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Business

Flour crisis triggers row between minister, Prima
By Hiran Senewiratne
A government minister has threatened to allow cooperatives and the private trade to import duty free flour if a flour shortage triggered by Prima Ceylon Ltd is allowed to happen once again.

"The government will allow cooperatives and others to import flour without the compulsory 10 percent duty if these shortages are created again," said Cooperatives Minister A.R.M. Abdul Cader.

An acute shortage of flour across the country two weeks ago sparked a major row between Cader and Prima amid accusations that the recently-privatised flour producer was manipulating the market to maintain its monopoly position.

"Prima is bluffing. They are trying to keep the monopoly in their hand," Cader told The Sunday Times Business, a week after the shortage eased and stocks started appearing in the market.

He said this is the second time Prima created an artificial flour shortage. While the flour stocks are getting back to normal, some cooperatives are still experiencing a shortage, officials said.

Cader said Prima should give first preference to local co-operatives in the distribution process.

However, Prima General Manager Lin Hsin Hui dismissed the allegations saying his company had to slow down production for three weeks for annual maintenance purposes.

He maintained that repeated public announcements by the minister of a shortage aggravated the situation. Hui said Prima had advised all dealers to maintain two weeks buffer stocks due to the maintenance issue so that there would be a free flow of flour in the market.

"This time many co-operatives and agents failed to maintain a buffer stock resulting in the crisis."

Parakrama Dassanayake, President of the Bakers' Association, said the shortage created problems for bakeries. He said credit problems for co-operatives and dealers resulted in buffer stocks not being maintained.

NDB 1st half profit up 63 pct to Rs. 543m
The NDB Group reported a 63 percent rise in its first half profit after tax to Rs. 543 million compared with Rs. 334 million in the same period last year.

The bank said its provision for credit losses rose 82 percent to Rs. 149 million in the six months ended June 30 compared with the first six months of the last financial year. Provisions were made in excess of Central Bank minimum requirements, a bank statement said.

Provision for the fall in the value of dealing and investment securities was up 138 percent to Rs. 13 million, over the same period, the bank statement said.

"In a difficult operating environment, with interest rates declining and business activity subdued, the bank was able to maintain its level of net interest income through focused treasury management," it said.

Nexus goes hi-tech, offers new products
The Nexus Network's annual get-together was recently held at the Keells Hall, Glennie Street, with the loyalty programme's achievements being presented to the gathering.

The highlight of this evening was the launch of three new products using advanced technology and promotions with the main focus of adding value to the Nexus cardholders and assisting the network establishments, a John Keells group statement said.

The products are the Nexus Points Inquiry which enables Nexus card holders to check their personal Nexus account of collected points by visiting the Nexus web site (www.mynexuscard.com), the CRM (Data warehousing) which gives an opportunity to network establishments to understand the customer purchase patterns and Nexgift (a target promotion for Nexus cardholders) offering two more benefits in addition to Nexus Points!

This special programme will enable the customer, within a period of one year (August - July 2003) to shop at 10 different establishments and collect more rewards. The unique programme is designed to track the customers' purchases at these outlets and then inform them via email or SMS prior to achieving the target and immediately after achieving the target.

Global leadership centre launches regional office
The Centre For Global Leadership Inc (CGLI), one of the few organisations in the world focused on developing leaders and managers in the private and public sector, recently launched its South Asian regional office in Sri Lanka at Guildford Crescent, Colombo.

According to CGLI South Asian Region President Gerard Muthukumara, the main objective of the centre is to provide ongoing consulting, training and executive education services to front and middle level managers in both sectors. He said Sri Lanka needs good leaders and should be globally competitive to improve its overseas image.

The regional office in Colombo will be run by an advisory board consisting of dignitaries which include Alfie David a former Sri Lankan ambassador while the regional co-ordinators are trade counsellor H. Stephan and International counsellor Jagath Shah.

CGLI is planning a regional conference for policy makers, decision makers, senior managers and potential investors on October 10 and 11 with the main speaker being Prof. S. Erevelles of the University of California.

CGLI was established three years ago in USA with a presence in North America, Latin America, Middle East, South and South East Asia.

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