Shipping

• Russian turmoil hits freight trade
• K Line and Yangming upgrade their N Europe / Asia services
• K Line adjusts intra-Asia strings
• OOCL's profit sinks

Russian turmoil hits freight trade

The current econmic crisis in Russia has prompted Fesco Russian Pacific Line to make the following announcement to the trade: 'All freight charges, accessorial charges, surcharges and other charges, including advanced charges, must be prepaid at origin in US currency prior to release of cargo at the final destination. Roubles will not be accepted in payment for any charges. In limited circumstances, and at our sole discretion, we may accept certain types of security agreements, eg. corporate or bank letters of guarantee, in lieu of prepayment to facilitate cargo release.'

All freight and additional charges must be paid in full and without discount or deduction within the terms of the shipper's existing credit agreement. Credit terms for freight payment for cargo moving under service contracts will remain in effect until the contract expires provided payment is made in accordance with the service contract terms.'

The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR), meantime, appears more upbeat about the situation. On September 10, 1998, Rado Antolovic, general director of Vostochny International Container Service (VICS), reported: 'Transit times on TSR has fully stabilised and according to information received from Finnish, Russian and Polish railways the average transit time from Vostochny to those countries is 11/14 days. Russion railways is assuring minimum weekly trains to Luzhaika and Brest, and in addition to that guarantees extra trains if the demand arises. All other parts of Trans-Siberian Landbridge (TSLB) services are kept at the same competitive level as prior to miners disputes on TSLB. The present political and economic situation means that tariffs based on US$ are kept unchanged.'

On September 17, 1998, Antolovic updated: 'Trans-Siberian train services via VICS are running on schedule without delays. Average transit time from Finland to Vostochny are 12 days, average times to Moscow are 10 to 14 days average time to CIS republics are 20 days. All shipping lines servicing VICS are sailing on schedule without delay.'

K Line and Yangming upgrade their N Europe / Asia services

K Line and Yangming are phasing larger and faster ships into their jointly operated Europe/Asia/Europe services network.

The eastern Mediterranean market is also to be opened up further through the inclusion of direct calls in Egypt.

The changes which are scheduled to take place in November 1998, involve both Yangming and K Line chartering in addition to large container ships of 3,500 TEU capacity and 21/22 knots service speed, as replacements for 8 X 2054 TEU vessels of 19/20 knots. The existing armada of three ships of 3,456 TEU (owed and operated by K Line) and 5 X 3,725 TEU (owned and operated by Yangming) will remain in service.

K Line has already fixed two vessls from Bremen based Hansa Mare on two-year charter deals and is in the market for three more units. A spokesman admitted that this might be difficult, given the tight supply of ships in this sector of the charter market. 'We are working with our partners on this matter,' he said, 'at the same time as exploring other alternatives, such as redeployments from the transpacific.'

Yangming has also fixed two ships, but preferred not to identify the owner.

Although schedules and port calls were still being worked out at the time of writing, the carriers have decided to maintain their two fixed-day of the week loops - dubbed the Japan/Asia Express and Taiwan/Asia Express services. One will focus on North East Asia and the other on East and South East Asia. However, the lines will work the Taiwan/Asia Express shuttle with just seven ships and reduce port coverage in Asia to just three facilities (Kaohsiung, Hong Kong and Singapore). It is understood that Colombo will not figure in the revised itinerary. In future, Indian Sub-Continent cargo will be fed over Singapore.

It is also thought that a rationalisation of port calls will occur in northen Europe. 'We will more or less cover the same ports,' declared the K Line spokesman, 'but there will be some division of calls between the K Line and Yangming loops.' Currently, direct calls are offered at Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe and LeHavre.

A total of 15 ships will be deployed, a saving of one unit on the current set up. However, shipboard capacity is being boosted by almost 20%.

According to K Line, the additional tonnage is needed to accommodate the mushrooming traffic volumes moving out of Asia and to exploit new market opportunities in the eastern Mediterranean basin. To support the latter objective, K Line and Yangming have decided to use the Egyptian port of Port Said as a relay centre for the region. Initially, Israel and Turkey will be targeted through the use of common-user feeder services, but with schedules structured to meet with the mainline ships.

The decision to use Port Said as a transhipment hub will result in direct calls at Haifa by the mainline vessels deployed in the Taiwan/Asia Express loop being terminated.

It is widely believed that Cosco, which has a reciprocal space sharing arrangement with K Line, will buy slots on the new services. Discussion with the Chinese state controlled line is due to take place shortly.

K Line adjusts intra-Asia strings

K Line has merged its Jaseco and Jafco container liner services linking Japan with South East Asia and Indonesia/Western Australia into a single fully integrated service loop using 5 x 1,064/1,308TEU vessels.

According to a K Line spokesman, the changes have been made to provide enhanced service reliability to its customers and to give them a more extended range of direct port calls.

For instance, the revised operation offers connections between Tokyo, Shimizu, Kobe and Jakarta. Previously, the Indonesian port had only been served by vessels calling at the Japanese ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka.

The only port to lose direct calls under the new operating regime is Port Klang, in Malaysia. This area will now be served by feeder service over Singa-pore. It also provides a better balance between ship supply and customer demand and facilitates the easier repositioning of equipment.

Since the onset of the Asia currency crisis in June 1997 and the recent softening of the yen against the US dollar, cargo flows in the region have been subjected to great change, with box imbalances and associated repositioning costs soaring.

The trade corridors linking Japan with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have been some of the worst affected (see 'Intra-Asia meltdown', Containerisation International, pp 55-59). K Line's move will actually result in 3 x 1,000TEU ships being removed from the trade.

The revised schedule, which started in late September 1998, facilitates calls direct at Tokyo, Yokohama, Shimizu, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Manila, Pasir Gudang, Singapore, Jakarta, Fremantle, Singapore, Pasir Gudang (Johor), Manila and return to Tokyo. K Line is marketing it as the Jaseco-W service.

Previously, the Jaseco's schedule offered calls at Tokyo, Yokohama, Shimizu, Nagoya, Kobe, Manila, Singapore, Pasir Gudang, Port Klang, Manila and Tokyo, while Jafco called at Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Port Klang, Singapore, Jakarta, Fremantle, Port Klang, Singapore, Osaka.

OOCL's profit sinks

Orient Overseas International Ltd. (OOIL), the parent group of Hong Kong's largest container carrying line OOCL, has reported disappointing results for the first half of its 1998 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 1998.

The company attributed its poor performance to the continuing imbalance between ship supply and demand, the severe deterioration in the economic performance of various Asian nations and sharply higher operating expenses. The latter rose because of OOCL's need to reposition a rising number of empty containers back to Asia from both Europe and North America and from one-off costs associated with the operator transferring its allegiance from the Global Alliance to the Grand Alliance. This took place in January 1998.

In the first half of 1998, OOCL reported a post-tax loss of US $14.6 million, compared with a profit of $9.1 million in the corresponding period of 1997. The loss partly reflected an extraordinary charge of $3 million for the restructuring and reorganisation of OOCL's North American agency network.

OOIL's revenues also declined, falling by 8.8% from $960 million in 1997 to $875.2 million this year. This was significantly greater than the 2% drop in box liftings and reflected the continuing pressure on ocean freight rates. The company indicated that average revenue per TEU softened in all of its main trade lanes.

However, OOIL Chairman and ceo C.C. Tung appeared more bullish about the future, believing that the cyclical downturn in the containership liner market was bottoming out. In addition, he thinks that the freight rate situation is improving. 'Rate restoration actions taken on cargo outbound from Asia to Europe and North America began to exert a positive influence in the later months of the first half and heighten prospects for the second half,' he said.

One area of success in the first six month period was the group's container terminals division, which improved operating results over the comparable period of 1997. 'The commendable performance reflects the first signs of maturation at our newer terminals in New York (Howland Hook) and Vancouver (BC) (Deltaport) and good management at the older terminals,' explained Tung.

Company News

• Internet pioneer Postel dies
• ICSA national conference
• Caltex to up investments
• What drives a man to kill himself?
• Maize growing in big way in South
• CF maintains growth with record Rs 5.16b. turnover - Corporate Profile
• Mobitel's head now at Lanka Bell
• JKCS joins JK's IT family
• HNB in forefront of rural development
• Durdan's modern computer reads tests accurately

Internet pioneer Postel dies

By Ted Bridis

Jon Postel, the Internet pioneer who wielded enormous influence managing technical details of the global computer network, has died of complications from heart surgery in Los Angeles, at 55, an AP release said.

Postel, considered by the Clinton administration to be a crucial player in the future of the Internet, died while recovering from surgery to replace a leaking heart valve, said Vint Cerf, a senior vice president for MCI Worldcom Inc. who worked closely with Postel.

The death was also announced last week at an Internet conference in Barcelona, said Bill Semich, the president of .Nu Domain, another Internet company.

Postel's death comes at a critical juncture for the Internet, with the federal government in the midst of turning over management of the worldwide network to a non-profit group that Postel helped organize.

Though Postel worked behind the scenes and was hardly known outside high-tech circles, his role as director of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority allowed the Internet to match unique numerical addresses for computers on the global network with its millions of Web addresses, such as www.ap.org.

So powerful was Postel that "The Economist" once dubbed him "god" of the Internet.

"Jon was a very private person and didn't seek the limelight at all," said Cerf, who attended high school with Postel in California. "He preferred to exercise his stewardship role in a very quiet but competent way."

"Being famous never drove Jon," agreed another longtime friend, David Farber, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "He had tremendous influence, people respected his intellect."

Earlier this year, Postel drew sharp criticism but demonstrated his influence when he redirected half the Internet's 12 directory-information computers to his own system. He told federal officials afterward he was running a test to see how smoothly such a transition could be made.

A researcher at the University of Maryland at College Park, which controls one of those computers, told the'Washington Post'. "If Jon asks us to point somewhere else, we'll do it. He is the authority here."Cerf said Postel underwent a heart-valve replacement in 1991, but the replacement valve started to leak about 10 days ago. He was quickly hospitalized for surgery and was recovering when he died suddenly.

"One minute he was alert and laughing about a joke, and the next minute he was gone," Cerf said. "It was very fast."

Postel, who was unmarried with no children, was intensely private. When a recent trade publication profiled him and told him readers were interested in his personal life, he answered: "If we tell them, they won't be interested anymore."

Cerf said Postel is survived by a brother, Mort Postel, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife. (AP)

ICSA national conference

The seventh national conference of the Institute of chartered secretaries and administrators will be held in association with the European commission delegation to Sri Lanka.

The Inauguration will be on November 12 at the Colombo Hilton and will focus on the overall conference theme "Managing Enterprises in a Dynamic economic global environment" relevant to Sri Lanka and the region of South and East Asia and Japan.

The Technical Sessions covering a range of interesting and thought provoking issues woven round the main theme commences the next day at the BMICH and should provide insights into issues yet to be solved by the economic gurus.

The topics should be of interest to a cross-section of industry, commerce, banking and finance and non-government agencies established in the country.Malcom Wilson, a manager with Lloyds Bank registrars UK, Dr.Anila Dias Bandaranaike of the Economic Research Department of the Central Bank, Dr.Jayanatha Kelegama, former secretary to the Ministry of Trade and UN Consultant, Aritha Wickramanayake, a former Director General of the SEC and Legal Consultant and Martin Thomley, a senior quality and safety consultant of the United Kingdom will speak on issues that affect Sri Lanka market.

Caltex to up investments

Caltex will increase investment in various projects within petroleum related industry in Lanka, a recent media conference was told.

The press conference was held to introduce the new Caltex Chairman Dana F. Flanders and Managing Director Peter Martin.

The increased focus on developing markets by Caltex has led to the creation of a New Business Development Unit. Mr. Flanders, recently appointed President of this unit, emphasized the increased focus on developing markets, especially Sri Lanka.

"Caltex realises the real potential of these countries and we are fully committed to make considerable investments in viable ventures and contribute to the growth of these economies ", he said.

The presence of Caltex in Sri Lanka dates back to 1938 as a Petroleum/Lubricant marketer until nationalisation in the 1960's. Caltex re-entered Sri Lanka with the acquisition of a 51% stake in Lanka Lubricants Ltd. in July 1994. A gift of 10% of the shares was made to employees in November 1995, with the government stake of 39% being listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in August 1996.

Since the acquisition in August 1994, LLL has had significant achievements including infrastructure developments, plant revamping programme with an investment of Rs. 256.0 million, agreements with leading multi-national companies for the local blending of marine lubricants for the servicing of vessels calling at the Ports of Sri Lanka, lubricants export for the first time to three countries, namely Reunion, Mauritius and Maldives.

"In May this year the Company's blending facilities and laboratory was certified for the ISO 9002 Standards, by the British Standards Institute - this probably demonstrates one of the biggest changes that has taken place at LLL", said outgoing MD Ron Hopkins.

What drives a man to kill himself?

By Asiff Hussein

What most of us do not realise is that each one of us has suicidal thoughts occurring in our minds at some point of time, a well- known Counsellor said recently.

Lakshmi Ratnayake, Co- Ordinator of Rural Programmes, Sri Lanka Sumithrayo who spoke on 'Suicide' at last Tuesday's Sunday Times / Celltell Business club meeting, said that basically suicide is not just wanting to die, but not having anything to live for.

She pointed out that although such socio-economic factors like unemployment and poverty per se were not causes for killing oneself; they could give rise to considerable negative feelings, so that even a relatively minor problem such as an unapproved love affair was sufficient to trigger suicide.

She observed that the chief cause of suicide was interpersonal relationships and noted that of the 12,000 persons who had visited Sumithrayo centres as many as 8000 had problems in their romances or marital relationships.

Other notable causes were alcohol and narcotic addiction which account for about 25 percent of all suicides.

She noted that although indulgence in drugs and alcohol initially leads to a 'high', they are in fact depressants, which can contribute to a very depressed state of mind afterwards ,thus paving the way for suicidal impulses.

However at the same time, suicidal tendencies could easily be put right, she pointed out. She noted that most people who commit suicide feel very isolated even though they may be living in the midst of a family. The suicidal impulse could arise out of a 'Nobody cares for me' attitude.

Acute depression which is usually a preliminary to suicide is easily identifiable, explained Ms. Ratnayake. This includes paranoia, insomnia, unruly behaviour, a feeling of isolation and a decline in personal appearance.

She observed that although there exists a general belief that it is only the mentally ill who commit suicide, the fact remains that most people who end their lives are not. "It is just that they have so much problems in their hands and cannot cope with the negative feelings", she explained. Thus, unless someone was willing to listen to the person concerned, he or she might well resort to suicide, she noted.

She emphasized the need for patient listening and a non- judgmental approach in consoling depressed individuals.

"We can undergo any amount of hardship as long as we know that someone is willing to listen", she stressed.

She noted that research has shown that every individual who committed suicide had actually talked about it, but that there was no one willing to listen and empathize with him or her.

She however noted that 30-40 per cent of people who commit suicide are in an extremely depressed state so that psychiatric counselling may be necessary.

Unfortunately, there exists a stigma attached to seeking psychiatric help in this country, she pointed out.

Ms. Ratnayake observed that every day on an average we have about 100 Sri Lankans attempting suicide with about 17-18 succeeding in their attempts.

She pointed out that the vast majority of the suicides take place in the rural areas which is of course quite natural considering the fact that well over 70 per cent of the population are rural folk. She noted that the highest risk age categories are the 20-30 years age group and the over 60 age group.

In Sri Lanka, the ratio of male to female suicides was 3:1 whereas the international average was 2:1.

She attributed the high incidence of male suicides to the immense pressure on the grown up males to perform their roles which they were in fact largely incapable of since coping with difficulties had not been inculcated in their childhood.

She pointed out that in the village communities, parents have tremendous ambitions for their male offspring while this did not apply to the females.

Thus, whereas the female child is perceived as ' a second hand child', the male child is a favoured one and is brought up in protected environment, so that he is not even assigned his due domestic duties which falls entirely to the lot of his sister.

Thus, whereas Sri Lankan females have come up the hard way and have learnt to cope from birth it makes it easier for them to survive in adulthood and marriage.

The coping capacity of the Sri Lankan males however cannot match that of the female's since this factor had not been built up in the home, she explained.

Ms. Ratnayake attributed the high suicide incidence in the 20-30 year age group to the fact that this becomes a period of sudden transition, especially for the male - from the status of a pampered dependent to that of a breadwinner.

In another high risk age group, the over 60s suicide is due to the tremendous role change undergone in this phase of life due to retirement.

What also increased the risk of suicide in the largely agricultural village communities and the plantation estates was the ready availability of highly toxic insecticides, she observed.

Ms. Ratnayake said that Sumithrayo, which has played no mean role in helping the suicidal and despairing is however in need of volunteers to serve as counsellors and funds for its many advertising campaigns.

She observed that there are presently only 250 Sumithrayo volunteers in the country to cater to Sri Lanka's over 18 million population.

Maize growing in big way in South

In one of the largest programmes organised to grow maize in Sri Lanka, Ceylon Agro-lndustries, (CAI) the former Ceylon Oils and Fats Corporation, Seeduwa, is assisting the Southern Development Authority in a project that would benefit nearly 5000 farmer families in the Moneragala District this Maha season.

The SDA in co-operation with the Agrarian Services Department and the Govi/Samurdhi Niyamakas at village level have organised the farmers in all 10 D S Divisions to whom training and quality seed of the local Ruwan and Pacific hybrid variety were provided by CAI. The extent grown would be more than 4000 acres. In addition the fertiliser for the project has been provided by the Ceylon Fertiliser Co. on loan basis. The SDA hopes to recover the input costs at the time of the harvest. A guarantee to purchase the entire crop has been provided by CAI, a news release said.

This programme is a direct result of the intensive maize demonstration programme carried out jointly by CAI, the Department of Agriculture and the US AID Ag-Ent project during the past few seasons.

In addition CAI has also organised several smaller maize growing programmes this season at Bibile. Okkampitiya and Buttala in joint collaboration with other NGO's. These farmers too would plant hybrid maize and credit for them has been arranged through the Seylan Bank Development Division.

Other programmes organised by CAI this season are in the Anuradhapura district with Sarvodaya at Madawachchiya and Samurdhi recipients at Talawa and in the Badulla districts with groups of the Small Farmer Integrated Livestock Extension Project.

The purchase of the maize has been guaranteed in all programmes and the maize would be used for feed milling. All inputs and farmer training have been provided. Farmers have begun land preparation in many areas and planting of the crop would begin with the onset of the monsoon rains expected in the Dry Zone anytime now.

It is hoped that by these public-private sector collaborative projects the systematic cultivation of maize could transform it from being a subsistence chena crop into a lucrative cash crop bringing good income for the upland Dry Zone farmers of Sri Lanka.

Corporate Profile

CF maintains growth with record Rs 5.16b. turnover

By Company Watcher

Central Finance Company has maintained its record of sustained growth throughout its forty years of operations reaching a record gross turnover of Rs. 5.16 billion last year for the group and recording an unprecedented 55.8% of consolidated profits after tax of Rs. 228.3 million.

The parent company's achievement of a profit of Rs. 200.6 million in 1997/98 is also the best todate. It is an increase of Rs. 49 million over the previous year and represents a satisfactory growth of 32%.

While acknowledging the healthy situation of the economy that prevailed until March 1998, Central Finance Chairman, Chandra Wijenaike cautions about the drastic reversal with an escalation of the South East Asian Region currency crisis and unforeseen nuclear tests in the sub-continent and grave economic crisis in Russia.

"Together these factors have already had a crippling impact on several of our industries and more so the stock market in particular with the pull-out of foreign investors in the region itself as a consequence", he states in his annual review to shareholders.

Elaborating on the company's performance, Managing Director Eranjith Wijenaike says that it was a very successful year achieving excellent levels of performance in a period characterized by record earnings, strong asset growth and continued excellence in operating efficiency.

"The financial performance of the company was enhanced by greater market penetration in an improving economy, which registered a growth of 6.4% in 1997", he says.

Net interest income at Rs. 563.4 million reflected an increase of 28.8% over 1996/97 results and earnings per share was Rs. 32.95 (adjusted for one to one bonus issue).

This improvement in earnings was driven by growth in assets of 30%, new advances of Rs. 2.35 billion and success in managing the company's interest margin, he adds.

"The strong and consistent financial performance over the years has enabled the company to lay the foundation for progressively enhancing shareholder value through regular dividends and substantial capital appreciation", he points out.

The shareholders are to receive a final dividend of Rs. 1. 20 per share (12%) which together with the two interim dividends of 10% each, gives a total payout of Rs. 19.48 million, an increase of 42.2% over the previous year.

Commenting on deposits, he says that last year, the company recorded fresh deposit mobilization totalling Rs. 2.5 billion. Total deposits now stand at Rs. 5.5 billion, a significant growth of 39% over the previous year.

He adds that this illustrates the success the company has in the area of deposit mobilization and that the branch network contributed significantly towards achieving these satisfactory results.

With the opening of two new satellite branches last year in Polonnaruwa and Gampaha, Central Finance now operates through eight regional offices and three satellite offices.

Referring to Information Technology, Mr. Wijenaike says that priority has been given to overcome the Year 2000 issue which will affect the company's information processing with the upcoming millennium change.

Mobitel's head now at Lanka Bell

Vijendran Watson, has been appointed Managing Director of Lanka Bell with effect from October 12.

Vijay who was the pioneer MD of Mobitel, is well-known in Sri Lanka's Corporate sector with whom he had dealings during his 4-year-tenure with Mobitel which he successfully started up.

A Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers UK [IEE] and a Chartered Engineer with a Professional Diploma in Marketing, Vijay is the holder of a B.Sc. in Electronic Communications from the University of Salford, UK.

He began his career as an Engineer with GEC Telecommunications Ltd., in the UK in 1978, and later went on to hold the post of Senior Systems Planning Engineer. Vijay then moved to Ewbank Preece Telecommunications Ltd., as Senior Consulting Engineer [also in the UK], where among his other achievements he commissioned 3 Earth Stations in the Middle East and Africa. Subsequently he joined Mercury Communications Ltd., [a subsidiary of Cable & Wireles] of the UK as Manager Projects, after which he moved to Australia and joined the Telstra Corporation.

He was responsible for starting up the Chevalier Telepoint operations in Hong Kong on behalf of Telstra, and then went on to lead the joint venture with Sri Lanka Telecom to provide a moblie phone service in Sri Lanka.

JKCS joins JK's IT family

John Keells Computer Services [Pvt.] Ltd., [JKCS], one of the newest members of the John Keells 'IT Family', was awarded BOI status recently.

Suresh Dominic, Managing Director said that though John Keells had been in the software business in Sri Lanka since 1987, it was only in 1993 that they ventured into the international arena.

"JKCS was incorporated in March this year as it made sense to establish a separate BOI entity so as to focus only on export oriented projects", said Dominic.

The Company which already has over 95 employees anticipates a turnover of a minimum of 2 million sterling pounds for the year 98/99.

To be able to achieve this figure in just the first year of operation is very creditable indeed", he said.

The majority of JKCS' clients are in Europe, amongst them being P&O Nedlloyd with whom they have a strategic alliance to develop all Non-Core business requirements for the Southern African, Middle Eastern and Indian Sub Continent regions.

HNB in forefront of rural development

Over the last several decades, developing countries have been concentrating on development banking, particularly in financing Small and Medium Industries as a matter of importance both economically and socially.

In most countries of the Asia Pacific region, the percentage of rural population is substantial, which had resulted in every country, financial institutions and state authorities focusing on the uplift of the rural economy providing financial assistance to develop rural industrial and agriculture activities, says a Hatton National Bank release.

In 1975, HNB financed the sinking of tube wells in the Mannar District, second opened a branch at Nochchiyagama exclusively for cultivators in Mahaweli H5 area and third initiated a pilot project for potato cultivation in the Nuwara-Eliya District.

Since the introduction of SMI Credit Scheme in 1979, HNB has been actively participating in promoting Small and Medium Industry sector. Over the years, the Bank has elevated several small-scale entrepreneurs who have now become market leaders of many industries.

HNB was ranked No. 1 among the Private Commercial Banks in project lending under SMI in terms of volumes during the past few years of the SMI IV Credit Line. The bank also recorded the best collection performance among all participating banks.

Having successfully participated in the SMI Credit Line which was terminated in 1996, HNB continued to cater to the needs of entrepreneurs of SMI sector by introducing their own credit scheme under the name of SMEC (Small & Medium Enterprises Credit Scheme) in January 1996, with the bank's own funds.

This enabled the bank to make available long-term project funding in response to the demand from the new enterprises and for expansions of on-going businesses. HNB is now actively participating in the SMAP & SMILE Credit Lines and records best performance among the private commercial banks.

In 1989, HNB entered the hearts of the rural entrepreneurs introducing the "Gami Pubuduwa" Scheme, a concept of barefoot banking that facilitated self employment and sustained development in remote environments through more than 100 delivery units spread all over the country by now.

An aid mission from the World Bank carried out a study of our "Gami Pubuduwa" Scheme in late 1995 and published a discussion paper titled "A Commercial Bank's Micro/Finance Programme - the case of HNB". This study portrayed HNB Micro Finance Scheme as a model of sustainable Micro Finance Scheme. This recognition is fine testimony to the tireless efforts of the Bank to assist the rural economy.

In recognition of the entrepreneurship skills and satisfactory banking relationship with its clients, in 1989 HNB conducted a farmer felicitation ceremony in Nuwara-Eliya which was the first such program to be conducted by a private commercial bank in Sri Lanka.

With a view to promote new business enterprises and entreprenuership skills of the younger generation HNB is continuously assisting potential entrepreneurs.

HNB is the first private bank to recruit specialized personnel to promote agriculture and industrial credit in Sri Lanka. Having started initially with the recruitment of Agriculture & Technical Officers the Bank has now employed a total field staff of over 150 personnel who are committed to provide total solutions for the specific needs of entrepreneurs in various industry sectors. Agriculture Officers, Project Officers, Gami Pubudu Officers and Project Analysts have been placed at the Branches and various Departments to identify and satisfy the needs of the customers efficiently and effectively.

In order to provide a better customer service, the Bank recently introduced three branded products namely "Vikasitha, Sarusara and Gami Pubuduwa", to cater to the financial needs of the industrial, rural and micro enterprises.

Durdan's modern computer reads tests accurately

Durdans hospital has upgraded its pathology laboratory to international standards by using state-of-the-art hi-tech computer driven medical laboratory analysers.

At present it is common practice for a single test to be performed at several laboratories concurrently, at great expense to the patient in order to sort out inaccuracies. Durdan's mission is to provide reliable, accurate test results quickly. These modern analysers produce accurate laboratory investigation from the highly sensitive "electronic eye" of the on-board computers. Results of this degree of accuracy and sensitivity are a far cry from what is achievable with manual laboratory methodology. These instruments have on board, real time quality assurance systems with the use of expensive quality control (QC) material. This stringent internal quality control ensures that the analysers produce accurate reliable results.

The functions of these analysers are monitored electronically by the inbuilt computer system, thus minimising human operation and error.

These analysers are capable of selecting tests from a wide menu ranging from simple blood glucose tests and general health profiles, to the most specific test in special situations. These include assessment of cholesterol and cholesterol components, full heart profile in the event of a chest pain, latest parameters in monitoring the diabetic patient such as Glicohemoglobin, Fructosamine and Microalbumin in urine.

These analysers do hormone analysis such as thyroid function tests, a wide array of reproductive hormones specially geared for investigating subfertility. In addition tumor markers for early detection of cancer, and other full serological identification of infective diseases such as Hepatitis and HIV, TORCH panel to identify pregnancies at risk from Rubella virus etc. the on board computer through and quality assurance system ensures precise, accurate, valid results being generated continuously.

The Coulter Haematology analyser performs a full blood count that includes WBC/DC, Haemoglobin level and Platelet counts.

Repeated automatic scanning of thousands of blood cells ensures accuracy of cell counts, which is far above what is achievable by manual counting. Also it enhances the chance of detecting abnormal cells. The Coulter handles 50-60 full blood count reports which will be printed with RBC, WBC and Platelet Histograms, which gives additional information to the doctor.

Feeding the patients primary sampling tube directly to the machine means no human interference and no mix-up.

Durdans diagnostic services guarantee the accuracy of results produced with its stringent QC procedures and if a consultant or doctor has doubts or queries the test, it will be repeated free of charge along with QC readings. Executive health profiles are available to get an assessment of the health condition of the individuals, covering a wide range of parameters such as Lipid Profile, Liver, Renal, Electrolytes, full blood count, X-ray, ECG, etc. A consultant physician will be available to interpret and analyse the data. A mobile service is available for patients' convenience and a special package for diabetic patients needing frequent blood sugar monitoring is also available.

The pathology laboratory provides a 24 hour service and is monitored and reported by professionally qualified pathologists specialised in Chemical Pathology, Microbiology, Histopathology, Haematology and trained medical laboratory technicians.

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