Remarkable success by two Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in Australia, the US

An Australian company run by a young Sri Lankan entrepreneur has won a prestigious award as Freight Forwarder of the Year at the 2006 National Business & Community award held at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne, Australia
Austrans Shipping Pty Ltd won this award and in this interview by Australian-based Serendib News, its Managing Director Sujeetha Krestor talks about her success, her roots and business connection with another successful Sri Lankan Malini Alles, a billionaire who is currently promoting Silicon Valley projects in India, among other investments.
Excerpts of the interview:

How did you get involved with Austrans?
I started with Transco Exports Pty Ltd as an Export Manager this was my first experience in the logistics field. I was with this company for nearly a decade, I have seen the pulse of the business and a lot of interesting areas. I have enjoyed and passionately got involved in the business and where there was an opportunity I took it over.

We had a motto “striving in excellence” to keep up with the motto we had to work hard towards all goals. Taking a challenge in this environment and achieving our objective makes me happy. This is where I belong.

Being a young entrepreneur how do you fit into this business circle?
When I started this operation by myself there was a big transformation in me. The way I approached an issue and my visions mattered a lot. When everyone felt confident in my ability, they changed their attitude towards me. I no longer an a kid in business.

My family still treats me as their daughter but to the public we handle their total solutions as any other operations. I am happy with my achievement but there is long way to go. This is just a start.

What about your family?
My dad was a naval officer and mum is a house- wife. I do have two wonderful sisters and a brother who lives overseas. They stood by me when I needed their support most. My dad was my greatest mentor in business. He has experience and encouraged me and we work together side by side. My mum hated this business life of mine but now she has got used to it. My husband, son and in-laws have been very supportive as well. Especially my brother-in-law Ruban who always encourages me. He himself is a successful businessman in Australia.

What is your key strength and how do you feel about it?
I am privileged as a woman to win this award and proud of our company. We have a loyal and effective staff and a good team.
Feed back from our clients indicates that they support us and they are our biggest strength.

Because of the competitive rates, the understanding of the shipping procedures and our problem-solving abilities, they have stood by us.

Any plans to diversify?
Yes we are going through an exciting growth phase which involves the whole logistics chain. We are looking into possible cargo management. We are doing bulk cargo handling as well mainly into India. Out of Australia we have had a huge growth rate in the export of personal effects and commercial cargo as well. On the import side we obtain a lot of support not only from Sri Lanka but countries throughout the Indian subcontinent as well as from Asia, Far East, Europe and the US.

You could see from our activities that we have developed good contacts and relationships throughout our global network. Another aspect worth considering is that in a climate where due to cost cutting and other reasons service levels are dropping, we have taken decisive steps to buck this trend and ensuring client satisfaction at the highest levels.

Are you working on some other important projects?
Yes with my business partner and best friend Dr. Malini Alles (another Sri Lankan). We are jointly looking at development and investments in Sri Lanka and India.

We are proud to be Sri Lankans and will be in Colombo in January to look into the prospects. The best is yet to come in Sri Lanka; so please we need all Sri Lankans to support us in our new venture.

Tell us about Dr. Alles:
I knew her over 10 years as a good friend. A few years back the vision we had was just a dream but now with our hard work and ambition this has become a reality.

Malini Alles is one of the first women to hit real estate investment markets in the world. That’s how famous she is. She told me it’s a pity to see only 1% women owning property in this world so she is going to make a change towards this trend. She has made the biggest change already as a woman.

She is the founder of Stree, a non- profitable organization which is advocating women’s and children’s rights globally. She is not just a woman in my eyes; she is a legend. She has donated 50 million dollars for tsunami support and development.

She may not be known to Sri Lankans but she is highly involved in US politics and well known there. She has invested in hi-tech stocks, commodities in Asia and South America and real estate properties all across the globe. At the age 34, Malini was a billionaire. I need more than a day to talk about her achievements.

At the moment she is promoting Silicon Valley project in India. She is calling in investors and she has brought over 500 million dollars into Indian investments.

With her influence and expertise Sri Lanka will see a great change in development. When a woman achieves such great heights she becomes a roll model to other women .