business Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Tourism leveraged the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) complemented by three road shows, B2B and industry meetings in Dubai last week in a major push in the Middle East market.

Sri Lanka was showcased as an attractive holiday destination at the 24th Arabian Travel Market (ATM) which took place from April 22 to 25, 2018 at the Dubai International Exhibition & Convention Centre. Sri Lanka participated for the 16th consecutive year at the event with more than 60 industry participants.

The Arabian Market is important for Sri Lanka as it helps to source a large number of visitors from the region. During the month of March 2018 there were 15,894 tourist arrivals from the Middle East. The event coincided with three roadshows which were held from April 17 to 19 in UAE by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau in collaboration with the Sri Lanka consulate in Dubai. This was the first time SLTPB organized three consecutive roadshows in UAE.

The attractive Sri Lanka pavilion at the ATM was the center of attraction and drew large crowds. It was declared open by Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs, John Amaratunga. The Sri Lankan delegation to the ATM included Senior Advisor to the Minister, Felix Rodrigo, Sri Lanka’s Consul General in Dubai and Northern Emirates, Charitha Yattegoda, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sutheash Balasubramanium and Assistant Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Ajantha Rathnayake.

A press conference was held parallel to the travel fair to keep the international media well informed about the new developments in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka and the many attractions for the Middle Eastern travelers.

The Minister also held discussions with a cross section of industry professionals on boosting bilateral tourism traffic. The B2B meetings which were held on the sidelines of the fair proved to be fruitful and had a positive impact especially in encouraging investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.

The Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018 is the largest annual exhibition for the tourism trade in the Middle East. Sri Lanka Tourism has been participating at this event since 2003 along with members of the travel and tourism industry.

ATM now facilitates $2.4 billion in industry deals and attracts 2,800 exhibitors from 86 countries and over 26,000 influential visitors.

The Bourse ended on a negative note this week as the ASPI decreased by 9.91 points (or -0.15%) to close at 6,531.06 points, while the S&P SL20 Index also decreased by 19.13 points (or -0.52%) to close at 3,660.10 points.

Turnover and market capitalization

Sampath Bank was the highest contributor to the week’s turnover value, contributing LKR0.89Bn or 28.54% of total turnover value.

JKH followed suit, accounting for 23.39% of turnover (value of LKR0.73Bn) while Commercial Bank contributed LKR0.15Bn to account for 4.89% of the week’s turnover.

Total turnover value amounted to LKR3.12Bn (cf. last week’s value of LKR1.29Bn), while daily average turnover value amounted to LKR0.62Bn (+141.06% W-o-W) compared to last week’s average of LKR 0.26Bn.

Market capitalization meanwhile, decreased by 0.15% W-o-W (or LKR 4.57Bn) to LKR 3,049.25Bn cf. LKR 3,053.82Bn last week.

Liquidity (in value terms)

The Banking, Finance & Insurance Sector was the highest contributor to the week’s total turnover value, accounting for 49.93% (or LKR 1.56Bn) of market turnover.

Sector turnover was driven primarily by Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank, HNB, Ceylinco Insurance, Union Bank & Sanasa Development Bank which accounted for 87.76% of the sector’s total turnover.

The Diversified Sector meanwhile accounted for 35.00% (or LKR 1.09Bn) of the total turnover value, with turnover driven primarily by JKH, Melstacorp & Softlogic Holdings which accounted for 85.10% of the sector turnover.

The Manufacturing Sector was also amongst the top sectorial contributors, contributing 4.77% (or LKR 0.15Bn) to the market driven by Chevron which accounted for 58.16% of the sector turnover.

Liquidity (in volume terms)

The Diversified Sector dominated the market in terms of share volume, accounting for 42.49% (or 32.91Mn shares) of total volume, with a value contribution of LKR 1.09Bn.

The Banks, Finance & Insurance Sector followed suit, adding 22.62% to total turnover volume as 17.52Mn shares were exchanged.

The sector’s volume accounted for LKR1.56Bn of total market turnover value. The Power & Energy Sector meanwhile, contributed 6.38Mn shares (or 8.24%), amounting to LKR0.07Bn.

Top gainers and losers

SMB Leasing was the week’s highest price gainer; increasing 20.0% W-o-W from LKR0.50 to LKR0.60. Colombo Trust gained 14.6% W-o-W to close at LKR37.00. Arpico(+13.1% W-o-W) and Office Equipment(+12.2% W-o-W) were also amongst the gainers.

SMB Leasing[NV] was the week’s highest price loser, declining 33.3% W-o-W to close at LKR0.20 while Blue Diamonds(-20.0% W-o-W), Lake House(-17.9% W-o-W), Tea Smallholder(-14.7% W-o-W) were also amongst the top losers over the week.

Foreign investors closed the week in a net buying position with total net inflows amounting to LKR 0.34Bn relative to last week’s total net inflow of LKR 0.08Bn (+339.07% W-o-W).

Total foreign purchases increased by 520.44% W-o-W to LKR 1.20Bn from last week’s value of LKR 0.19Bn, while total foreign sales amounted to LKR 0.86Bn relative to LKR 0.12Bn recorded last week (+642.01% W-o-W).

In terms of volume Sampath Bank & Nation Lanka led foreign purchases while Dialog & Chevron Lubricants led foreign sales.

In terms of value Sampath Bank & Cargills led foreign purchases while Chevron & HNB led foreign sales.

Point of view

Sri Lankan Equity markets ended the week on a negative note, reversing the positive momentum that dominated in the previous two weeks when the broad share ASPI surpassed the 6500 mark for the first time since Mid-March.

Although market activity returned to normal levels this week as investors returned to markets post the Traditional New Year holidays, the benchmark Index ended the week at 6531.06 to record an ~10 point loss W-o-W.

Despite the overall market ending on a negative note, investors remained interested in blue chip stocks over the week, helping JKH gain ~2.8% W-o-W while Dialog gained ~2.2% W-o-W.

JKH consequently accounted for ~23.4% of this week’s total turnover. Activity levels also improved this week, helping turnover hit a 3 week high of Rs.3.1Bn (cf. Rs1.3Bn last week), and pushing the daily average turnover up by ~141% W-o-W (Rs.0.62Bn cf. Rs.26Bn).

Market activity however was dominated by retail investors as Local institutional and HNI investors opted to remain on the sidelines yet again.

Local Institutional and HNI participation accounted for just ~32% (of total market turnover) during the week cf. the average of ~47% year to date. Foreign investors meanwhile, showed interest in Sri Lankan equities, helping the Bourse record a net foreign inflow of Rs.0.3Bn cf. a net foreign inflow of Rs.0.1Bn of last week.

However, higher exchange rate volatility & rupee depreciation (~LKR depreciated 2.6% year to date) in the last few weeks has remained a concern for foreign investors, and the YTD net foreign outflow amounted to Rs.0.9Bn (including LOLC’s transaction for Rs.12.8Bn).

Markets in the week ahead are likely to move in line with developments on the political and economic front.

CB forecasts inflation to stabilize at 4.0%

National inflation levels in Mar’18 fell to a 2-year low of 2.8% Y-o-Y, down from the 4.2% Y-o-Y recorded in Feb’18.

The decline in headline inflation was driven largely by the general reduction in Food inflation (from 3.7% Y-o-Y in Feb’18 to 2.6% Y-o-Y in Mar’18) while Nonfood inflation increased marginally (from 2.8% Y-o-Y in Feb’18 to 2.9% Y-o-Y in Mar’18).

Urban inflation levels meanwhile, continued to drop in 2018 as CCPI dipped to 4.2% Y-o-Y in Mar’2018 from 7.1% Y-oY in Dec’2017, while core inflation also reduced to 3.4% Y-o-Y in Mar’18 from 4.3% Y-o-Y in Dec’17.

Lower national and urban inflation levels in 2018 (cf. Annual average 7.7% in 2017) allowed the CBSL to reduce the interest rates by 25bps at its 2nd monetary policy review for the year.

Despite the expected fuel price revision in the year, the CBSL projected urban inflation in 2018 stabilizing at 4.0%, and ~5.0% in the medium term (2019-2022). Meanwhile, the LKR experienced higher volatility this month due to greater importer dollar demand, with the LKR depreciating ~1.1% in this month so-far cf. ~0.5% in Mar’18 and ~0.7% in Feb’18.

The CBSL was quick to re-assure markets however, with the CBSL Governor stating that the recent FX market volatility is unwarranted as the country’s foreign reserve position remains positive, with FX reserves currently touching a record USD 10Bn as the government has just closed bids on USD 1Bn loan while the USD 0.6Bn final tranche from the Hambantota port lease is also expected (1).

So far this year, the LKR has depreciated ~2.6% against the USD, compared to a total depreciation of 2.3% during 2017.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka-based consumer-durables retailer Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC’s National Long-Term Rating at ‘A-(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook.

Fitch has also affirmed the National rating on Singer’s outstanding senior unsecured debentures at ‘A-(lka)’. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this commentary.

The affirmation of Singer’s rating reflects our view that its net leverage, defined as lease-adjusted net debt/operating EBITDAR (excluding the finance subsidiary), will improve and remain below the negative trigger of 5.5x over the medium term after it deteriorated to 5.5x by end-2017 from 4.3x in 2016 amid a weak operating environment. We expect the improvement in its leverage to be supported by a recovery in sales volumes. Singer’s rating also reflects its leading position in the retailing of consumer durables, its extensive product and brand portfolio across different price points and its well-managed hire-purchase business.

Recovery in Sales Volumes: Fitch believes the demand for consumer durables will recover in the medium term as consumers adjust to higher costs, earnings in the agricultural sector recover, personal taxes stay low and interest rates remain stable. Singer’s consumer electronics and home appliance revenue growth slowed to 1% in 2017 after two years of double-digit growth on weak demand due to a prolonged drought in the country, which affected the livelihood of a significant proportion of the population, and an increase in indirect taxes. Fitch believe Singer was able to better respond to the weak demand compared with peers due to its more defensive product portfolio and strong brand presence.

Growth in IT, Digital Media: Fitch expects Singer’ IT and mobile segment to be the key growth driver in the medium term, aided by increasing smartphone penetration in the country and short replacement cycles compared with most other consumer durables. Singer is currently the largest smartphone retailer in Sri Lanka Singer’s IT and digital media revenue has grown at a CAGR of about 57% over the last five years. 

Singer Sri Lanka and Huawei jointly launched Huawei P20 PRO at a colourful event in Colombo last week.Senior managers of the two organisations took part. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

The depreciating rupee might provide fresh opportunities for foreign investors to invest in the Colombo Stock Exchange(CSE), a senior investment advisor attached to the Sampath Securities said.

While exporters gain from rupee depreciation, a strengthening rupee benefits companies that rely on imports or else more local currency is needed to purchase imports and exporters get more local currency when they convert the export proceeds.

In this scenario, there might be an impact on the overall performance of import oriented companies. In the meantime, current political development in Sri Lanka has somewhat undermined the investor confidence in the market, however, the political uncertainty and rupee currency hasn’t created any huge impact on overall market activities so far. “The market has been waiting for signs of political stability,”the advisor said.

Nevertheless, senior official expressed hope that market activities are likely to pick up next week following the Cabinet reshuffle and the next election not scheduled until 2020. 

Chairman at the National Human Resource Development Council of Sri Lanka Dinesh Weerakkody will be the new chairman of t Hatton National Bank (HNB) from May 26.

This follows the retirement of current chairman Rienzie Arseculeratne as HNB chairman on May 25 having reached 70 years, the bank said in a stock market filing yesterday.

Weerakkody also served as chairman of Commercial Bank earlier. He joined HNB’s board last year as a non-independent, non-executive director. The statement said, he has now been confirmed as an independent, non-executive director by the Board Nomination Committee after a re-assessment of his fitness and proprietary to continue as a director of a commercial bank.

Weerakkody is one of the country’s most experienced bank directors, having served on the boards of DFCC Bank Plc and Commercial Bank. He has also held several other senior management positions in both private and public sector. He is also an advisor to the Tourism Ministry.

DFCC continues to aggressively pursue its role as a commercial bank by strengthening its core business, creating momentum in the industry with its constantly evolving best in class offerings and creating a culture of service among its people.

For quarter ended March 31, 2018, the DFCC Group recorded a profit before tax of Rs 1,545 million and profit after tax of Rs 1,110 million as compared to Rs 1,647 million and Rs 1,301 million respectively in the comparative period in 2017. The Bank reported a profit before tax of Rs 1,493 million and a profit after tax of Rs 1,074 million compared to Rs 1,593 million and Rs 1,267 million in the comparative period in 2017, a drop of 6% and 15% respectively.

The Bank recorded a growth of 17% in total operating income amounting to Rs 4,093 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to Rs 3,503 in the comparative period in 2017. However due to the higher charge for impairment as a result of Bank’s prudent provisioning policies, the net operating income recorded a growth of only 4%.The Bank’s NPL ratio increased to 3.12% as at March 2018 from 2.77% recorded in December 2017 as a result of adverse environmental conditions in the operating environment. The industry NPL ratio also recorded an upward trend.

The Bank has strengthened processes whereby close follow up measures are taken to arrest defaults at an early stage and all efforts are made to swiftly recover loans in default.The Bank achieved a notable growth in its core business operations during the quarter under review. During the current period, net interest income grew by 29% to Rs 3,342 million from Rs 2,581 million in the 1st quarter of 2017 while net fee and commission income grew by 27% to Rs 434 million from Rs 343 million in the comparable period. Interest margin improved to 4.0% during the quarter under review from 3.6% in the comparable period.

Operating expenses increased from Rs 1,343 million to Rs 1,579 million (18%) in the comparable period due to branch expansion and business promotions that were carried out during the first quarter 2018. Bank added 10 fully fledged branches during the period April 2017 to March 2018 and continued its drive to expand its franchise through business promotions, which helped to increase income streams.

Other comprehensive income before tax improved by Rs 1,475 million (86%) over the previous period. Mark to market impact on investment in equity securities under available for sales investment has improved by Rs 1,771 million year on year while mark to market impact on fixed income securities declined by Rs 296 million.

Total assets of the Bank grew by Rs 67,236 million year on year which reflects a 24% growth compared to March 2017. The growth in total assets from December 2017 was Rs 18,393 million (6%). Continuing the growth strategy, Bank’s Loans to and receivables from other customers (Loans and advances) grew by Rs 35,475 million to Rs 222,588 million compared to Rs 187,113 million as at March 31,2017 reflecting a growth of 19%. First quarter 2018 growth in Loans and advances was Rs 8,912 million.

Reflecting the success of the deposit promotional campaigns and also public trust in the Bank, the deposit base increased by Rs 56,925 million (40%) from Rs 143,625 million in March 2017 to Rs 200,550 million as at March 31, 2018. The Bank’s low cost deposits (CASA) ratio was 19.6% compared to 21.3% as at December 31, 2017.

This is a result of an increased growth in time deposits versus savings which is reflected in the first quarter. With the impending promotional campaigns planned to mobilise low cost deposits this position will be corrected in the coming months.

The Bank continues to enjoy long term concessionary credit lines which improve the ratio to 28.4% as at March 31, 2018.

The Bank has successfully issued BASEL III compliant Tier II listed rated unsecured subordinated redeemable debenture of Rs 7 billion (oversubscribed on opening day) in order to sustain the planned lending growth and to maintain stable Basel III compliant ratio. The Bank has comfortably met minimum capital requirement ratios under Basel III. As at March 31, 2018, the Group’s Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.462% while the total capital adequacy ratio stood at 18.242%. DFCC Bank recorded Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios of 12.074% and 17.877% respectively as at March 31, 2018 compared to tier I and total ratios of 12.68% and 16.13% respectively as at December 31, 2017. The ratios reported are well above the minimum regulatory requirements of 7.875% and 11.875%.

Commenting on DFCC Bank’s financial results, Lakshman Silva, CEO, DFCC Bank, said,

“The overall performance of the quarter indicates that DFCC Bank is well positioned to serve the nation as a commercial bank through a range of financial services that will promote wealth creation across the country. The Bank is inculcating in its entire staff a culture of providing excellence to customers at all touch points.

The Bank is in line with targets set for Q 1 as per the Board approved 3 year plan. Whilst planning our growth strategy we have set into motion an array of financially prudent measures, digitalization initiatives, customized financial solutions coupled with convenience, branch expansion and other innovative products & services to position ourselves to becoming the preferred consumer bank in the banking landscape.

The state-of-the-art Payments and Cash Management (PCM) solution & the new range of Credit Cards launched will facilitate in making DFCC’s consumer banking proposition much stronger. Delivering sustainable value to all our stakeholders underpins our efforts as we partner our customers on the path to financial growth.”

The DFCC Group comprises DFCC Bank PLC (DFCC), and its subsidiaries, Lanka Industrial Estates Limited (LINDEL), DFCC Consulting (Pvt) Limited (DCPL) and Synapsys Limited (SL), the joint venture company - Acuity Partners (Pvt) Limited (APL) and the associate company - National Asset Management Limited (NAMAL). 

Pathum Maduranga of Image Line Casual Wear won the coveted Young Entrepreneur Silver at the recently concluded award ceremony organized for the 14th year by Anuradapura District Chamber of Commerce held at Hotel Heritage. There were 20 categories of awards and Image Line Casual Wear a leading company of Anuradapura engaged mainly in promotional tea-shirts island-wide became the young entrepreneur Silver. Pathum Maduranga receiving the award from the officials of the Chamber. 

Central Finance Company PLC (Central Finance), a leading financial solutions provider in Sri Lanka, has selected Oracle CX Cloud Suite to effectively engage its customers across multiple touch points. Central Finance will be able to cater to customer queries and interact across various social platforms. The company will also be able to provide consistent customer experiences while offering targeted product aimed specifically at the customers’ needs thus increasing brand advocacy and market share. As a company whose success is driven by people, Central Finance wants to continue to uphold the values of innovation instilled by its founder by consistently delivering financial products designed to fit the rising needs of customers. The management wants to be able to listen to the social conversations in the finance and leasing areas, provide better customer interaction by leveraging multiple channels and improve collaboration amongst various departments. The company also wants to have improved visibility on customer information to provide additional offering insights based on customer needs.

However, various applications and homegrown CRM solutions used previously by Central Finance hampered integration and made the software upgrade process cumbersome. The need for simplification and adoption of common business processes across the organization to ensure agility and responsiveness amid rapid growth was also a challenge. The cost of deploying new software was high as the company would have to perform extensive testing for each change to ensure customization works as expected.

“Our mission is to be the best service provider in our industry, conducting business with responsibility, using our expertise in helping customers grow and prosper whilst creating lasting value for our shareholders,” said Arjuna Gunaratne, Executive Director, Central Finance.

“With Oracle CX Suite we will be able to provide better customer services and extend our market reach to increase market share. We are hopeful that we will be able to leverage industry best practices with the help of Oracle and to achieve our goals”.

Oracle CX Cloud Suite, including Sales, Service, Marketing and Social, will provide Central Finance with a single integrated platform to improve customer interactions using multiple touch points. The application will provide consistent information to the sales staff, ensuring a defined standard operating procedure (SOP) to take new customers on-board.

The management of Central Finance will have a 360-degree view of opportunities and cross-departmental collaboration. Oracle CX Suite will further provide native support for mobile, embedded analytics and social collaboration aligned to give the staff access anytime and anywhere, while helping in real-time decision-making.

“Organizations seeking competitive advantage rely on Oracle to help them effectively engage customers across physical and digital channels to dramatically improve customer retention, up-sell, and brand advocacy,” said Chandita Samaranayake, Head of Applications Business – Oracle Sri Lanka, Indochina and Maldives.

“We are confident that Oracle CX Cloud Suite can enable Central Finance to know more about their customer needs and offer customized products and services to increase its market share, while delivering great customer experiences.”

Central Finance can take social capabilities a step further since Oracle Social is integrated with key CX applications, including Marketing, Service, Sales and Commerce.

Oracle Social provides the industry’s first unified social platform that delivers a virtually seamless experience across listening, engagement, content creation, community management, and paid media, analyzes a company’s social media efforts, help organizations achieve their business objectives and develop stronger, more loyal customers. 

Leading Sri Lankan insurer Janashakthi Insurance PLC announced the appointment of Jude Fernando as the company’s Director / Chief Executive Officer with effect from May 1, 2018.

Having divested its General Insurance business earlier this year, Janashakthi has focused its efforts on the country’s underpenetrated Life Insurance segment. With Jude at the helm, Janashakthi Life is set to embark on a major growth drive to further strengthen its position as a significant player in the Life Insurance industry.

Jude will be succeeding Stuart Chapman who had resigned from his position as Director / Chief Executive Officer of Janashakthi Insurance PLC due to personal commitments.

“It is my great pleasure to welcome Jude Fernando back to Janashakthi Life as he takes charge as the Chief Executive Officer of Janashakthi Insurance PLC. Jude has had an illustrious track record, both within Janashakthi, and previously at leading local giants such as Cargills Manufacturing Brands, Hemas Group and Kotmale Holdings PLC. Coming in at a time when we look to bring renewed focus on our Life business, I look forward to seeing him build on its strong fundamentals and drive it to greater heights,” said Prakash Schaffter, Managing Director of Janashakthi Insurance PLC. “As we begin the next chapter of our growth story, I would also like to thank Stuart Chapman who steered the company through a challenging period of restructuring the Life business amidst immense competition and changing consumer needs, thereby leaving us with a strong foundation from which to deliver our next phase of growth. We wish him the very best in all his future endeavours.”

Jude joined Janashakthi as the company’s Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer in 2013 and was tasked with overlooking both the General and Life Insurance businesses. He was promoted to the role of Chief Executive Officer in July 2014. Post the segregation of the businesses due to regulatory changes, he undertook the overall responsibility of the General Insurance business along with the responsibilities of managing the Shared Service functions of both entities from January 2017.

An Accountant by profession, Jude holds an MBA from the University of Wales and is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK), a Fellow Member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (UK), a Chartered Global Management Accountant (UK), and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK).

The Board of Directors of Janashakthi Insurance PLC comprises Husein Esufally, Chairman; Prakash Schaffter, Managing Director; Jude Fernando; Ramesh Schaffter; L. C. R. de C. Wijetunge; Anushya Coomaraswamy; Manjula Mathews; and Eardley Perera.

In a major boost to Sri Lankan entrepreneur development efforts, the country’ sole and fully integrated cement giant stepped in to support one of the biggest industry-entrepreneurial development projects introduced in the country.

“INSEE Cement is part of Thailand’s SIAM Group with operations in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. Together with INSEE Cement team we want to strengthen the construction practices in Sri Lanka,” said the Executive Vice President and Sales & Marketing Director of INSEE Cement (or Siam City Cement (Lanka) Limited), Jan Kunigk on April 25 in Colombo.

INSEE’s EVP Kunigk was addressing the launch event of Entrepreneur Partnering session by National Enterprise Development Agency (NEDA) under the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen at the Ministry, Colombo 3.

In this pioneering initiative, NEDA is partnering with INSEE Cement to provide new skills and disseminate latest industry and masonry technologies practiced around the world to 4400 Lankan construction workers and masons in 45 cities across the country. The training at multiple levels are expected to continue through December 2018. INSEE is investing approximately SL Rs 2.2 mn in this project.

“INSEE Cement, earlier called as Holcim Lanka, has always been committed to long-term development of its people and stakeholders. Construction industry workers, masons are one of our key stakeholders who use our products ad solutions. As for solutions, INSEE Cement with its previous experience is the most innovative firm and the leading firm in Sri Lankan cement market. We are the only cement manufacturing company in Sri Lanka that is fully integrated -including in distribution. This makes us not only committed to Sri Lankan market but also to strength of employment provision with optimal composition. We now employ 20000 directly and indirectly”, added EVP Kunigk.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen commended INSEE Cement for joining this initiative and supporting NEDA’s national entrepreneur development efforts. “Encouraging entrepreneurs and making youth to not be a burden on state sector employment is part of the Unity Government’s reform vision. Self-employment can help our economy greatly. I commend INSEE Cement for stepping in to be part of Sri Lanka’s national entrepreneur development initiative.” Once INSEE Cement’s technical skilling of 4400 freelance and non-freelance Lankan masons is completed by end of this December, NEDA plans to step in, take them over and skill them on aspects of entrepreneurship, self-employment and SME generation.

Among the objectives of NEDA as per the National Entrepreneur Development Act No. 17 of 2006 are stimulating growth, expansion and development of Sri Lanka economy by encouraging, promoting, and facilitating small and medium enterprise development within Sri Lanka, empowerment of people’s human capital development with technical skills and facilitate the access of Lankan entrepreneurs.

BoardPAC, the Sri Lanka headquartered developer of the award-winning iPad-enabled paperless board communication and meetings solution of the same name, has been ranked among the global Top 25 Collaboration Technology Companies in 2018 by CIO Applications, USA, a leading media brand and sought-after magazine.

This prestigious accolade is based on BoardPAC’s success in providing collaboration technology solutions to help clients build competitive advantage and transform their businesses. It recognises the value of the BoardPAC solution in enabling businesses to move a step ahead by adopting the best in technology to streamline the process of sharing information seamlessly and making decision making more efficient.

Commenting on this recognition, Lakmini Wijesundera, Director and CEO of BoardPAC said, “BoardPAC was founded to revolutionise board meeting procedures and to enhance convenience, security and speed of decision making. For a Sri Lankan multinational company to be named among the Top 25 globally in this sphere is a significant achievement and recognises the extent to which our product has transformed ways in which board meetings are conducted in many parts of the world.”

Wijesundera was also featured in the latest edition of the CIO Applications magazine.

The Chief Operating Officer of BoardPAC, Rajitha Kuruppumulle said, “Collaboration Technology is an exciting field that challenges us to look for ways to innovate meaningfully using the latest developments in ICT to make a significant difference in processes and to promote eco-friendly practices like going paperless.”

The CIO Applications Magazine stands out with its unique approach of learning from industry leaders and offering professionals the most comprehensive collection of technology trends. Its mission is to propose additional services that can improve businesses and help customers deal with issues related to the industry.

It has been deployed by some of the strongest brands across the world such as the Axiata group of companies, Deloitte and Maxis among others.

BoardPAC clientele span the largest banks and sector leaders in Asia Pacific such as Prudential, Maybank, Hong Leong Group, MSIG, BSN, Bumi Armada, RHB Banking Group, Affin Bank, and Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia. Leading Indian corporations such as Bombay Stock Exchange, Power Grid Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, Container Corporation of India, and LIC Housing Finance Limited too are users of the product. BoardPAC already has the largest market share for board meeting automation in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and in the Asia Pacific region, and is emerging as a leader across the globe. Its operations have expanded overseas in 20 countries including the USA, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Sri Lanka.