of the mobile Internet value chain from mCommerce and secure and personalised payment, to advanced messaging and optimised content anywhere.
Since its foundation, Network365 has gained worldwide acclaim for its broad yet focused wireless product strategy and has developed unique skills by concentrating exclusively on the requirements of the mobile market. Both Time Magazine and Infoconomist Magazine have listed the company as one of Europe's hottest technology companies.
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