In many ways change is for the better. Change sometimes can be difficult and hard to get accustomed to. That’s human nature.
But on the longer term and particularly in the context of a competitive world and a fast-moving society, change is inevitable.
In many ways however, changing our business section logo to Business Times on Sunday (BT for short) from Financial Times on Sunday (FT for short) from next week is not exactly a change. It’s the re-birth of a product and maybe our karma, for, the first few years of the business section of the Sunday Times (after 1992) was known as the Business Times until it changed to FT in 2000.
Now we are back again as the Business Times (from next week) as bright, vibrant and provocative as ever. As the famous Bob Dylan song goes – ‘And the Times that are’re a changing’, we at the FT on Sunday look forward to a new beginning (or going back to our roots as one would call it).
Rebranded Business Times, the authoritative business and finance section of the Sunday Times, your popular weekly newspaper, will continue to be independent, bold, unbiased and of the highest quality as maintained in the past as we enter another exciting new era in Sri Lanka of rising growth, prosperity and reducing disparities in regional development after the end of the conflict.
As the FT on Sunday, we were bold, brash and often stepped on the toes of those in power when we sought to blow the lid on corporate sleeze, corruption in the workplace, ethics and governance.
The threats – not the kind that our fellow colleagues in the mainstream media have faced – have been many and varied. But we have stood our ground to serve our loyal readers.
The popular email polls, an exclusive creation of the FT on Sunday, where the pulse of the business community, professionals, students and even housewives is tested on a range of national, business and social topics that invariably impact on business and the economy, will continue providing an objective view on Sri Lankan developments from a public perspective.
Sri Lanka is going through a challenging phase since independence and most people, including elders in society, strongly believe that if we don’t make use of this opportunity to develop sans corruption and nepotism, the country will once again miss the development bus!
Current developments are very positive in terms of the path to progress and developments, notwithstanding the elections, and this week has seen a flurry of heightened activity on the business and economic front.
At least two investment funds are setting up base in Sri Lanka while Japanese businessmen attending a Sri Lanka-Japan business forum in Colombo, are positive on investing in Sri Lanka. Japanese investors are also said to be considering setting up a Japanese bank branch through one of the already-existing commercial banks in the country.
Whether it’s a presidential poll first followed by parliamentary elections or vice versa is anybody’s guess but expectations are high that an announcement on the next poll will be made tomorrow by the President.
The end of the war has removed the biggest deterrent to the economy and with that being in the not-too distant past it’s a case of getting the fundamentals right, improving the infrastructure and hey presto -- boom time for business and the economy.
Nevertheless a political settlement that would meet the aspirations of the minorities and acceptable to all communities is also what business is hoping for to ensure the cancer doesn’t surface again.
Such a (historic) development would herald a new era for Sri Lanka and see the country progress to the level of Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand, without the violence-filled distractions of the past three decades.
And to report on all these happenings in the next decade, the Business Times, as a part of your popular Sunday Times, will be there to provide an unbiased and objective account. |
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