business Sri Lanka

With over 3,000 graduates that are currently empowering over 250 multinational and local blue-chip companies, the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) is renowned for producing innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Obhasha Priyanka is a multi-talented IIT graduate who is currently employed as a Software Engineer at 99X technology. Following are excerpts of the interview with Obhasha who shared his thoughts on his journey towards becoming a software engineer.

Obhasha studied at Kingswood College, Kandy and graduated with a first class honors from University of Westminster last year. He started working at 99X technology right after the final year, even before his graduation as he had to do a one year internship at a company as part of his programme curriculum. With that he started the master’s degree at IIT to gain more value.

Higher education at IIT

He thought of doing higher education at IIT, mainly because it is one of the most reputable and oldest institutes in Sri Lanka and University of Westminster has great recognition. Even at a young age Obhasha was very keen to learn about computer technology, soon after the advanced level examinations he enrolled at IIT. “It was one of the best decisions I made in my life,” he said.

During his days at IIT, Obhasha held many leadership positions like the batch representative, Education Director of IEEE students’ a branch of IIT and organized several events and sessions. The institution gave him the chance to develop such leadership skills in addition to an excellent education.

Student life

At IIT, the student life is very balanced and students are given responsibility and ownership to initiate new thoughts, both academic and extra curricular activities, says Obhasha.

“I had an awesome time with the IIT choir, where it helped me a lot to gain valuable exposure. I also should mention the support that lecturers give me at IIT is really commendable. I believe our IEEE committee made a huge impact and conducted the first ever inter university hackathon in Sri Lanka, which led our IEEE student branch to gain a much exposure in Sri Lanka. IIT life is simply one of the best you can expect if you have the right attitude,” he commented.

One of the main achievements, Obhasha said was being a national finalist at the Microsoft Imagine Cup where they developed a very unique concept of a help oriented smart mug to prevent coronary diseases.

“Organizing the first ever inter university hackathon in Sri Lanka was another experience I had. It gave us a huge exposure in the industry and also among all universities in Sri Lanka.”

Shape for corporate success

The academic standards and quality, along with the most important part of the programme, which is the one-year long internship, that gives you the best experience. “That internship truly made my career a success since the most important factor for success in the industry is the positive attitude towards whatever you do. So I would say that the one year internship programme is the key to that success.”

Staff support

At IIT you can easily approach anyone and seek for knowledge support without any barriers. The support given by the staff was really helpful when we were doing group projects even over night, says Obhasha.

“The staff helped us a lot in many different ways. The academic staff at IIT will make sure that you are guided in the right direction while doing many extra curricular activities. The support from IIT was the best.”

IIT conducts internal postgraduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Westminster (UOW), UK and Robert Gordon University. The University of Westminster degrees offered at IIT are Software Engineering, Business Information System, Business Management and Computer Science with specialization pathways in gaming and computer graphics development, mobile and web computing and multimedia computing.

IIT is an award winning campus, which has bagged many accolades for innovation in local and international competitions such as Microsoft Imagine Cup, National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA), APICTA, British Council-HSBC Youth Enterprise Award and e-Swabhimani.

With its strong international affiliations, outstanding resources and focus on quality higher education, IIT without a doubt is an ideal place for students to follow world renowned IT and Business degrees.

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, is partnering with Gargash, one of the largest distributors of premium and luxury cars in the UAE to transport cars for the Gumball 3000 motor rally, an annual celebrity event that raises money for charity.

The partnership agreement was signed by Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo and Shehab Gargash, Managing Director and Group CEO, Gargash Group.Emirates SkyCargo is set to transport four Mercedes Benz AMG GT63 4 Door cars from Dubai to Athens for the Gumball rally and back. The cars will travel on a Boeing 777 freighter from Dubai World Central. Emirates SkyCargo’s Boeing 777 freighter aircraft can carry cargo upto 100 tonnes and are capable of accommodating wide or oversized cargo.“This is the second year that we are working with Gargash to transport cars for the Gumball 3000 rally. We had a successful collaboration last year which helped us showcase Emirates Wheels, our specialised product for transporting automobiles, to a large audience in the UAE as well as the rest of the world. We look forward to offering our First Class treatment to the Team Gargash cars participating in this year’s rally,” said Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President, Emirates SkyCargo.“We are proud to be working once again with Emirates. Two Pioneering UAE companies are collaborating to make the extra-ordinary happen this year, and automobile enthusiasts’ heads will turn around the world” said Shehab Gargash, Managing Director and Group CEO, Gargash Group.

Diva’s ‘Idame Vasanawa’ competition, organised for eight consecutive years has once again presented the ultimate dream to three lucky winners of owning their own home.

Diva is synonymous as a brand in helping consumers reap rich rewards and recognised for making dreams come true. Celebrated as a popular and much-loved mega promotional campaign, consumers islandwide look forward to Diva’s annual ‘Idame Vasanawa’ with much anticipation.

Diva, ‘Idame Vasanawa’ competition has presented 28 plots of land to winners over a period of eight years.Since the competition began, consumers have received over 590 cash prizes, 54 gold coins, and other attractive gifts including motor cycles, refrigerators, washing machines and sewing machines.

Explaining the company’s continued commitment in rewarding consumers with land, Derrick Anthony, General Manager (Marketing), Hemas Manufacturing said, “Through the Diva Idame Vasanawa Consumer Promotion we have helped consumers to make their dreams a reality.

We are also extremely proud that todatewe have been able to gift 28 plots of land, 54 gold coins and 680 cash prizes, providing unimaginablejoy to all recipients.”

Abans will be commencing the Cricket World Cup season with a bang by providing the most incredible offers possible for all hardcore cricket fans across Sri Lanka.

Aptly titled, “Go big, win big, feel big,” this major promotional campaign will give every customer the opportunity to enjoy the best discounts, free gifts, attractive credit card schemes, and more on Abans’ largest products.

Taking inspiration from iconic cricket plays, Abans’ cricket world cup promotion encompasses the following offers: 50-50, free hit, hat-trick, online power play, wide,super six and man of the match. When you choose the 50-50, you can get up to 50% off and up to 60 months’ interest free on selected brands.

The free hit guarantees you an amazing free giveaway with products such as LG TVs, Mistral Air Fryers, and more. The hat-trick offer lets you purchase three large items at a special, discounted rate. If you select the wide, you can enjoy stunning trade-in promotions and discounts on the largest products that Abans has to offer.

The Abans’ Cricket World Cup promotion will enable you to revamp your home with a refrigerator that keeps your food fresh and crisp whilst saving energy in the process; a new cooker, microwave oven, and useful accessories that will make cooking a pleasure; a large screen TV and home theatre that will bring the Sri Lankan cricket matches to your living room; an Inverter Air Conditioner that will keep you cool and comfortable throughout the hot days ahead and mitigate the costs of your electricity bills; and mobile phones and laptops which will allow you to access the world at your fingertips.You can also experience ultra comfort and style with SKECHERS, which lets you perfectly meet every lifestyle need from intense workouts and walking to travelling and hanging out with friends.

Further, take part in our daily match quiz, and stand the chance to win an OPPO smartphone, 32” LED TV and Rs. 10,000 gift voucher every day! Just watch out for the quiz questions appearing before and during each cricket match, and send your answers to 87798.

This daily competition will be valid till the 35th over of the second inning of each match.

However, do you want to walk away with Sri Lanka’s largest 86” LG 4K UHD TV worth Rs. 1,150,000? Then guess the champions of the Cricket World Cup and send your answer via SMS to 87798. This contest will continue till the 35th over of the second inning of the final match of the World Cup series.

Abans’ “Go Big, Win Big, Feel Big” Cricket World Cup promotion will be available at all Abans and Abans Elite showrooms island wide.

Singer Sri Lanka PLC, one of the country’s leading consumer durable retailer has partnered Samsung for the last 12 years.

Singer has been renowned over the years for their vast product portfolio of Samsung household appliances such as Televisions, Refrigerators, Mobile Phones, Washing Machines and Microwave Ovens.

As the most recent introduction, Samsung Sri Lanka announced its latest Smart TVs with industry first unique benefits such as Personal Computer, Music System, Live Cast and Two Way Sharing. The new TV line up along with these never-seen-before benefits will redefine the term ‘Smart’ in Smart TVs and take your home entertainment experience to a whole new level. These benefits empower the consumers to experience a world beyond a conventional television. The new range of smart TVs, launched under the ‘Unbox Magic Every day’ campaign, resonates with the lifestyle of millennial offering meaningful benefits to them. All the benefits are designed under Smart Sri Lanka philosophy, keeping in mind the evolving needs of the Sri Lankan consumers on how they interact with their television and other smart devices.

Along with the revolutionary new smart features, all the Smart TVs come with unmatched picture quality ranging from the High Definition range with Ultra Pix technology to the Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K models, featuring superior colors, stunning details and contrast levels.

 As the global number one TV brand, Samsung believe in creating a Smart Sri Lanka, to provide users with unique solutions that enhance consumer’s experience and enrich their lifestyle.

The new Smart TVs allow users to transform “your Television to your own personal computer”. With this feature one can turn their Smart TV into a full-fledged computer than just browsing.

The new Samsung Smart TV offers a complete visual experience by turning into a virtual music system. It allows the user to choose from a library of skins with different color options.

With Singer’s strong customer base and reach, Samsung has no doubt proved to have grown even stronger through the years as one of the best loved brands amongst Sri Lankan consumers today. The new Refrigerator will be available at over 420 Singer outlets located island and will be backed with the unmatched service from Singer.

Nations Trust Bank American Express has partnered with Arpico Super Centre to provide a special opportunity for Cardmembers to win Rs. 50,000 worth of shopping at Arpico.

To stand a chance to win, Cardmembers simply need to use their Nations Trust Bank American Express Cards for Rs. 2,500/- or more at any Arpico Super Centre island-wide. Four lucky winners, one each week, will be chosen for the month of May 2019. This special privilege is validexclusively for Nations Trust Bank American Express Cardmembers till May 31.

Speaking about the programme, Niluka Gunetilleke, Head of Cards at Nations Trust Bank said, “For our Cardmembers, supermarkets are a daily need and have become an essential part of their lifestyle. Many of us visit a supermarket multiple times a week, thus it’s an ideal opportunity for us to provide loyalty rewards, in this case Rs. 50,000 to shop at Arpico. These rewards can potentially provide Cardmembers with additional financial flexibility as they go about their day to day shopping. We feel that this opportunity to win Rs. 50,000 to shop at Arpicois a fitting way to reward our Cardmembers for their loyalty.”

Nations Trust Bank PLC is among the top 30 business establishments in Sri Lanka as ranked by Business Today Magazine, ably providing a host of financial products and services to a wide range of customers.

Two leading Colombo schools have implemented a digital learning system in collaboration with Headstart Pvt Ltd. in order to supplement students’ classroom education, as well as to be able to keep students engaged in learning during times when schools are closed.

Holy Family Convent, Colombo and Good Shepherd Convent, Kotahena have set this digital learning process in motion, providing their students online access to customised lessons and learning material based on their syllabuses, the Company said.

Besides developing and deploying the Learning Management Systems, Headstart, the pioneering e-learning solutions provider in Sri Lanka, was also involved in training teachers in these schools to develop content for the online portal, and to digitise material currently in hard-copy form.

Furthermore, the Company helped set up SMS and email facilities to enable the schools to communicate with students and parents to expedite access to the Learning portal.

One of the leading digital learning enablers in Sri Lanka, Headstart has executed a smart school programme in more than 200 government schools with project partners, Commercial Bank, Microsoft and Dialog. The Company has announced that it is in process of setting up similar Learning Management Systems, interactive learning content and digital transformation services in several other private schools in the country. The Company said it would provide the Learning Management Systems and digital transformation services to interested schools at a nominal cost.

Although teacher training and content creation can take time, the system can be deployed to students quickly thanks to Headstart’s ownership of guru.lk - the largest online digital learning eco system in Sri Lanka with a ready-made content library.

The Company said its online learning products can be particularly useful in times when schools are closed or school attendance is limited, making catching up necessary. The system encourages students to learn independently and in a more engaging manner. Additionally, the portal allows students and teachers to interact online by enabling assignments to be uploaded, shared and commented on, on the system.Commenting on this venture, Headstart CEO Hasitha Dela said, “We are happy to be able to offer our services at this moment to the selected schools. We truly believe that education without barriers is the right of every child. To support any school that intends to be a part of this, Headstart is willing to offer the Learning Management system and digital transformation services, which will allow students to continue learning from home with the use of broadband.”

Headstart (Pvt) Ltd. has been developing content for the ICTA/Ministry of Education on school curricula since 2009. The company was a tech start-up with a project named ‘Vidunena’ under which the GCE A/L Science curriculum was provided to schools in an E Learning format, through an ICTA grant. The company now owns the largest E Learning content portal in Sri Lanka with more than 600,000 learners and 8,100 plus lessons to choose from.

The company also provides E Learning content and platform solutions to corporates, institutions, the government sector and the general public under the brand name Guru.lk.

As a responsible corporate citizen, NDB carries out many Corporate Social Responsibility Projects and Education is one of the key focus areas.

Having recognised the importance of English for Sri Lanka’s next generation, the Bank partnered with British Council to implement an initiative to improve the knowledge and teaching skills of secondary school English teachers. The Bank sponsored the development of English Education since 2009 benefitting over 1000 teachers from all provinces.

This project is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and delivered through Regional English Support Centres (RESCs) islandwide, established by Ministry of Education.

The project has three phases and includes an intensive training conducted by British Council for the Teacher Trainers in each selected RESC. Thereafter the Trainers will go on to deliver the course to the final beneficiaries, the teachers. This capacity building process is continued throughout the entire course prior to commencing each phase of the course.

At the start of each of the three phases of the project, all the RESC trainers attend trainer-training workshops delivered by British Council consultants. These workshops will first develop their understanding of the core skills and acquaint them with course materials and later refine their ability to deliver the course. By the year’s end, the RESC network will benefit by having a cohort of 20 trainers from ten RESCs trained up and fully experienced in core skills teacher training.

As a value addition to this project, the Bank also introduced a unique programme on ‘Financial Health for a better tomorrow’.

The teachers are educated on the importance of proper ‘Financial Planning and Saving’ which leads to wealth creation not only for the individual but for the nation as a whole.

This session was conducted for the Teacher Trainers recently by NDBs Manager Sales Niranjan Silva who has a wealth of experience in this area.

The session included a financial health check, managing cashflows, the correct savings formula, interest rate curve, personal balance sheet, borrowings, credit worthiness, investment pyramid and planning for your retirement.

Financial planning and wealth creation requires careful thought, access to the right people and financial strategies to help you get there.

NDB Bank which is the first and to date the only corporate in Sri Lanka to officially be certified with EDGE Certification, the leading and only global certification for gender equality at work place, is the parent company of the NDB Group, one of the fastest growing financial services conglomerates in Sri Lanka.

The Hemas Group reported consolidated revenue of Rs. 64.1 billion for the year ended March 31, 2019, indicating a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth of 28.5%. Group operating profit stood at Rs.5.7Bn, a growth of 33.4% over the previous financial year.

The profit attributable to equity holders of the parent at Rs. 3.4 billion is a YoY growth of 25.4%.

The Group reported consolidated revenue of Rs.64.1 billion for the year ended March 31, 2019, indicating a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth of 28.5%. Group operating profit stood at Rs. 5.7 billion, a growth of 33.4% over the previous financial year. The profit attributable to equity holders of the parent at Rs. 3.4 billion is a YoY growth of 25.4%.

“The Easter Sunday blasts and the on-going challenging security situation in the country remains a major concern for all of us. We are trying to help those directly impacted and are also taking steps to ensure the safety of our staff and business. We applaud the hard work of the security forces in their efforts to ensure the safety and security of all,” said Steven Enderby, Chief Executive Officer, Hemas Group.

The acquisition of Atlas and additional one offs relating to the disposal gain from the sale of Hemas Southern hospital, fair value adjustments and unrealised exchange losses impacted operating profit for the year.

“If we remove these we achieved full year revenue growth of 13.3% and operating profit growth of 9.2%, the result of weak macroeconomic growth of 3.2% in 2018, significant currency devaluation of 13% for the year ending 31st March 2019 and price controls on pharmaceuticals”.

During the period under review, our consumer sector recorded a revenue of Rs. 25.6 billion, indicating a YoY growth of 55.0%. Operating profit of Rs. 2.8 billion grew by 91.1% during financial year 2018/19.

Amidst challenging economic conditions, our domestic Home and Personal Care business managed to sustain profitability, registering a robust topline performance during the year.

In Bangladesh, the business has recorded modest year-to-date revenue growth of 6.1% during the year. Profit growth continues to be a challenge due to new promotional campaigns to combat competition.

Atlas recorded revenue growth of 14.9% over the same period last year (9 months of which was prior to our ownership) performing well during the Q3 back to school season.

Healthcare sector achieved a consolidated revenue of Rs. 27.7 billion, a YoY increase of 20.3% while operating profit and earnings indicated a decline of 5.0% and 10.5% respectively.

Hemas pharmaceutical distribution registered strong revenue growth stemming from the latest addition of new principals last year and the continued efforts to improve the existing portfolio.

Hospitals experienced good growth in revenue in relation to its industry achieving an average occupancy of 60% across the two hospitals, Wattala and Thalawathugoda.

“Our pharmaceutical manufacturing business, Morison posted a revenue of Rs.3.6Bn and operating profit of Rs.260.5Mn during FY 2018/19. Morison’s underlying revenue growth, excluding Alcon distribution business, which we exited during the latter part of FY2017/18, was 8.7%”.

Underlying earnings at Morison PLC recorded a decline of 44.0% excluding the loss of Alcon agency, contributing negatively towards the segment earnings.

Serendib Hotels (SHOT) recorded a strong quarter, with an average occupancy reaching 91% across its owned hotels.

During Q4, Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle improved performance with occupancy crossing over 75% although the exchange losses arising from the foreign currency loan was a drag on group profitability.

Hemas Logistics and Maritime sector recorded a moderate revenue growth of 0.7% over last year with revenues of Rs.2.8Bn. The main contributors to the growth were increases in volume in the maritime sector coupled with the devaluation of the rupee. Our technology business, N*able reported significant growth in the fourth quarter with increased operating profit over last year by 16.6% whilst operating profit growth remained flat during the year.

Diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate Sunshine Holdings reported top-line performance growth of 6.9% YoY to stand at Rs.22.6 billion during the year ended 31 March 2019.

Profit after tax (PAT) for the period in review declined to Rs. 1.1 billion and profit margins have also reduced to 5.1% compared to last year’s 8.5%, mainly due to lower profitability in the agribusiness sector.

The group’s Healthcare business emerged as the largest contributor to Sunshine’s top-line performance, accounting for 40% of total revenue, while Agribusiness and Consumer Goods sectors of the group contributed 31% and 25% respectively of the total revenue.

Profit after Tax and Minority Interest (PATMI) decreased by 16.7% YoY to Rs. 553 million; the healthcare sector made the largest contribution to PATMI, accounting for 62% of the total while consumer accounted for 46% of the total. Net Asset Value per share increased to Rs. 50.26 as at end March 2019, compared to Rs. 46.71 at the end March 2018.

Sunshine Holdings Group Managing Director, Vish Govindasamy said; “during the year in review, we have continued to display a resilient and entrepreneurial spirit in the face of such difficulties as a Group. Though our Agribusiness revenue has contracted slightly, both Healthcare and Consumer Goods have contributed immensely towards the Group revenue, continuing their strong growth momentum from last year.”

During the period in review, Group’s Healthcare sector grew its revenue by 14.1% YoY to Rs. 9.3 billion. Though the second round of drug price control—which came in to effect in September 2018—had a negative impact, the revenue growth was propelled on the back of higher sales volume, new agency acquisitions and footfall growth in its retail subsector—represented by its rapidly-growing Healthguard franchise.

The pharma sub-segment, which represents 66% of healthcare revenue, grew by 10.4% due to higher sales volumes and price increases YoY. Reported PAT for healthcare amounted to Rs.368 million in FY18/19, up 42.4% YoY at a margin of 3.9%.

“In Healthcare, we expect to increase the revenue in the first quarter of FY19/20, with price adjustments made by the NMRA on price-controlled products”.

Spearheaded by brands like ‘Zesta’, ‘Watawala Tea’ and ‘Ran Kahata’, the Consumer sector continued its impressive growth by posting revenues of Rs. 5.9 billion in FY18/19, up 8.9% YoY, on the back of both volume and price growth.

Govindsamy mentioned that the Consumer business would continue to invest behind its brands to scale their domestic business and the Group will continue to strengthen its international business operation efficiency further.

Sri Lanka will take one year to recover from the Easter Sunday incident, provided no additional incident takes place. However, the tourism industry needs to be mindful of the impact of elections scheduled for 2019-20, said Dileep Mudadeniya, Vice President of John Keells Holdings.

Furthermore, he stressed the need to formulate a government- led strong recovery marketing plan to revive the industry that took a severe blow following the unfortunate Easter Sunday incident in Sri Lanka.

He made these views at a tourism seminar organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management in Colombo this week.

“To initiate this, we don’t need millions of rupees. And if anyone goes through the case studies of Egypt or any other countries that have faced the similar incidents, you will find that there are so many cost effective solutions to initiate this exercise.” he said.

Noting that Sri Lanka is slightly in an advantage stage as the Easter Sunday incident has happened in the beginning of the off season as far as European travelers are concerned, he said tourism industry has a chance of recovering by this September.

“We already see the early signs; however industry activities can be accelerated once the strong recovery, destination marketing plan is put in place immediately.

He said further that there are some elements that need to be looked as far as the recovery plan is concerned and which will include establishing better security measures, investing in destination marketing activities, providing necessary industry support and so on.

Commenting on the continuous media exposure received for the incident, he said there was no control over it and as a result it created a certain image in the minds of prospective travelers.

“However, over the years, terrorist activities have spread to almost every corner of the world. And soon after this incident, we saw some tourists were coming in. It is something to do with the risk perception and people have seen it differently this time. Also, that’s in the favor of the destination.” he said.

Citing some of the countries that had experienced similar incidents, he said that a destination takes about 13 months to recover from a terrorist attack.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Kishu Gomes said, delivering the keynote address at the event cited tourism as the most critical and strategic industry, that will help Sri Lanka to get out of its current crisis situation.

He stressed that Sri Lanka will have major challenges in moving from the current US $ 3,900 per capita income to the desired US $ 7,000 per capital level unless it takes measures to grow tourism revenue from US $ 4.3 billion to US $ 10 billion over the next five years.

He also pointed out that country’s per capita income increase had been only $ 50 on a year-on-year basis over the last three years.

He also expressed confidence that more countries will lift or soften travel advisories imposed on Sri Lanka within the next few days.

SriLankan Catering Ltd. has recorded a steady financial performance for the financial year ended 31st March 2019 with a 24% year-on-year growth in operating profits from Rs. 3.8 billion to Rs. 4.7 billion, according to its unaudited financial statement. SriLankan Catering is the fully owned subsidiary of SriLankan Airlines.

Its operating profit ratio, which stood at 44% in the year 2017/18, improved to 48% during the year 2018/19. The Company also reported a post-tax, net profit of Rs. 5.7 billion during the year, which is a 46% increase compared to the previous year. The net exchange gain increased from Rs. 202 million in 2017/18 to Rs. 1,070 million in 2018/19.

G. S. Withanage, Chairman of SriLankan Catering, who is also the Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, said: “SriLankan Catering continues to be a tower of strength to our nation and the SriLankan Airlines Group, with yet another stellar performance. The Company has proven itself to be a perfect example of consistency and has crossed the Rs. 3 billion profit mark every year in the last four years. This performance for the financial year 2018/19 was a 48% increase over the operating profit of the previous year and is a tremendous achievement.”

Lalith Withana, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Catering, said: “The impressive performance of the Company demonstrates the strong commitment of our staff, negotiation skills and financial discipline of the Company. Our team has worked hard to overcome the multiple challenges faced during the year and achieved many new initiatives, including upgrading some of our facilities and processes.”

SriLankan Catering provides approximately 24,000 inflight meals per day for airlines that operate to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA). These include globally reputed airlines such as Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Air China, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Korean Air, Turkish Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and SriLankan Airlines.

SriLankan Catering Ltd is certified to the standards of ISO 9001:2015, HACCP-Codex Alimentarius, ISO 22000:2005 and ISO 14001-2015, and is among the rare handful of inflight catering companies anywhere in the world to have all of these global certifications. The Company has won several global and local accolades in recent times, including a Mercury Award from the International Flight Catering Association.

During the first quarter of 2019, the deficit in the trade account contracted to US dollars 1,661 million from US dollars 2,982 million recorded in the first quarter of 2018, as export earnings increased by 5.6 per cent (year-on-year) while import expenditure declined by 19.3 per cent.

In March 2019, the deficit in the trade account narrowed to US dollars 592 million, compared to US dollars 871 million in March 2018.

A delegation representing the Chengdu Association of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAFTEC) is now in Sri Lanka on a fact finding mission.

The delegation which arrived on Sunday met several Chinese corporate officials doing business in Sri Lanka and also met representative of Sri Lankan Chambers.

“After the Easter Sunday bomb blasts and adverse travel advisory imposed by the Chinese government against Sri Lanka Chinese investors are having second thoughts in investing in Sri Lanka,” said CAFTEC Deputy Secretary-General Qingwen Zhang. She said that after visiting Sri Lanka they feel that things are falling back to place and security is tightened.

“We are happy with the current security situation in Sri Lanka and we will convey this message back to Chengdu investors.”

She said that there nearly 100 big and small time Chinese investors were doing business in Sri Lanka and most of them are based out of Chengdu.

“To look after their interests we opened CAFTEC Colombo office in Colombo last year and this is our first international office.” (SS)

The Techno Fair 2019 organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) was inaugurated yesterday.

The digital accounting expo which is the first of its kind showcased a diverse range of digital products and services available in the market for businesses and finance partners.

“This is not a workshop but an experience of all technological development happening around the world,” said President, CA Sri Lanka, Jagath Perera. This paves the way for members of the CA Sri Lanka to listen to and experience some of the digital products available in the market which could be incorporated in their business processes.

Today the world is embracing the technology resulting in drastic changes on how businesses are done. Majority of the human processes done at businesses are now automated.

“Thus we should reorient ourselves to use this advancing technology to change the future,” he said. With the introduction of bots, all businesses processes with human intervention are likely to be replaced in the future. Thus there is fear within the business and finance industries regarding the impact of automation in work force. “Half a billion people will lose jobs with this transformation but at the same time more than half a billion jobs will emerge,” said Group Chief Operating Officer, Dialog Axiata, Dr.Rainer Deutschmann.

Deutschmann further said that it is crucial to have an organization that is exposed to technology and a staff that has the skill to accommodate those changes.

The fair featured local and international digital products and services ranging from automation, artificial intelligence, block chain, big data, cloud computing and data analysis. Chartered Accountants, Corporate Leaders such as Chairmen, Partners, Managing Directors, Vice Presidents, CEOs and CFOs attended the fair.

Central Bank Governor, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday said, Sri Lanka should maintain tight financial discipline over the next few years to strengthen the country’s financial situation and take the country forward as the Easter Sunday bomb attacks have already taken its toll on the economy. However, he said but Sri Lanka has been able to manage the negative impact in the aftermath of the attacks.

The governor was speaking at the Sri Lanka Forward: CIMA-Acclivity-Leo Burnett Forum on Business revival post terror attacks at the CIMA auditorium yesterday.

The governor named tourism and foreign direct Investments as the two key sectors that were affected due to the blasts. “However with the toning down on adverse travel advisories by several foreign countries including China, India and Europe by this week, the negative impact seems to be getting lesser.”

He added some of the foreign families (American families) who had left soon after the attacks also are returning while other European countries too are considering toning down on adverse travel advisories. “Since this is the lean season, tourism is likely to pick up towards the last quarter of the year.”

The revenue projection from tourism was around USD 5 billion for 2019; but with the issues following Easter Sunday attacks it will come down to around USD 1.3 billion.

Similarly, the governor said, the foreign direct investment target would be around USD 700 million.

He also said the Easter Sunday attacks were carried by a group of religious extremists who wouldn’t have the support of their own community. “This is the reason that the security forces are getting the support to curb the situation and I am confident this scenario would not be repeated.”

Dr. Coomaraswamy said, the IMF extended its financial facility on May 13 and this also gives endorsement that Sri Lanka is on the right economic track.

He also said that debt servicing is on track and there are more financial mechanisms to borrow more if needed via Samurai and Panda bonds from Japan and China and also from the World Bank.

This is because Sri Lanka has very good track record as a country that has never defaulted on its foreign debt repayment. Sri Lanka once again has to think about debt servicing only in mid 2020.

The Governor also said that due to prudent measures that were taken, Sri Lanka is saving foreign exchange via the import of motor vehicles, gold and also manageable oil prices.

He however said that there would be challenges in financial front. “This is due to the highest expenditure that will need for security and also to pay compensation and earning of less revenue via Tax holidays that are offered.”

The World Bank has offered Sri Lanka a policy-based guarantee to issue foreign debt with an allocation of USD 250 million with the potential to leverage upwards to a figure of USD 1 billion.Central Bank Governor Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy said, “A billion dollars can be borrowed from international markets at the AAA world bank rating. Cleary there will be considerable savings.”

Dr. Coomaraswamy added, “there has been a lot of debate on whether or not this flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework is working or not. Inflation has been contained within the 4-6 percent range despite the 16.4 percent depreciation of the currency.”

He was speaking at the A.S. Jayawardena memorial lecture at the Centre for Banking Studies last week. The exchange rate under FIT must be flexible to act as a shock absorber. Despite what has been said in some quarters we are not defending any (exchange) rate, real effective rate or any other rate. There is not a rate that the central bank is defending.”

Dr. Coomaraswamy said the Central Bank Intervened in FX markets to prevent disorderly adjustment due to the shallow USD 100 million daily trade between the rupees and the dollar. He said that though there are different methods of managing the exchange rate a fixed/monetary board style system was not suitable to a country like Sri Lanka with a high persistent current account deficit. He cited high export surplus nations as suited to a monetary board system.

He said, “the pressure is too much to be able to run successfully domestically.” He added, “macroeconomic stress has been the most important causal factor for Sri Lanka regressing from being second in Asia on most socio-economic indicators at the time of independence to a position when several other Asian countries overtake us.

Of course, there is complex causality, but macroeconomic stress has been the most damaging to the prospects of the country.”

From the 1950s onwards Sri Lanka relied too heavily on the taxed surpluses from the crop sector to build the free education and healthcare services.

With the launching of the web portal by the Finance Minister to facilitate the e-procurement system for procurement of all the goods, services and works in the public sector the most transformational change in the Sri Lankan, public procurement domain has been established.

The Department of Public Finance of the Finance Ministry took measures to develop e-GP system with the technical assistance of the Theekshana R & D, University of Colombo - in complying with the recommendations and guidance of the Working Group appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, following the 4th South Asia Region (SAR) Procurement Conference on the Theme “e-GP in South Asia”, opened by the President in 2017 in Sri Lanka. Cabinet approval was granted on the Cabinet Memo presented by Minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera.

Director General of the Public Finance Department, P. Algama said, in future, it will be made compulsory that the procurements notices of goods, services and works of government institutions be published on this website. “The government and private sector suppliers will be able to register in this website and make their responses conveniently to the respective procurement demands spell out in the procurement notices published in this webportal by the public institutions. This will expand the transparency, quality, account ability and efficiency of the government procurement process leaving no room to defects, malpractices and corruptions,” he added.

All the government institutions are capable of using this e-procurement systems by registering under this website operated by the Public Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance and, a user name and a password should be obtained for this purpose. Government and private sector institutions who desire to supply goods, services and works to the government institutions shall also be registered in the similar way which would make the procurement process efficient eliminating inherited delays in the process.

Algama said, approximately abou Rs. 750 billion (20-25%) out of the total government budget of Rs. 3,000 billion is expensed through the procurement process. Implementation of this e-procurement system will prevent corruptions, malpractices and the delays in the procurement process. The method of publishing procurement notices in newspapers could be avoided under this system.

The Finance Ministry launched the electronic government procurement system (e-GP). This is a major reform in public finances - improving transparency in procurement, minimizing room for corruption, reducing government costs by up to Rs. 30 billion, significantly increasing efficiency in public processes.

Through the new e-GP system the Treasury could save nearly Rs. 30 billion, while improving the public financial management to a greater extent, according to official sources.

The Minister of Finance had received the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to introduce an electronic Government Procurement System, which was launched yesterday, to address the existing shortcomings and to facilitate fast tracking procurement decisions. Speaking at the event, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said, it is an important benchmark in realizing more transparency and efficiency in public services.

Sri Lanka received the South Asian Innovative Procurement Award at the fifth South Asian Public Procurement Conference in New Delhi last year.

“Today in advancing our efforts to transform the traditional manual procurement process into a modern system, the Finance Ministry places Sri Lanka on par with very advanced nations that include Singapore, European Union and Canada. Sri Lanka, being a States Party to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, has the international obligations to improve our public procurement processes.”

Article 9 of the Corruption Convention refers to public procurement and management of public finances, whereby the State Parties are requested to take the necessary steps to establish appropriate systems of procurement, based on transparency, competition and objective criteria in decision-making, that are effective in preventing corruption. The minister said, “We, as a country, annually spend around a quarter of our government expenditure on public procurement, which amounts to nearly 15% of the GDP. Considering the magnitude of that total annual expenditure, it needs closer attention and scrutiny from all the stakeholders in the public management systems. Also procurement plays a strategic function.”

Corruption, misappropriation and mismanagement of public assets must be tackled with a policy of zero tolerance, which from my point of view, remain difficult in our part of the world because of systemic weaknesses. In Sri Lanka, the decisions of implementing many important projects are lagging behind because of the manual system that links to the decades old complicated governance mechanisms. Now in the first quarter of the 21st Century, Sri Lanka as a modern nation, must look forward to utilize new technologies to make our decisions faster, transparent and more accountable,” Samaraweera added.

Leo Burnett Sri Lanka together with Leo Burnett Toronto recently, won several awards at the prestigious Art Director’s Club (ADC) Annual Awards programs. The agencies secured a Silver, Bronze and three Merits for their iconic ‘Petal Paint’ campaign for JAT Holdings. The 98th edition of the ADC awards took place in New York this May and is hailed as the longest running awards program in the global advertising industry.

Leo Burnett Sri Lanka and Toronto, secured a Silver Cube in the Advertising-Innovation – Direct category and a Bronze Cube in the Product Design, Sustainable/Eco-friendly – Single or Series category. The agencies also scooped up three Merits in the categories of Photography, Sustainable/Eco-Friendly – Single or Series and Product Design, Design for Good – Product Design Series.

Leo Burnett’s Petal Paint campaign for local conglomerate, JAT Holdings, is an initiative that pays homage to Sri Lanka’s rich heritage of sacred temple art, which could be seen in the form of captivating wall murals in shine rooms across the country. In Buddhism, flowers signify the impermanence of life and their highest purpose is to become an alter offering. However, due to the high volume of worshipers, hundreds of thousands of flowers are discarded each day at many temple sites. The campaign involved giving those flowers a new purpose, putting them through an innovative drying process and extracting pigments from them to create a range of Petal Paints. The paints were then used to restore and create temple art, giving this sacred offering of flowers new life and meaning.

Commenting on the initiative, Arosha Perera, CEO of Leo Burnett Sri Lanka said: “The Petal Paint Campaign enabled us to use creativity to take temple flowers beyond the confines of a traditional offering and give them a second life whilst contributing to Sri Lanka’s rich cultural, historical and religious heritage. This initiative has garnered worldwide recognition and we are honoured that we were able to secure 2 awards and 3 merits at the prestigious ADC Awards as well. We are thankful that our client JAT Holdings trusted us to bring this idea to life and we are humbled by how well it has been received both locally and across the world. We will continue to explore innovative ideas of this nature to help our valued clients achieve their business and communication goals by unleashing the power of creativity and its ability to inspire change.”

Also commenting on the project Aelian Gunawardene, Managing Director of JAT Holdings said: “This ground-breaking campaign that was conceptualized and executed by Leo Burnett Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Leo Burnett Toronto, epitomizes our vision to be an industry leader that is committed to innovation and new thinking.

The Petal Paint campaign has enabled us to cut through the noise of a crowded marketplace and convey the essence of our brand, using local traditions and beliefs.

This campaign really does reiterate how well thought out creative ideas could be timeless, engaging and impactful. I’d like to extend my congratulations to the entire Leo Burnett team for their award wins and their ongoing quest to push boundaries and take Sri Lanka’s communications industry to new heights.”

The ADC Annual Awards program, part of The One Club for Creativity, is the oldest continuously running industry award festivals in the world. These awards celebrate the very best in advertising, digital media, graphic and publication design, packaging and product design, motion, experiential and spatial design, photography, illustration and fashion design all with a focus on artistry and craftsmanship.

As Leo Burnett celebrates its 20th year of operations in Sri Lanka and looks ahead to the future, the agency would continue to help build powerful brands and meaningful partnerships with its clients, while delivering gratifying results and gaining peer recognition in the industry.

“Sunshine Holdings’ divestiture of the majority control of Hatton Plantations PLC, to Lotus Renewable Energy (Pvt) Ltd, is in line with the Group’s strategy of taking a significant step in refocusing our footprint in healthcare and consumer segments for strategic specialization, especially in the branded tea segment where we will continue to invest significantly in our brands, ‘Watawala Tea’, ‘Zesta’ and ‘Ran Kahata’.

This was said by

This statement was made by Sunshine Holdings PLC’s Group Managing Director, Vish Govindasamy commenting on the Company’s announcement regarding the divestiture of Hatton Plantations PLC from Sunshine Holdings Group.

Lotus Renewable Energy Group (LREG), a multinational renewable energy company with its operations across India, Singapore and Australia, have over two decades of experience in managing several plantation estates in Sri Lanka. Hence we made sure our divestiture will be to an experienced business entity, and we are confident they will continue to develop the plantations as we have done.

“Sunshine Group will continue to work hard in expanding their businesses while maintaining a reliable and responsible diversified business conglomerate.”

SriLankan Airlines, the National carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the reputed Oneworld alliance, commemorated Vesak at its home base, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo, recently.

The Srilankan Airlines’ Vesak message to the world from the Karaniya Metta Sutta is “Radiate boundless love towards the entire world - above, below, and across - unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.” This wish is based on the Buddha’s doctrine of boundless compassion to the world.

Symbolizing the generosity of the Sri Lankan community through ‘dansal,’ passengers departing, arriving and transiting through the Bandaranaike International Airport were treated to refreshments in commemoration of Vesak.

SriLankan Airlines’ Senior Manager Marketing, Saminda Perera said, “Cultural spectacles of Sri Lanka signify the inherent values such as unity, generosity and compassion. By commemorating events of national importance, we wish to remind the world that Sri Lanka is a friendly country where unity and harmony among all communities make every festival vibrant and unique.”

A choir comprising staff volunteers ranging from aircraft engineers, pilots, cabin crew, ground handling, security, aircraft interior services and corporate offices, sang ‘Bhakthi Gee,’ the traditional devotional songs, sung during the Vesak.

Sri Lanka’s popular musicians, Keerthi Pasquel and Dayan Witharana, volunteered to perform Bhakthi Gee along with the SriLankan Airlines staff to entertain passengers on arrival, departure and transit at the BIA. Pasquel used his expertise as a performing artiste to train the Bhakthi Gee choir, which is an effort put forward by the Performing Arts Club of SriLankan Airlines ‘Pulse,’ in an endeavor to promote in-house talent.

On arrival, departing and transiting passengers who became part of the serene festivities, expressed joy to be in Sri Lanka and how they felt safe and welcome at the Airport and throughout their stay in the country. SriLankan Airlines made use of the opportunity to thank them for selecting the National Carrier as well as other airlines to travel to Sri Lanka and onward destinations via the BIA.

“We would also take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to the Chairman, Airport and Aviation Services Limited(AASL) Dhammika Ranatunga and Executive Director, Sanjeewa Wijerathne for their unconditional support and guidance. We are also grateful for the assistance provided by the staff of AASL, Sri Lanka Customs, Department of Immigration and Emigration and Sri Lanka Air Force,” Perera added.

Vesak decorations by AASL throughout the airport aptly complemented the festive atmosphere created by the SriLankan Airlines. Passengers were fascinated by the colourful Vesak lanterns, a decoration displayed in every Sri Lankan household during this period, which provided a striking backdrop for picture opportunities.

Passengers were further delighted to enjoy the ambience created with fairy lights and floating candles. It was a novel experience for them to enjoy the food severed at the ‘dansala’ that operated at the pier and opposite the Serendib lounge.

Nations Trust Bank American Express recently concluded its ‘Pump Fuel and Win a Trip to see Northern Lights in Iceland’ campaign concluded, the winner was Lahiru Pathmalal. The campaign was conducted in partnership with Nkar Travels & Tours and Exodus.

 The Pump Fuel and Win Campaign is one of the longest running series of on-going loyalty rewards programmes by Nations Trust Bank American Express. Through campaigns such as this, it aims to reward its Cardmembers for their loyalty. This year, Cardmembers had the opportunity to witness one of the few natural phenomena, Northern Lights, a naturally occurring display of colourful dancing lights in the night sky, also known as ‘Aurora Borealis’.

Nations Trust Bank Ranga De Fonseka Assistant Vice President Strategic Relationships & E-commerce, Zamani Zainudeen Assistant Vice President Cards Marketing, Niluka Gunatilake Head of Cards; Winner Lahiru Pathmalal and representing Nkar Travels & Tours and Exodus Arjun Vivekanandan  Chief Operating Officer and Kathleen Puvirajasinghe Manager Overseas Holidays, were present at the presentation.

SriLankan Airlines, the National carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the reputed Oneworld alliance, commemorated Vesak at its home base, the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Colombo, recently.

The Srilankan Airlines’ Vesak message to the world from the Karaniya Metta Sutta is “Radiate boundless love towards the entire world - above, below, and across - unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.” This wish is based on the Buddha’s doctrine of boundless compassion to the world.

Symbolizing the generosity of the Sri Lankan community through ‘dansal,’ passengers departing, arriving and transiting through the Bandaranaike International Airport were treated to refreshments in commemoration of Vesak.

SriLankan Airlines’ Senior Manager Marketing, Saminda Perera said, “Cultural spectacles of Sri Lanka signify the inherent values such as unity, generosity and compassion. By commemorating events of national importance, we wish to remind the world that Sri Lanka is a friendly country where unity and harmony among all communities make every festival vibrant and unique.”

A choir comprising staff volunteers ranging from aircraft engineers, pilots, cabin crew, ground handling, security, aircraft interior services and corporate offices, sang ‘Bhakthi Gee,’ the traditional devotional songs, sung during the Vesak.

Sri Lanka’s popular musicians, Keerthi Pasquel and Dayan Witharana, volunteered to perform Bhakthi Gee along with the SriLankan Airlines staff to entertain passengers on arrival, departure and transit at the BIA. Pasquel used his expertise as a performing artiste to train the Bhakthi Gee choir, which is an effort put forward by the Performing Arts Club of SriLankan Airlines ‘Pulse,’ in an endeavor to promote in-house talent.

On arrival, departing and transiting passengers who became part of the serene festivities, expressed joy to be in Sri Lanka and how they felt safe and welcome at the Airport and throughout their stay in the country. SriLankan Airlines made use of the opportunity to thank them for selecting the National Carrier as well as other airlines to travel to Sri Lanka and onward destinations via the BIA.

“We would also take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to the Chairman, Airport and Aviation Services Limited(AASL) Dhammika Ranatunga and Executive Director, Sanjeewa Wijerathne for their unconditional support and guidance. We are also grateful for the assistance provided by the staff of AASL, Sri Lanka Customs, Department of Immigration and Emigration and Sri Lanka Air Force,” Perera added.

Vesak decorations by AASL throughout the airport aptly complemented the festive atmosphere created by the SriLankan Airlines. Passengers were fascinated by the colourful Vesak lanterns, a decoration displayed in every Sri Lankan household during this period, which provided a striking backdrop for picture opportunities.

Passengers were further delighted to enjoy the ambience created with fairy lights and floating candles. It was a novel experience for them to enjoy the food severed at the ‘dansala’ that operated at the pier and opposite the Serendib lounge.

Ceylinco Life’s 12th‘Family Savari’ promotion were taken on a four-day tour around Sydney, Australia, recently, treating the group to the exciting sights of one of the world’s most-photographed cities.

The all-expenses-paid holiday included stops at the iconic Darling Harbour and Harbour Bridge that are synonymous with Sydney. The policyholders and their families also visitedthe Royal Botanic Gardens, Hyde Park, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sea Life Aquarium, and Madame Tussauds wax museum. The first day ended with the group exploring spectacular sights aboard Captain Cook Cruises.

The group spent day two at ‘Scenic World’in the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains, which offers epic panoramas of wilderness, waterfalls, escarpment and a Jurassic-era temperate rainforest.

A visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park too was on the itinerary, allowing the group to pet Koalas, hand feed Kangaroos and encounter other endemic wildlife in an outdoor bush setting.

The tour ended with dinner at the Sydney Tower rooftop, preceded by ample time for shopping and a stop at the Sydney Opera House. Popular Sri Lankan celebrity Sanjeewani Weerasinghe, who is one of the brand ambassadors for the promotion, joined the group on the tour.

One of Sri Lanka’s premier financial solutions provider HNB PLC, announced a partnership with Brown & Company PLC to offer exclusive leasing packages on agricultural vehicles especially for customers in the SME and MSME sectors.

The partnership which offers special facilities for TAFE & Massey Ferguson tractors, YANMAR WORLD & SUMO branded combine harvesters and crop dusters was signed at a special ceremony by HNB Head of Personal Financial Services, Kanchana Karunagama and Browns & Company, General Manager, Browns Agriculture, Sanjaya Nissanka.

Browns agriculture is the pioneer in the agriculture machinery industry who was the first to introduce the four wheel tractor in 1952. Browns TAFE is crowned as the bestselling tractor for nearly two decades & leading the market with most advanced features, product durability, efficiency and profit generation to the owner.

At present Browns Agriculture holds the sole distributorship of world’s leading brands such as Massey Ferguson, TAFE Yanmar, World, Fieldking, Shaktiman and Bull. Browns Agriculture is well-known for introducing high quality products with advance features and providing unmatched aftersales services while ensuring the progress of the customer.

“Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector has immense potential to grow. We have fertile soil capable of producing an extensive variety of crops but in order to unleash this potential, we need to ensure that our farmers are provided access to quality machinery and equipment. HNB’s partnership with Browns provides our customers with the most affordable prices combined with attractive interest rates and other benefits that ensures they get the most value on their investment,” HNB Senior Manager Leasing, Niluka Amarasinghe said.

The partnership grants HNB Leasing customers numerous benefits including quick doorstep services with no charge for labour and a Rs. 4 million cover from HNB General Insurance complete with attractive premiums and interest rates.

“The partnership with HNB enhances our ability to offer customers intending to purchase agricultural machines from Brown & Company with affordable leasing solutions and a host of attractive benefits including free repair services and discounts on spare parts through the warranty period. We believe that partnering with HNB will allow us to better serve our customers in the sector,” General Manager, Browns Agriculture, Sanjaya Nissanka said.

Customers looking to purchase TAFE tractors will be eligible for free registration and insurance, four services with no charge for labour at 50 hours, 250 hours or 750 hours in addition to a 24 month/ 2000 hour warranty. Brown & Company will also offer special discounts for customers purchasing a second TAFE tractor.

In honour of completing 100 years of protecting people all over Asia, AIA Insurance Sri Lanka, announced a special collaboration with the Sri Lanka Cancer Society (SLCS).

With a steadfast commitment to helping people live healthier, longer, better lives, AIA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sri Lanka Cancer Society, pledging to donate Rs. 100 for every new policy sold in 2019. The funds will be used for treatment, prevention and management of cancer, which is a rapidly growing concern in Sri Lanka.

AIA CEO Pankaj Banerjee explained, “Non-Communicable Diseases, such as cancer, are a very real problem in Sri Lanka and are responsible for over 75% of deaths, which is well above the global rate of 63%. As a company that prioritizes making a positive difference in the community’s health and wellness, it is our responsibility to extend our company’s legacy to make a meaningful difference to the community we serve.”

He added, “cancer is one of the nation’s leading public health concerns which needs specialised treatment and more so, a dedicated care and support system for the patients and their families. According to Sri Lanka’s national cancer incidence data in 2011, there were 17,482 newly confirmed cases of cancer and when a cumulative risk of developing cancer before the age of 74 is considered, one in every 10 people (both male and female) have a risk of developing cancer during their life time.

That is why it is critical that we support the organisations that provide direct care and support for patients who are undergoing this ordeal while doing everything possible to ensure they get the best support, both medically and emotionally.

It means a lot to us to make this significant donation to the SLCS with the confidence that the funds will be used in the best possible way to support many Sri Lankans fighting cancer.”

President of the SLCS Asoka Jayasinghe thanked AIA for this initiative; “the Sri Lanka Cancer Society’s mission is to provide the utmost care, treatment and relief to countless cancer patients in Sri Lanka and we are the pioneer organisation for cancer control in the country. Regardless of cultural, social or ideological background we are committed to provide any cancer patient with the quality of life they deserve and the protection and security they require. We are ever grateful to AIA for joining our effort to provide the best care needed to patients while creating public awareness that cancer can be prevented and even cured with early detection and treatment. We have already received a significant contribution for Q1 from AIA and it is reassuring to have a company of such stature supporting us and giving strength to pursue our efforts.”

The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, SLIM has engaged in training a part of the Dreamron Lanka Pvt Ltd sales staff for the Certificate in Professional Sales Management (CPSM). The program which began in March, has been initiated to provide the CPSM qualification for 35 sales staff at Dreamron Lanka Pvt Ltd.

The CEO of SLIM, Sanath Senanayeka, Immediate Past President of SLIM, Pradeep Edward, Chairman Dreamron Group of Companies, Dr. Priyanka Perera and Group CEO Dreamron Group of companies, L.E. Susantha Silva attended the official event of signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in this regard.

The Certificate in Professional Sales Management (CPSM) is a basic qualification in Sales Management that is designed for working and aspiring sales and marketing personnel. The six month program focuses on developing a sales force, coordinating sales operations and implementing sales techniques that allow a business to consistently hit, and even surpass, its sales targets.

The agreement will facilitate Dreamron Lanka in upgrading the skills of its employees, enhancing their retention and design innovative sales planning.

The Diploma will open new vistas for the Dreamron Lanka marketing and sales staff. Certificate in Professional Sales Management would be a stepping stone for the staff to continue their professional education and progress to the National Diploma in Sales Management (NDSM) that could be continued to the Postgraduate Diploma qualification of SLIM.

The MoU forms a part of SLIM’s commitment to support educational initiatives in the marketing fraternity and to encourage and promote professional marketing skills in the country. SLIM has always campaigned for high professional standards, greater recognition for the profession and marketing excellence in Sri Lanka through education, training and development.

SLIM is a member of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL), the Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA), the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC). SLIM also has an international affiliation with the Asia Marketing Federation as the member of the Board of Management.

Granting approval to install telecommunication equipment in 157 sites, the BOI signed an agreement with Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) recently.

This approval was also permitted by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL).

Mangala Yapa, Chairman of the Board signed the Agreement and P G Kumarasinghe Sirisena, Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. along with Mahesh Athokorala, Company Secretary of SLT signed on behalf of SLT.

Attending to the event, P G Kumarasinghe Sirisena stated, “facilitating the smart Sri Lanka initiatives and developing the digital economy of the country, during the recent past our group of companies invested nearly Rs 150 billion in National Digital infrastructure developments. We are now digitalizing the Company with the intention of better service to the nation. I believe we are the only Company in Sri – Lanka investing over Rs. 17 billion in human capital annually to build a loyal, smart workforce with high productivity and quality”.

As the most successful business venture under the privatization program, during the year 2018 alone, our company contributed Rs. 35 billion to the government by way of dividends and taxes despite high investments,” he further said.

The reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) from 15% to 5% which is a part of the financial relief package that the government introduced to support the tourism sector in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attack has created a new problem to hoteliers.

“With the reduction of output VAT rate to 5% all our input VAT of 15% is now disallowed,” Chairman, Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL), Sanath Ukwatte told the Daily News Finance. Thus an additional cost of 15% is incurred on their operations.

He said that this relief on the industry has created more complications, without any material benefit.Hence in addition for any refurbishment/ capital expenditure and all other projects the input VAT of 15% is disallowed. “What that means is all our projects will be now 15% more expensive,” Ukwatte said.

This is a substantial increase where the construction or refurbishment of a hotel has a huge capital expenditure at this point of time. Thus this increment is not sustainable to any tourism project.

In order to overcome this problem the THASL urges the government to allow the tourism industry to recover 15% input VAT for a period of one year until such time the travel bans are relaxed and industry returns to normalcy.

“We believe that this is a genuine error as the reduction of VAT was part of the government relief package to support the tourism industry,” he added.

Following China relaxing the adverse travel advisory against Sri Lanka from ‘do not travel’ to ‘be cautious’, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden too has relaxed travel advisories in the aftermath of Easter Sunday bombings last month.

The three European countries too have toned down their travel advisory from ‘do not travel’ to ‘be cautious’ while traveling. Switzerland is the first country in Europe to relax its travel advisory.

President Maithripala Sirisena met foreign Ambassadors on Tuesday and requested that they re look at toning down the travel advisories while Tourism Minister John Amaratunge and SLTDA Chairman Kishu Gomes, had also met the US, UK, German, Indian and Chinese Ambassadors and spoke to them about the adverse travel advisories imposed by them. In addition to China, Germany too is a large source market for tourism and toning down these advisors would have a major positive impact on Sri Lanka leisure sector.

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has decided to remove the minimum room rate (MRR) effective immediately imposed on Colombo City Hotels due to the low tourism arrivals following Easter Sunday Attacks.

Furthermore, SLTDA is in the opinion that it is better for the market forces to decide the room rates rather than SLTDA dictating terms due to the prevailing situation.

Last week, the travel ban on visiting Sri Lanka imposed by China was lifted to ‘cautious when traveling’ to Sri Lanka and the authority is confident that the travel advisories will be lifted in the next couple of weeks as they have been working closely with many diplomatic missions since the incident.