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Politics out, social agenda in for Kotelawala Lalith Kotelawela
has a burning desire in life - going into politics. But that's not
going to be so, at least for the time being. "As long
as I am chairman of the Ceylinco group, this is not possible. I
can't do politics and business - that's a conflict of interest.
I have a special relationship with my staff. It is my family …my
whole life. There is a
special bond," he told The Sunday Times FT. But for Kotelawala,
last week's appointments as chairman of the North Western Economic
Development Commission and the Central Economic Development Commission,
fit in nicely with what he has been planning to do for a long time
- help the poor, raise their living standards and end unemployment. "This is better than being a minister or a politician. This is non-political and I can do what I have always wanted to do. Also I will treat everyone alike, in government or the opposition. I have no favourites and I don't care for politicians from either side," he said, while listing out development plans for the Wayamba and central regions. The wealthy
businessman, who runs Sri Lanka's biggest privately-owned conglomerate
with 22,000 workers, 120 companies, 350 branches here and 11 overseas
offices, has in recent times got closer to the people with his pro-peace
initiatives and cheaper credit facilities to the needy through the
Grameen banking concept. He is relying
on, and betting the Grameen concept would raise people out of poverty
and reduce unemployment in the two regions where he is proposing
a series of measures in a bottom-up approach to development. Visionary The offices
of the two commissions would be opened on March 19 with a number
of projects being launched. Suraj Dandeniya, president of the Association
of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA), has been appointed
the new director-general of the Wayamba commission and he aims to
use much of his knowledge in the overseas employment industry to
help migrant workers, the bulk of who come from the north central
region. Kotelawala is a visionary, doer and wants to make things work in the two regions. He recently
launched the ERA - Economic Resurgence Association - aimed at ending
poverty and social injustice. A booklet explaining the objectives
of this initiative provides a clue to Kotelawala's thinking where
he talks of how globalisation has ruined the world and made the
rich, richer and the poor, poorer. "Globalisation
has not reduced poverty … it has increased poverty," he
says, expressing his thoughts - in the booklet - on a range of issues
like the impact of World Bank and IMF policies on poor countries,
how multinationals are squeezing out local business and industries,
and the need for continuing land reform to provide land to the poor
in rural areas. Many of these
thoughts would be put into action at the two commissions he is heading. Shotgun
strategy Kotelawala
plans to start from the poorest of the poor, using the Grameen credit
concept of small, non-collateral loans, to raise them from poverty
levels. "We are using the shotgun strategy not the rifle approach.
Once the Grameen credit users come up the ladder and have Rs 100,000
or more as security to offer for bigger loans, then we will look
at SMIs and thereafter the bigger firms." "I want
to make sure there are no poor people in Wayamba; that they have
proper housing, water, employment and good education that will enable
them to compete in the real world. I am not aiming for the stars
- just looking at the basics." Given his desire
to support local industry, Kotelawala prefers to promote joint ventures
than 100 percent foreign investments and will allow the latter only
out of necessity. "My first question to them (foreign investors)
would be - what benefit is your investment to this country? I don't
want to go the way of globalisation that has crushed our industries." One of the
projects on the drawing board is a Commodities Trading exchange
with warehousing and cold rooms to make sure rice farmers don't
have to sweat, toil and lose, in selling their produce. "We
will make sure farmers get the correct price and that it's paid
directly to them, not through intermediaries." Since he lost
an eye in the Central Bank bomb blast, some years ago, Kotelawala
has gradually moved away from the day-to-day management of his giant
group and says he has 14 capable deputies to take care of the string
of companies. "Do I
have enough time to spend in the provinces? Yes, my deputies are
capable and I intend to spend time outside, traveling through villages,
meeting people and listening to their problems and issues." Meanwhile Micky
Wickremesinghe, managing director at Ceylon Biscuits, has been appointed
as chairman of the Southern Economic Commission while the heads
of the commissions in the northeast and the western regions are
yet to be announced. IFC makes strategic investment in Commercial Bank The International
Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank
group, is making a strategic investment in the Commercial Bank of
Ceylon (CBC), one of Sri Lanka's most successful private sector
banks, with the acquisition of 15 percent of the bank's voting shares. This milestone
transaction marks the IFC's largest equity investment to date in
the Sri Lankan financial sector and is also the first instance where
theIFC has acquired existing shares in a company. Its usual practice
is to participate in IPOs, according to a statement from Commercial
Bank. IFC's acquisition of 5.85 million Commercial Bank shares,
an investment of Rs. 965.25 million at R.s 165 per share, follows
a decision by the government to divest up to 20 percent of Commercial
Bank shares from the 29.92 percent stake currently held by the Sri
Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd., (SLIC). The IFC offer was accepted
by the SLIC with the concurrence of the Secretary to the Treasury
and the approval of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka which was required
because the IFC's stake is above the threshold of 10 percent in
a bank permitted to a single shareholder, in terms of the banking
regulations in Sri Lanka, the statement said. A Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) covering the terms and conditions of a long-term
strategic relationship between the IFC and the Commercial Bank was
signed in Colombo last week. As part of its global policy, the IFC provides technical, financial and other support to selected private sector companies in different countries, enabling them to improve their corporate stability and overall performance. On a very selective basis the IFC also considers equity participation insome of these companies, in addition to providing the financial and technical support needed by them. Sanjiva Senanayake, IFC's Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives said that the Corporation had identified Commercial Bank of Ceylon Limited , with whom it has had a dialogue over the last few years, as a corporate body which meets the support-criteria of the IFC. In this backdrop,
the decision of the government to divest up to 20 percent of the
CBC's voting shares currently held by the SLIC, which is in the
process of being privatised, provided a unique opportunity for the
IFC to consider a strategic investment in CBC with an acquisition
of a 15 percent stake. Commercial
Bank Managing Director Amitha Gooneratne said the Bank has decided
to acquire the balance 5 percent of CBC shares from the SLIC through
a share-trust on behalf of its employees. The IFC, as
a further goodwill measure offered to provide a bridging loan to
the Share-Trust, enabling it to acquire these shares but the bank
decided to finance the Share-Trust out of its own funds, in view
of the exchange rate risk associated with such bridging loans. Gooneratne
said the IFC's equity participation will benefit the CBC in many
ways. With its 15 percent investment in CBC voting shares, the IFC
will be offered a seat on the CBC board. With the IFC's international
standing and expertise, this new tie-up will no doubt further promote
the CBC's overall standing in the market, and the bank is very likely
to benefit by the IFC's technical, financial, risk managementand
IT expertise, the statement added. In addition
to the 15 percent equity investment and the offer to provide bridging
finance to the Share-Trust, the IFC has also offered a term loan
facility of $ 10.0 million to further strengthen the CBC's medium
term loanable-fund base. The terms and conditions of this term loan are still being negotiated by the two parties. Tea Association's quality workshop The newly formed
Tea Association of Sri Lanka (TASL) will launch its Quality Certification
Programme with a Workshop - "TASL - in Pursuit of Excellence"
in Colombo on March 21. TASL's Quality
Certification Programme is expected to focus on enhancing the 'Total
Quality' of 'Ceylon Tea' with a view to retaining Sri Lanka's image
as a 'Best-in-Class' source of quality teas. The first of a series
of workshops, targeting the CEOs of Regional Plantation Companies
(RPC), is a step forward from the foundation laid by the Tea Strategy
Task Forces (Process Improvement and Quality Assurance) under the
Plantation Reform Project, a TASL statement said. The Tea Association of Sri Lanka, as the industry apex body, represented by the Planters' Association (PA), the Sri Lanka Federation of Tea Small Holdings Development Societies (SLFTSHDS), the Colombo Tea Trade and Colombo Brokers' Association (CBA) aims at meeting its objective through similar workshops at various levels among industry stakeholders.
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