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Ceylon
Chamber meets success in Dubai The thrust of the mission was the signing of the MoU between the Ceylon Chamber and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was signed by Ahmed Al Banna, Assistant Director General on behalf of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ms. Puvi Domingopillai, Senior Assistant Secretary General on behalf of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. According to a Ceylon Chamber statement, both chambers are of the view that this link would further strengthen trade ties not only between the two organisations but also between the two countries. The objective of this mission was to strengthen trade ties, source suitable business partners, promotion of joint ventures, investment and services and provide an opportunity to the delegation to view the range of products displayed at the global village. The 15-member delegation which was accompanied by mission leader Patrick Rodrigo, Assistant General Manager, Walker Sons and Co. Ltd and mission manager, Ms. Domingopillai, comprised B. Yatawara and R. Welikala, Ceylon Grain Elevators Ltd, Y Mahinkanda, Classic Teas (Pvt) Ltd, R. Jayasinghe, Engineering Consultants Ltd, R. Senanayake, Freight Links International (Pte) Ltd, Tufail Salie, Hameed Brothers (Colombo) Ltd, S. Spezza and Ms. D. Jasinghe, Hayleys MGT Knitting Mills Ltd, Ms. J Vinodhan, Para Xpo Products (Pvt) Ltd, K.W.S. Pradeep, Sadako Industries International (Pvt) Ltd, U.U.I. de Silva, Samson Exports Ltd, M.F. Jiffry, Shums and Co. Ltd and P. Wanigaratne of St. Anthony's Industries Group (Pvt) Ltd. The unique feature of this delegation was their varied interests which ranged from the traditional tea, rubber, coconut and spices to foodstuff, textiles, footwear, coir products, light engineering products and services such as freight forwarding, engineering and architectural consultancy services, manpower recruitment and inbound tours. The mission members visited the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone Authority and the Dubai Cargo Village, which gave them an insight into the workings of these two important organisations which was very informative. UAL
appoints new GM She commenced her career as a management trainee at the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) in 1981 and was Assistant Manager (Officer-in-charge) of the Life New Business Dept, at the time of leaving. Thereafter, she joined a leading private sector insurer and rose rapidly to the position of Head of Life Underwriting and new Business operations. She is a Chartered Insurer and holds a BSc (Hon.) degree from the University of Colombo. Seminar
on Internet and e-commerce Topics include E-Commerce, its emergence and growth with particular reference to Sri Lanka and many other relevant issues. Among the resource persons are Ang Kwee Tiang, Regional Director, Asia-Pacific International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, Singapore, Erik Wilbers, Deputy Director/Head of Domain Name Dispute Resolution Section, WIPO, Geneva, Switzerland, Ranjana Abeysekera, Senior Counsellor, World Intellectual Property Organisation, Dr. D.M. Karunaratna, Director, National Intellectual Property Office, Sri Lanka, Dr. Lalith Gamage, Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, and Jayantha Fernando, Attorney-at-Law/Member of Law Committee and Domain Names of the Council for Information Technology. New
director at RPC Abeysekera is a member of the Institute of Management and past Chairman of the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries, a member of the National Development Advisory Council for Industries, the Chairman of Small and Medium Enterprise Developers, Japan Lanka Industrial Development Centre, Regional Industry Service Committee for Sabaragamuwa Province and Senior Vice President of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Sri Lanka. He serves as a Director of the Industrial Development Board of Ceylon, Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka Ltd, Trelleborg Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, Delmege Forysth Ltd, Lewis Browns Air Services (Pvt) Ltd, Finco Ltd, Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka Ltd, Ceylon Leather Products Ltd, and Richard Pieris Exports Ltd. People's
Merchant Bank profits up The bank said in a statement that profits, before provisioning, for the nine months ended 31st December 2001, rose to Rs. 17.5 million from Rs. 8 million in the same nine-month period in 2000. The 3rd quarter results showed a 13 percent increase in gross income. The cost to net income ratio of the bank fell to 64 percent from 75 percent. The increase in interest income coupled with the lower cost to income ratio resulted in a 118% increase in operating profit before provisions. Commenting on its results, a spokesman for the bank said that during the year the bank focused on recovering its non-performing loans and improving the quality of its lending portfolio. The bank also embarked on property development and had successfully completed its first project in the Galle district. The Real Estate Development Department commenced marketing its second project in Galle in the 3rd quarter of the year.
The two companies set up as joint ventures between the Hayleys Group, one of Sri Lanka's most diversified conglomerates, and two Australian partners, the Australia Dyeing Company (ADC) and MGT Sammor Knitting Mills (MGT) are specialists in dyeing and finishing and manufacturing of knitted fabrics respectively, a Hayleys group statement said. According to Bandula Weerasinghe, General Manager of the two companies, the ISO 9002 certification by SGS Yarsley International Certification Services of the UK, covers the quality management systems pertaining to the manufacture of fabrics, their dyeing and finishing and marketing by the two companies, which work together to supply some of the top apparel exporters in the country. He said he believed that Hayleys MGT Knitting Mills is the first manufacturer of knitted fabric in Sri Lanka to receive the ISO 9002 certification. "The timing
of the certification is particularly significant," Weerasinghe
noted, explaining that with the anticipated concession on duty on
garments to the EU during 2002, large numbers of buyers are expected
to visit the sourcing countries. In
brief Mateen Siddiqui, President of the Fruit and Vegetable Exporters' and Processors' Association, told reporters that potato exports to Sri Lanka were in full swing with between 40 to 50 containers shipped every week. He said Sri
Lanka now consumes potatoes only from Pakistan and that Indian produce
is only able to enter the country when Pakistani supplies are exhausted. He pointed out that China, Indonesia and Holland were strong in the Malaysian market and it would take time to shut them out. Pakistan has exported 20,330 tonnes of potatoes worth Rs. 173 million during July-January 2001-2002. About 600,000 tonnes potatoes are produced in Pakistan annually of which 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes are surplus. This surplus quantity is exported to various international destinations. Touchwood
to set up saw mill TIL, the pioneer BOI approved company engaged in marketing and managing investment in mahogany plantations, plans to plant and harvest 2,000 acres of mahogany on a 17.5-year harvest cycle. The price of mahogany timber has doubled every four to five years over the last 25 years and same trend is expected in the next 25 years. Already, the public has invested over Rs. 60 million in TIL which has 30,000 trees planted in 130 acres, TIL Managing Director, Roscoe Maloney said. TIL's initial
public offer of 800,000 ordinary shares at a par value of Rs. 10
was oversubscribed due to the confidence the public has placed in
TIL, Maloney said. Freight payments
in foreign exchange "The Central Bank has permitted the payment of sea and air freight in foreign currency to all exporters who have foreign currency account facilities," the council said in a statement. "The freight payments can be made to a foreign currency account of the shipping or airline agent who has been permitted to open a foreign currency account in the domestic banking unit on behalf of the principal only for the purpose of crediting freight," it said. Customs work
longer hours The services at the Long Room (including Central Cargo Surveillance and D Branch, the Exports Office, Bonds (including the Export Facilitation Unit) and the Investor Facilitation Unit will be available during these extended hours. The Sri Lanka Shippers' Council said in a statement that it had lobbied hard to get these enhanced services to the business community. Customs have also agreed to further extend the working hours depending on the needs of the business community, it said. ADB
funds to boost SME's in Sri Lanka On behalf of the government the agreement was signed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion, Ranjith Fernando and Director, External Resources Department, Ministry of Finance, A. Abeygunasekera while ADB's Country Director, John Cooney signed the agreement on behalf of ADB. The technical assistance, for US$1.25 million, is funded as a grant by the Japan Special Fund and is a component of the Asian Development Bank-financed Small and Medium Enterprise Sector Development Program loan of US$86 million which was signed in February 2002. The technical assistance consists of four components: (i) supporting the establishment of a SME policy unit which will conduct a SME baseline survey, and identifying systemic biases against SMEs; (ii) supporting the Deregulation Committee in its work to identify impediments to investment by both foreign and domestic firms, and improving the consultative process between the private sector and the government; (iii) facilitating the process to improving SME access to non-bank finance by preparing a framework for secured transactions, and (iv) promoting the use of information technology by SMEs. The Ministry of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion will be the executing agency for the technical assistance, an ADB statement said. Trade
promotes Spice Board idea "The objective of the Spice Board would be to encourage the growth of the industry," he said in an interview. The proposed
board should be "private sector oriented", he added. A spice industry cluster encompassing all sections of the trade was now busy preparing a road map for the spice industry with the support of the USAID, de Silva also said. Among the biggest
problems facing the trade was the lack of information at small producer
level, except in the case of cinnamon, the main spice export, he
said. This was because most spices were grown in home gardens in
an informal manner. Expolanka
acquires iOnosphere Lanka Hanif Yusoof, Expolanka CEO, who brought iOnosphere Lanka under his wing as its Managing Director, said the acquisition of iOnosphere Lanka in association with strategic U.S. partners is another important milestone in the context of the Expolanka Group's venture into the I.T industry. The Expolanka Group is globally focused and has developed strong international connections. The Group is also constantly on the lookout globally for new opportunities complementary to its existing lines of business to be developed on its own steam or in collaboration with reputable partners. |
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