business Sri Lanka

The Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards (ACES) committee is announcing the opening of nominations for its 2020 Awards. Now entering its seventh year of benchmarking new standards of excellence in leadership and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in businesses across the Asian continent, ACES 2020 is on the search for leaders and organizations with game-changer mentalities, guts, and gumption, who will be worthy candidates for the ACES Winner’s Circle, dedicated to espousing better workplaces all across Asia.

The nomination call comes fresh on the heels of the glittering success of ACES 2019. Held at the Plaza Athénée, a Luxury Collection Hotel, in Bangkok, Thailand, the event saw the first ever ACES Gold Trophy presented to Globe Telecom for consistent year-on-year growth and sustainability over a three-year period of exemplary high scores. In the year 2020, we are hoping to turn the spotlight on hitherto undecorated captains of industry, and men and women who strive to infuse companies and corporations with soul, purpose, and the realization that profitability can be achieved by taking into account the smallest needs of their most humble consumers,” said MORS Group Chief Executive Officer, Shanggari B. MORS Group is the organizer and the think tank behind the inception of the ACES Awards.

The ACES Awards 2020 will be held in Malaysia, home of MORS Group. It will also be the first time the Awards will be held in the country.

Nomination forms are available from the ACES Secretariat at ruben@morsgroup.com

The Consulate General of India Hambantota, organized ITEC Day 2019 on October 15 in Galle. Consul General, Prem K. Nair, hosted a reception at the Jetwing Hotel for the ITEC alumni from the Southern Province and Moneragala District, who had availed ITEC training in India after the establishment of the Consulate in 2011. Hemal Gunasekara, Governor, Southern Province, Senior Officials and 70 ITEC alumni attended the function. Alumni reminisced about their pleasant experience of training in India, how it helped them grow professionally and network with new friends of different nationalities. The event provided an opportunity to meet, interact, share and relive their experience in India.

Nearly 157 officials from the Districts of Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Moneragala, have trained in India under ITEC since the inception of the Indian Consulate in Hambantota -104 of these have happened in the last 3 years alone. The training courses availed, were in diverse disciplines such as rural development, employment generation, sustainable development, women empowerment, library management, SME/MSMEs, English, IT, Governance, Management, etc. The Consulate renders all possible assistance to sustain this growing interest.

The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Program was launched on September 15, 1964, as a bilateral program of assistance of the Government of India and the day was celebrated as the ITEC Day each year. ITEC has been a vehicle to share India’s vast and unique experience of growth and development through capacity building and training of more than 200,000 government officials and professionals from 160 partner countries of the Global South in premier institutes of India. Over 12,000 slots are offered to the partner countries in a vast range of courses, covering fields as diverse as English, IT, Telecommunications, Rural development, Instrumentation, remote sensing, tool design, audit, accounts, finance & accountancy, banking, renewable energy, crime investigation, rural development, management, etc.

The ITEC capacity building programs continue to be one of India’s most successful development assistance programs abroad.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently, signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the Ministry of Megapolis & Western Development to provide technical assistance for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project with the objective of empowering women in the public transportation sector and making it the first time woman-friendly public transport system in Sri Lanka.

Speaking to the Daily News, Finance, Senior Project Specialist, JICA, Namal Ralapanawe said that women participation in the labour force in Sri Lanka is only half of that of men which was about 38.5% as at 2018. One critical factor responsible for this is the lack of safe and affordable transportation for women. As per UNFPA data, about 90% of women face sexual harassment in public transport in Sri Lanka. This hinders the mobility of women, impacting their engagement in the normal work force. Thus, public transportation should be developed so as to provide safe and affordable transportation, especially to women in order to get their contribution for the national economy.

“Sri Lanka is possibly the only country in Asia where women are blocked out of skilled jobs in railways. In Japan, women have been operating trains since a century ago, while there are a significant number of women train operators (drivers), maintenance and station management staff at Delhi Metro in our neighboring country India. We hope the Malabe - Fort LRT Project would not only open up the hitherto blocked opportunities for women in the railway sector, but also take additional measures to promote and encourage them. In a matter of years when the very first CLR train rolls out, I hope it would be driven by the very first woman train operator in Sri Lanka,” she said. More over, employing women in the railway could increase the safety and comfort of women passengers which incidentally, would increase the passenger volume and therefore the increase LRT revenu. The LRT could contribute to increasing women engagement in the workforce in two ways, namely by providing employment in its operation and by also enabling mobility for women to reach their work place and get back home in safety and comfort.

The capital cost of the Colombo LRT project is covered by a loan offered by JICA under its Special Terms for Economic Partnerships (STEP) scheme, with a 0.1% interest rate per annum and a tenure of 40 years, including a grace period of 12 years.

The STEP loan scheme which is provided only for projects which utilizes Japanese technology, is tied, which means that contractors for the project should be either a Japanese company or a Japan - Sri Lanka joint venture in which the Japanese company is the lead partner. However, the sub-contractors too could be from any country.

JICA’s loan covers all direct costs such as consultancy services with a 0.01% interest rate, civil work, rolling stock and equipment cost and also the interest during construction. The other project costs such as the administration costs of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) side, taxes and land acquisition and compensation costs would be borne by the GoSL.

“The loan agreement for the Japanese Yen 30.04 billion, was signed between GoSL and JICA in March 2019, which should cover the fund requirements of the first two years,” she said. The first two years consists mainly of engineering services and the rolling stock procurement activities.

Ralapanawe further noted that the GoSL has requested for financing for the project to be provided in tranches, considering the fund requirement for implementation as well as external debt management of GoSL, as it is a long term high value project. She also emphasized the importance of proper operation and maintenance to derive the expected economic benefits from the project.

Careful consideration should be taken in balancing ticket fares, as if the train fare is too high, then less people would find it affordable which would result in less of revenue and if the fare is too low, then the basic operation and maintenance costs could not be covered. Other forms of revenue generation such as advertising in the trains and stations and renting kiosks at stations are also being considered.

She also noted that the World Bank classified Sri Lanka as an upper middle income country this year, but it does not prevent the country from obtaining concessionary ODA loans from JICA, as long as the projects eligibility criteria in terms of environmental, social and economic considerations are met. However, when a country graduates to the status of higher income, country access to such concessionary loans would be limited.

Sri Lankan Tourism would launch a series of promotion events at the World Tourism Market (WTM) London, which would be held from November 4 to 6 as the island’s Tourism Industry continues its resolute recovery following the April terror attacks.

For the very first time Sri Lanka has been bestowed with the honour of been named Premier Partner for WTM London and would be present at the opening ceremony as well.

The high-profile partnership would ensure global coverage for the Indian Ocean destination, which has also teamed with the legendary Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara, to help tourism bounce back. The Premier Partnership deal with WTM London, would mean thousands of international travel trade professionals and buyers who would witness the new ‘So Sri Lanka’ branding, while hundreds of journalists and influencers would hear about the country’s culture, scenery and heritage.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s Managing Director, Chamarie Maelge said that Sangakkara wwould promote the destination’s key tourist attractions which are being marketed under the new brand ‘So Sri Lanka.’

Key marketing themes under the ‘So Sri Lanka’ banner at WTM London, would be the island’s remarkable natural beauty, its rich heritage and welcome of locals.

The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau would share its exhibition space at WTM London (Stand AS200) with 67 travel trade partners, including hotels, travel agencies, resorts and operators, all united in their mission to help the country rebuild its tourism trade.

Tourist numbers plunged by 70% in the wake of the April tragic events, but concerted efforts by the Sri Lankan tourist industry meant the recovery is happening faster than expected, according to Tourism Minister John Amaratunga.

The government has suspended visa fees for visitors from many countries and stepped up security across key tourist sites and the International Airport.

Visitors could also experience the benefits of Ayurveda, Sri Lanka’s traditional art of healing and restore their body and soul at the island’s many wellness retreats and resorts. Furthermore, food and hospitality play a crucial role in the country’s culture, with tourists able to enjoy a wide variety of curry and meat dishes, soups, seafood and vegetarian cuisine. Coconut milk is a distinctive ingredient, many meals and the island is world-renowned for its tea.

WTM London’s Senior Director, Simon Press said: “WTM London is delighted to announce Sri Lanka as its Premier Partner for 2019.

“It has been so heartening to see the country recover from the appalling events last Easter and it looks set to have a busy winter season.

“Being WTM London’s Premier Partner means, Sri Lanka could entice trade buyers and media from across the globe, which would help visitors return to or even surpass the levels seen in 2018 – boosting the country’s economy, as well as helping to provide jobs for thousands of workers.” (SS)

World Vision Lanka and Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) announced a joint collaboration to end violence against children.

This joint collaboration was launched at the Fort Railway Station aims to remind those who commute in the trains, especially parents and adults, to end all forms of violence against children and to bring them up with love.

In addition to the sticker campaign, World Vision Lanka will work together with Sri Lanka Railways to display messages of love and the need to treat children better at the prominent railway stations to prompt adults to rethink the way they engage with children.

It is a part of World Vision Lanka and Sri Lanka Railways mutual desire to ensure every train and railway station is safe for children.

“World Vision has worked towards the fullness of life for children all over the world for nearly 70 years. We see that violence scars children for life and this affects the wellness of the communities for a whole generation. Violence-free childhood is a happy childhood. This is a great example of World Vision Lanka working with the government and government institutions to make the lives of our children better every day,” said Dr Dhanan Senathirajah, National Director of World Vision Lanka.

The campaign aims to eradicate sexual violence against children through awareness creation and strengthening community-based organisations.

Further, it seeks to inculcate positive disciplinary methods among parents and teachers replacing corporal punishment and other forms of harmful punishment methods practiced in Sri Lanka.”

“I am happy to be a part of the efforts to end violence against children. We, at Sri Lanka Railways, believe that it’s important to take this step towards protecting our future generation,” said M.J.D Fernando, the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways.

The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka joined hands with the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) for the fourth consecutive year to conduct the Entrepreneur Awards 2019-Western Province for the micro, Small, and large sectors.

The grand award ceremony of the Entrepreneur Awards 2019-Western Province was held on Wednesday at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium, amid a large gathering of business organizations, entrepreneurs, representatives and etc. Altogether, 23 awards were presented to winners in the business sectors of industry, manufacturing, agriculture, livestock and fisheries and hospitality tourism and other services. This award scheme is designed to distinguish, reward and motivate Sri Lanka’s very own entrepreneurs to reach the mantle of achievement and encourage the business community in the Western Province to improve their standards of business practices and achieve a high level of entrepreneurship.

The National Chamber of Commerce and NEDA have been assisting the micro, small ,medium, and large sectors in the regions for a long time , and this gives special focus towards the upliftment of these sectors in the provinces to develop their business and conduct training programs for them, including for differently - abled entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka President Asela De Livera said,” We’re happy to join the National Enterprise Development Authority to recognise and award micro small, medium large sector entrepreneurs in the Western province for the fourth year in succession.

He said further that NEDA helps towards the development small and medium enterprises in Sri Lanka with technical skills, infrastructure facilities and other required facilities.

“National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka has also given special focus on the upliftment of SMEs in the provinces and has been assisting the micro SMEs in the region to develop their businesses. The chamber’s vision is to promote and develop the SME sector from the provincial and national level,” he said.

In addition, the Chamber also conducts training programs, workshops on skills development, human resources, e-commerce and IT for the Micro SMEs including women entrepreneurs in the provinces.

The Sri Lanka Tourism sector will record nearly to US$ 4 billion revenue for 2019 and will also see arrivals of nearly 2 million tourists Minister of Tourism John Amaratunge said.

This would be dip of around 20% in comparison to last year. Currently the arrival figures are at 1.5 million and tourism revenue is passing the USS 3.5 billion mark. “We expect around 400,000 victors in the next two months,” he said.

Chairman Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Kishu Gomes said they have been actively promoting and inviting global decision makers of the tourism section and the latest was a group representing Belgium. “They have the power to influence around 93% of the out bound market and our aim is to attract more Belgium arrivals through them.”

TUI President Luc Coussement said that they feel that Sri Lanka now is a safe destination they will spread this message to the world. “We are also happy with the connectivity with the highways in Sri Lanka and also the opening up of the Jaffna Airport which are steps taken in the right direction. The opening of the Kandy highway would also be beneficial for tourism.

He said today travel patterns are changing and people are looking for experiences and Sri Lanka is providing that. He also said that the Sri Lankan Hotels are of high quality and in right size and rates are now not over priced.

Managing Director SLTPB, Chamarie Maelge said that Belgium tourists are high spenders and their average stay is around 13 days and they prefer beach and culture. “We have more visits by other travel sector decision makers in the future too.”

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) under the guidance of the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade implemented Market Access Support programme to empower entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka.

The objectives of the programme are to encourage enterprises interested in expanding their markets; increase market access; enhance value addition; improve productivity; advance Sri Lankan home-grown brands’ conformity to the international quality, environmental, and other standards; upgrade technology and develop competitiveness. The government allocated Rs. 800 million for this programme as part of the trade adjustment programme which was proposed by the National Trade Policy and the National Budget 2018.

Uptodate, 95 projects have been approved for assistance in the districts of Colombo, Kalutara, Kandy, Polonnaruwa, Gampaha, Puttlam, Kurunegala, Galle and Hambantota. Product sectors that have been covered are: Rubber and Rubber-based products, Ornamental Fish, Footwear, Light Engineering and Coconut and Coconut Fibre-based products, Seafood, Garments, Spices and Allied products, Gem and Jewellery, Wooden Products, Boat Building, ICT and BPM, Printing and Logistics, Processed Food, and Wellness Tourism. In addition to the traditional export sectors, Market Access Support program is supporting innovative areas of the services sector like BPM Management to access new markets in their fields.

The beneficiaries have been able to expand their businesses from the assistance provided by this commendable initiative. The following are some of the success stories:

Tropic Fishery Pvt Ltd has been able to improving market access for Sri Lanka’s Yellowfin tuna using artificial intelligence. Infomate Private Limited and Cosuk Lanka has also benefited.

Ceylon Leather Products Limited subsidiary of Ambeon Holdings PLC transferred its shoe manufacturing business on October 1, 2019 for its net asset value of RS 49,468,794 to Ceylon Leather Products Distributors (Private) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceylon Leather Products Limited.

Ceylon Leather Products Distributors (Private) Limited was in the business of retail selling of Leather Footwear and Leather Goods.

Ambeon Holdings PLC said in a stock exchange filing that consequent to the said business transfer Ceylon Leather Products Limited transferred 6,803,250 ordinary shares held in Ceylon Leather Products Distributors (Private) Limited to VAST Holdings Limited for a total consideration of RS 10,000 on October 24, 2019.

VAST Holdings Limited was incorporated to hold the investment in Ceylon Leather Products Distributors (Private) Limited by Dr. Sarath Paranavitane and Varuna Maliduwapathirana who are directors, shareholders having extensive experience in health care, manufacturing and tea plantation.

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed the long-term/short-term] local currencj deposit ratings of Bank of Ceylon (BOC), Hatton National Bank Ltd. (HNB) and Sampath Bank PLC at B2/NPn

At the same time, Moody’s has affirmed the long-term foreign currency issuer ratings and long-term/short-terq foreign currency deposit ratings of these three banks at B2 and B3/NP respectively

Moody’s has also affirmed the Baseline Credit Assessments (BCAs) and adjusted BCAs of the three banks a` b2. As a result, Moody’s has affirmed their local and foreign currency Counterparty Risk Ratings (CRRs) Counterparty Risk Assessments (CR Assessments) at B1/NP and B1(cr)/NP(cr), respectively

Moody’s has maintained the rating outlooks of the banks at stable. Moody’s has affirmed the ratings and assessments of the three Sri Lankan banks because they have adequate capital buffers against the backdrop of deteriorating asset quality and profitability. Moreover, these banks have stable funding and liquidity which support their standalone credit profiles.

The asset quality of the banks is deteriorating mainly because of weaknesses in the agriculture ani construction segments and dampened consumer sentiment, against the backdrop of a challenging operating environment in the country. Moody’s expects some problems in the tourism-related exposures once the debt` moratorium ends in July 2020. As a result, Moody’s expects the banks’ profitability to remain strained by elevated credit costs, higher taxel and muted loan growth. Moody’s also expects that the recent central bank’s mandated cut to the lending ratel will add pressure to net interest margins, further straining bank profitability.

BOC’s capitalization is also modest, with a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 10.7% at the end of June 2019. Nevertheless, Moody’s expects that the bank will maintain stable capital ratio by lowering dividend payouts. Slow credit growth will also support its capitalization

HNB and Sampath maintain adequate capital buffers against rising credit risk, as measured by their CETc ratios of 13.0% and 13.7%, respectively, as of 30 June 2019. Nevertheless, their ROAs has also deteriorate to 0.9% each in the first half of 2019 from 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively, in 2018.

For the three banks, their weakening asset quality and profitability are balanced by their good funding and liquidity, as underpinned by their strong deposit franchises, with sizeable market shares in system deposits.

Moody’s does not have any particular governance concern for the three Sri Lankan banks, and does not apply any corporate behavior adjustment to the banks. Moody’s views their risk management framework a consistent and commensurate with their risk appetite.

ICRA Lanka Limited, Subsidiary of ICRA Limited, Group Company of Moody’s Investors Service has reaffirmed the Issuer rating of [SL]A+ (pronounced S L A plus1) with Stable outlook for Access Engineering PLC (“AEL”/ “the Company”).

ICRA Lanka has also reaffirmed the Issue Rating of [SL]A+(pronounced S L A plus) with Stable outlook for the Company’s Senior unsecured redeemable debenture programme amounting to Rs 5,000 million.

ICRA Lanka has taken a consolidated view on Access Engineering PLC and its subsidiaries as a whole, in reaffirming the ratings, given the operational and financial linkages among them.

As a brand that resonates with empowering the exporters of the country, The National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE), entered into a Strategic Partnership with SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier to collectively support the Export Industry of the country.

SriLankan Airlines signed up with the Chamber under a premium sponsorship of the prestigious Annual Export Awards 2019, the flagship event of the Chamber which was conducted recently at Shangri La Hotel in Colombo. This event which recognizes and rewards the achievements of the Sri Lankan exporters in the international market covering both products and services, is an event of National significance and looked forward to business event by the exporter community in Sri Lanka.

Further under the same agreement, the Sri Lankan Airlines will be one of the strategic sponsors of many events and forums conducted by the Chamber in support of the member exporters and general public of the country. This partnership agreement has been signed on October 17, 2019 and will be valid for a period of one year, renewable thereafter with mutual consent between the partners to the agreement.

Top textile manufacturer Teejay Lanka PLC has witnessed impressive top and bottom line growth in the first half of 2019-20, with investments in expansion and internal measures continuing to generate anticipated improvements to net profit margins and other key performance indicators.

Noteworthy revenue and profit improvements in the second quarter of the year have enabled Sri Lanka’s only multinational textile producer to build on the strong start of the preceding quarter and report net profit of Rs 1.237 billion for the six months ending September 30, 2019, a growth of 75% over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Announcing the Company’s 8th consecutive quarter of revenue and profit growth, Teejay Lanka reported revenue of Rs 17.442 billion for the six months and Rs 9.317 billion for the second quarter, reflecting robust growth of 20% and 22% respectively. Profit before tax at Rs 1.518 billion for the six months was up a notable 73%, and increased by 82% to Rs 935.99 million for the three months ending 30th September 2019, Teejay Lanka disclosed in a filing with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE).

Net profit for the second quarter grew by 84% to Rs 783.15 million, the Company said.

Teejay Lanka Chairman Wing Tak Bill Lam said: “An improved product mix, internal efficiencies resulting from operational excellence initiatives and stabilisation of cotton prices can be attributed to the improvement of gross profit in the review period.”

Teejay Lanka CEO Shrihan Perera said the Company maintained administration and distribution to a cost-constant framework and that the depreciation of the Rupee also contributed to keeping the rate of growth of expenses below the rate of sales growth.

Seylan Bank closed the nine months ending September 30, 2019 with a post-tax profit of Rs. 2,554 million, a marginal increase of 1% over the corresponding period last year.

Growth in advances coupled with the rise in interest rates enabled interest income to grow by 16.77% and interest expenses increased by 22.28%. As a result, Net interest income recorded a growth of 7.20% to reach Rs. 13,987 million.

Net fees and commission income recorded a slight growth of 4.54 % for the period under review. This was mainly attributed to card related income and guarantee related income during the period under review. Other income captions comprising net losses from trading activities, net fair value gains of financial instruments, net gains on foreign exchange transactions and other operating income were reported as a net gain of Rs. 1,144 million compared to net gain of Rs. 1,008 million in 3Q 2018 mainly as a result of upward movement in exchange income, despite a decrease in Mark to Market gains on Derivatives Financial Instruments.

Total expenses increased by 8.68% from Rs. 8,885 million to Rs. 9,657 million and were fueled by new investments in technology where the focus is given to enhance the digital banking services and upgrading and refurbishment of branches / head office departments.

The Bank continued to focus on widening the roll-out of lean initiatives, workflow methods and automation across the bank operations in order to keep the cost under control.

The Bank’s profit before taxes (PBT) was negatively impacted by the debt repayment levy of Rs. 706 million for the nine months ended September 2019 which was not in existence in the corresponding period of 2018.

“There is no better time to boldly invest in our beliefs than when the economy is not at its best,” Thayalan Bartlett, Chief Executive Officer, MullenLowe Group Sri Lanka said yesterday.

He was commenting on the formation of the MullenLowe Group- Sri Lanka and its five independent verticals. MullenLowe- Sri Lanka launched its sister agency LoweLintas which will now come under the MullenLowe Group-Sri Lanka.

“This is our small contribution to bring about optimism with purpose for Sri Lanka and our clients. In conditions such as these, marketers want their brands to be brave and we have been an agency known to respond to this call. We have upped our offering by Hyper bundling our areas of expertise to meet the challenges of our times,” he added.

MullenLowe Sri Lanka has been crowned the most effective agency of the year at the Effie Awards Sri Lanka for the past two years in a row and is the reigning gold award winner at Campaign Asia Magazine Creative Agency of the Year (Rest of South Asia category).

In a recent interview Virat Tandon, Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group - India praised the agency claiming it to be one of the best performing offices across its South Asia network.

These accolades are backed by an impressive business performance with the company continuing to dominate 80% of the top 10 advertised categories and 50% of the top 20 advertised categories for three consecutive years making it the single largest creative agency in the country. The company doubled its revenue in four years, largely fueled by new business wins. New business for 2019 has clocked a healthy contribution to revenue at 18% with 2019 slated to be its best year ever. The company is expected to grow by 29% over 2018 and 7% over its budgeted revenue for this year. All this was achieved despite 3% of its total revenue getting wiped-off following the events of 21/4.

Bartlett attributes the success of MullenLowe to the defiant spirit of the team that helped the company rebound fast from the adverse effects of the April incidents. In hindsight the terribly unfortunate events also brought out the best in us as a team and he recalls the agency’s new business team taking-on a new brief a day after 21/4.

“We knew we had to do our bit to overcome a seemingly hopeless situation during what was a severely challenging and emotional time for all of us.If we hope to turn around businesswe could not afford to get distracted by terrorists who had left the economy ina disastrous situation,” Bartlett said.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce launched the working draft of the Sri Lanka Economic Acceleration Framework (SEAF) 2020-25 on September 17t, 2019. The document has identified over 140 interventions that require to be implemented in driving Sri Lanka’s GDP from USD 89 billion (2018) to USD 134 billion by 2025, propelling GDP growth in the period to an average of 6.8%.

The 12 areas have been identified as priority areas for economic development in the 2020-25 period. To achieve this growth trajectory, we have proceeded on the assumption that there will be social and gender inclusiveness, sustainability and good governance. The first focus is the preservation of national security and ethnic harmony. Here a strong strategy to safeguard national security and eliminate threats. The promotion of a common Sri Lankan identity, Zero tolerance of divisive practices and attitudes, and enforce law & order and inspire respect for rule of law.

The second is public sector reforms and SOE reforms. Here re-orient the public sector to deliver a high quality service to the people with a strong focus on productivity and pay for performance principles, develop a rational basis for the assignment of subjects and functions to Ministries to avoid duplication, inconvenience to the citizen and an unnecessary drain on public funds, appoint knowledgeable and competent persons to key positions of Government, the inability to introduce SOE reforms has been largely due to a lack of political will and this needs to be addressed urgently.

The inability to introduce SOE reforms has been largely due to a lack of political will and this needs to be addressed urgently. Establish a parliamentary committee comprising members across parties with a focus to reduce the burden of SOEs. A communication strategy that outlines the necessity for reforms of the SOEs needs to be articulated urgently.

This will help gain a national consensus on the way forward. Identify the impact of subsidized pricing for SOEs both in terms of the cost of under pricing and the financing cost due to subsiding pricing.

Shift the cost of subsidization where needed to the Treasury to understand the actual performance of the SOE.

The third focus is implementation; here the establishment of an oversight Committee to monitor implementation of Government development programmes, comprising public sector as well as private sector representatives and develop an action tracker for all government initiatives, mandatory quarterly progress reports and a sound public communication strategy should be devised.

Focus 4 Achieving Macro-Targets-

a. Establish an Independent Public Debt office/agency and implement the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (2019-2023) to mitigate the on-going debt risks.

b. Establish a permanent secretariat to fast track the relevant reforms required to improve Sri Lanka’s Ease of Doing Business ranking (target of 40 by 2025) as well as other non-index issues which are impacting the business climate of the private sector.

c. Set up specially designed industrial zones which reduce bureaucratic red tape and provide a plug and play model for investment

d. Provide consistency in the tax regime in the period leading up to 2025 and avoid the application of retrospective taxes.

Focus 5 Leveraging Hub potential –

a. Leverage on Sri Lanka’s strategic location and other key strengths to become a maritime and logistics hub for the region.

b. Develop the capacity of the East and West Terminal of Colombo Port replicating past successful PPP models to increase the current throughput from 7 million TEUs (in 2018) to a potential throughput of 15-16 million TEUs by 2025.

c. Develop and support the Tourism industry by recognition of it as a key export services industry that will enable the sector to enjoy similar facilities to other key export sectors.

d. Facilitate the development of the country as a Retail Hub with the efforts taken to promote the tourism industry.

e. Fast-track the expansion of Bandaranaike International Airport to aid to overcome current deficiencies. How much capacity by what date?

Focus 6 Energy Security–

f. Formulate a holistic national energy policy cutting across all sectors and aimed at long-term energy security.

g. Maximize the use of indigenous energy sources consistent with the country’s social, environmental and economic development goals.

h. Restructure and standardise the bidding processes including Request For Proposals (RFPs) to increase competition, compare bids accurately, and capture maximum long-term economic value.

Focus 7 Digitization to fast track growth–

i. Sustain the significant advancements already made on the digital front in order to remain globally competitive.

j. Implementa Digital ID system to seamlessly connect with its citizens to offer services such as banking, health and payment of taxes.

k. Enact data protection legislation

Focus 8 Streamlining the SME Ecosystem–

l. Establish a single Authority to ensure progress of SMEs, amalgamating existing agencies.

m. Establish a credit guarantee institution to facilitate access to finance.

n. Develop a centralized SME database to capture current information to be used in policy making.

Focus 9 Traderelated reforms–

o. Reduce various domestic barriers to trade while boosting competitiveness.

p. Expedite implementation of Trade Facilitation Programmes.

q. Establish a rational tariff structure that promotes macroeconomic growth objectives of the economy.

Under the Trade Information & Promotion strategy, EDB organized an Export Marketplace Programme for the Processed Food and Beverage sector, on October 30, 2019 at the EDB Auditorium with the objective of “Enhance the export market penetration ability of the selected SME entrepreneurs in processed food and beverage sector”

This programme consists of two main phases. Phase I: The service providers will make presentations on their services to the audience. Entrepreneurs will visit each service provider in order to identify the required service to pitch their product/brand to the export market. Phase II: The entrepreneurs will make presentations to a panel of the judges on their marketing strategy and present the services they have chosen to a panel of investors and buyers.

The entrepreneurs will be evaluated by the panel and the three best marketing strategies will be selected.

Laugfs Group Chairman, W.K.H. Wegapitiya said his company has plans to list more companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). LAUGFS Power Limited rang the market opening bell to celebrate the listing of its shares on the CSE yesterday. The listing of the company is as a result of a move by LAUGFS Gas PLC to segregate the subsidiaries of the company that are outside the scope of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry.

Wegapitiya said LAUGFS Power was started as a small sector in the company’s portfolio by linking with the hydropower sector. “Today we are contributing a 51 percent utility-based solar power generation in the country with many more in the pipeline. Unfortunately, I can’t disclose more details now as I have to follow SEC listing rules,” he said adding that ‘the beauty of this sector is we are expanding into renewable energy’. He added, “We have ideas to list our overseas projects in Sri Lanka. With the new economic development of our country, we believe there will be many more opportunities for an entrepreneurial firm like us.”

“We believe from the inception that to continue our journey we need to ensure good management and governance. The listing would help us broad base our ownership and bring in good management practices and will ensure long term survival. We have immensely benefitted from listing in the past. We are going to list many more companies.”

“Today is a very significant day for LAUGFS, when we started our company in 1995 we had a great vision to be a truly Sri Lankan enterprise and also to be regional and one day to become a global company. We have maintained our identity in the power and energy sector whilst we strategically invest and making our presence felt in other related and synergetic sectors.”

At the time we listed our first entity in 2010 we mentioned that there will be so many other companies that are suitable to be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Today the tiny home-grown enterprises we started in 1995 have 20 unique sectors both in Sri Lanka and overseas. We have become a multinational energy company. Our LAUGFS brand is well accepted not only in Sri Lanka but in many other countries including Bangladesh.”

LAUGFS Power trading under the LPL.N and LPL.X for voting and non- voting respectively opened trading at Rs 8.8 and Rs 8. The manager of the introduction was Capital Alliance.

The ‘Fusion, Asia Leisure Oktoberfest at Havelocks’ would come alive on the November 1, from 7 pm onwards and November 2, screening of Rugby World Cup Finals from 2 pm onwards, at the Havelock Sports.

The Oktoberfest would be under a giant marquee with the traditional German buffet prepared by Asia Leisure Hotels.

An entertainment lineup with live music and DJ would be playing your favourite tunes with games and competitions.

Ticket would be available at Asia Leisure Head Office and Havelocks Sports Club.

Rizvan Musafer Director Fusion Media & Entertainment (Pvt) Ltd said the event would not have been possible without our wonderful sponsors.

Title Sponsor Asia Leisure Hotels, Platinum Sponsor eepby Dimo, Gold Sponsor Ocean Front Condominium by ICC, Bronze Sponsor Imorichby Elephant House and our media partners, Kiss FM and Real Radio and Pulse.

Huawei, launched their premium smartphone for an unbelievable price, the Huawei Nova 5T, earlier this Month.

One of the highlights of the very exquisite Huawei Nova 5T is the first ever 7-nanometer Kirin 980 AI Chipset that generally comes for a flagship smartphone of its price.

Alongside the chipset and the EROFS file reading system, the user of the smartphone can enjoy a smoother experience with lesser loading time, even if the internal memory is almost fully occupied. With the EMUI 9.1, the smartphone is proven to have a 59% faster app launch speed and further 57% smoother UI operation than that of the Nova 4.

In the year 2018, Huawei unveiled and proved that On-Device Artificial Intelligence is the future of AI in smartphones with its Neural Processing Unit (NPU). This year, Huawei takes it one step further alongside the launch of the Nova 5T as with the help of Dual NPU and the latest GPU, the mobile gaming experience has also been elevated. In addition, the smartphone ensures the most powerful, ultimately intelligent and ultra fast connectivity, alongside the World’s first ever 7 nanometer chipset and dual Neural Processing Unit.

The Nova 5T explicitly features enhanced AI capabilities that customize the performance of the smartphone to elevate the quality and experience of every mobile game. The Dual NPU Kirin 980 elevates the On-Device AI experience with greater processing power and intelligence. The Nova 5T also brings us the World’s first Cortex-A76 based CPU that is available for smartphone of its price, the World’s first Mali-G76 GPU, 1.4GBps Cat.21 Modem and the World’s first SoC- supporting 2133MHz LPDDR4X. The device has a 75% better performance than that of the smartphones powered by Kirin 970. Moreover, the Kirin 980 supports the most advanced 4.5G LTE Technology and Dual GPS for more precise location access and map reading.

The Huawei Nova 5T is now available in three stunning colours – Black, Crush Blue and Midsummer Purple at all Huawei Experience Shops, Singer Outlets Island wide and selected Dialog outlets for an introductory price. Customers could also purchase online from Daraz.lk, WOW.lk, Dialog.lk and Singer.lk

The Sri Lanka Telecom Group (SLT) will be conducting a Digital Lifestyle Expo and Fun Fair at the INFOTEL 2019, which is scheduled to be held at the BMICH from November 1-3.

Conducted under the theme “SLT Digitastic”, the SLT expo seeks to provide an unmatched digital experience to the visitors to INFOTEL 2019, powered by SLT’s superior ICT knowledge and capabilities. The SLT expo will occupy the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Exhibition Hall No. Band has been organized keeping in line with the company’s vision to successfully lead Sri Lanka towards a digital future.

Earlier in the year, SLT launched the National Digital Roadmap, to expedite the country’s digital journey and bring digitalization closer to the people through initiatives built around “Smart” concepts. Since then, the company has launched several digital products and services to drive the realization of a Smart Sri Lanka. For the first time this year, the entire SLT Group has come together to organize this digital lifestyle exhibition which is a unique and novel concept, providing opportunities for the entire family to learn about, experience as well as enjoy digital lifestyles in a creative and fun environment.

The unique “SLT Digitastic” Expo has something for everyone, no matter their age or background. It will demonstrate many digital products and smart concepts, providing opportunities for all visitors to experience what next generation digitally enabled “smart” lifestyles are all about, and also provide students with a valuable opportunity to learn more about new technology.

Some of these innovative and creative digital experiences that visitors can enjoy at the expo include digital registration as well as a host of digital entertainment such ase-sports, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) as well as holograms.

The e-sports section of the expo will comprise of awareness sessions on the sport, which was declared as an official sport in Sri Lanka on 26th September 2019, as well as an e-sports gaming area.

Visitors to the expo will also get the opportunity to learn and experience firsthand about IoTs (Internet of Things), robotic games and CoderDojo (Coding and Digital making clubs). They will also be able to learn about digi art, music and video editing. Valuable technical sessions on Chat bot, PeoBiz and CIPE (lighting protector), comprising of strategic discussions with selected customers will also take place in the evenings at 6pm on all three days of the exhibition.

SLT will launch its own Chat Bot on November 1, that will help to enhance the experience of SLT’s valued customers through improved customer engagement. On November 2, SLT will launch PEO Biz, the latest product for its SME customers.

Visitors to the “SLT Digitastic”–Digital Lifestyle Expo will be eligible for attractive product promotions and discounts of up to 50% for many products and services obtained at the expo. The SLT Group encourages and welcomes all visitors to INFOTEL to visit the Digital Lifestyle Expo to experience this novel exhibition and digital lifestyles.

SDB bank joined the “40th National Conference of Charted Accountants” as the bronze sponsor, which was held on October 14-16.

The event was organized by the institute of Charted Accountants of Sri Lanka with the ultimate aim of offering a unique learning and networking experience for a large number of delegates.

ACL Elegance, the premier range of switches and sockets manufactured by ACL Cables PLC, the nation’s No.1 cable manufacturer, marked a successful first year and positive market acceptance since its launch in 2018.

Noteworthy, the range concluded a year of impressive sales with almost no defective returns and continues to experience month on month overwhelming demand. Hence the range which began in white, has now expanded to colours of black matt, bronze and grey and is currently available for purchase at island-wide dealer outlets.

ACL Cables which is recognised for its innovative quality products has once again succeeded through the introduction of ACL Elegance rangeas it celebrates its first year of growth and successful market approval.Launched in February 2018, at a gala function at Cinnamon Grand Colombo, attendees included key dealers from the Western Province and featured the iconic Russian model Ksenia.

Commenting on ACL Elegance’s success, Suren Madanayake, Managing Director said, “The performance achieved by our Elegance range demonstrates the promise we offer; to produce a consumer friendly, easy to handle, stylish and long lasting switch, has been extremely successful and encountered extremely positive acceptance by the market. Our main goal in launching the product was to bridge the gap in the market with a range of high quality switches and sockets.”

The total switch range coupled with ACL button type switch, which was introduced back in 2013, posted the highest ever record salesduring this year for the past 5 years. This was purely due to the strength and vast market acceptance of the ACL Elegance range.

ACL Elegance was developed with a series of accurate research and detailed development techniques. Thereby the range was brought to market to cater the need of all customer groups, who engage with the product. In a consumer’s point of view ACL Elegance demonstrates several attractive features including a proportional/matching look on the dolly button and front plate, reflective lenses enhancing its elegant look, a firm but smooth switch action and a hairline gap between the dolly and plate.

In the view of an electrical technician the range provides further benefits such as, Abigger hole-size terminals/oversize screws assuring hazel free wiring and proper connectivity. A front cover plate that can be easily be removed as and when required and high quality components and fire retardant material and compatibility to the standard mounting box signify an easy replacement on an existing mounting box.

The global fashion industry continues to gain traction at the moment and with the current stance of evolutionary change we see becoming almost a norm worldwide.

It is no doubt an industry that brings with it a lot of innovative creativity and opens doors to more talent from across the world. Looking at the fashion industry from a global context, the fashion market is valued at USD $3 trillion and represents 2% of the world’s GDP.

The fashion industry is vast and vibrant and is full of opportunity, which takes creativity and talent into a realm of consistent development. Human beings will continue to wear clothes and trends catch up even faster than ever, thanks to the penetration of entities such as social media and influencer marketing, which only continues to seep their way into everyday civilian life.

Every major city in the world for instance, has claim to their own fashion-focused sense of the industry, attracting tourists and hordes of fashion conscious people to visit such outlets and shop to their heart’s content. If we talk about New York City’s (NYC) fashion industry alone, it is valued at USD $98 billion and helps to generate tax revenues of up to USD $2 billion. The NYC fashion industry also allocates USD $10.9 billion in wages alone and boasts 180,000 employees in this sector.

The industry is ever growing and people need to learn about this sector and understand that when there is a boom in the industry, then they should go ahead with the leap and take advantage of the situation. In Sri Lanka, many fashion students look towards becoming fashion entrepreneurs.

Through their range of short courses and diploma courses on offer, they have ensured that a level of variety and creativity is maintained that would suit other industries such as tourism and hospitality.

The Singer Fashion Academy offers over 20 different programs, which include three diploma programs, 08 certificate programs and 11 short courses.

The academy recently was named the first and only institute in the country to receive course validation status from the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) in the UK.

Countries such as Australia have already shown demand for fashion designers and people to fill jobs in the sector and these prospects help attract youth who are exposed to the latest trends and showcase fresh ideas and creative traits.

Singer Fashion Academy has also taken into consideration the great requirement for manpower, experienced within the garment sector in Sri Lanka. Taking into account these needs, Singer helps people join the workforce as skilled workers, in areas such as Machine Operators for instance.

Singer Fashion Academy continues to revise and update their syllabi based on global industry requirements and keep on expanding their program portfolio in line with changing trends.

A belt of 2,000 mangrove plants and 750 mangrove associates is to be planted around a little island in the Koggala Lake, along with 500 terrestrial plants on the island, as part of Commercial Bank of Ceylon’s support to the ‘Koggala Mangrove Restoration and Conservation Project’ of Wildlife and Ocean Resource Conservation (WORC) of Sri Lanka.

The project is the result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Bank and WORC, for the restoration of a degraded ecosystem and to inspire a culture and community of environmental stewardship in the area.

The island chosen to implement this restoration project is the 13.5 acre ‘Kath Duwa’ in Habaraduwa, situated close to ‘Madol Duwa,’ an island memorialised by Martin Wickramasinghe’s famous novel of the same name.

Commercial Bank will provide funding for this in stages, and by extension will play a part in contributing towards the development of eco-tourism in the Koggala lagoon by supporting the lagoon community through reducing the impact of erosion and providing education on how to carry out activities in a more environmentally responsible manner.

Besides funding, the Bank will also monitor the progress of the project on a monthly basis, support WORC to build partnerships with local communities, raise education and awareness, and collaborate with the organisation to identify sustainable livelihoods and business opportunities associated with the project and help kick start related activities.

The scope of the project to restore ‘Kath Duwa’ includes discussions with the island owners, preparation of necessary plants and land for planting, implementation of a survey of fauna and flora on the island, planting of mangroves in plastic barrels around the 1,100-metre perimeter of ‘Kath Duwa,’ constant observation of these mangroves, replanting if necessary, installing of eco-friendly information boards and tree name boards alongthe lagoon and on the island, and developing eco-tourism in the area.

The Koggala Lagoon has a surface area of approximately 7.27 km² and is largely fed by several connected streams. Thanks to its rich bio diversity and ecosystem, it is one of the main attractions for tourists visiting the Southern coast. It sustains a few scattered small islands with mangrove swamps along their shorelines. Human activities and high tide have caused severe lagoon bank erosion and brought about destruction to the ecosystem of mangroves in the past few decades. The ‘Koggala Mangrove Restoration and Conservation Project’ to be implemented in ‘Kath Duwa’ seeks to remedy part of this problem.

Wildlife and Ocean Resource Conservation is a not-for-profit organisation focused on conservation and ecosystem restoration in Sri Lanka. It supports community-based sea turtle conservation in Panama and Pottuvil, mangrove forest conservation and restoration in Koggala, and coral reef conservation and restoration in Rumassala. WORC offers travel experiences in all of these areas and all income from ecotourism is used to fund ongoing conservation and restoration work.

SLIM, the national body of marketing in Sri Lanka, continued its academic collaboration with the corporate sector by adding Astron Limited to its list of partners.

The alliance with Astron Limited for the Certificate in Professional Selling (CPS) was made official on August 26, at the Head Office of Astron Limited in Ratmalana.

This partnership was initiated with the intention of providing the CPS qualification to the medical sales team at Astron Limited. The Certificate in Professional Selling (CPS) is designed to provide professional knowledge for sales teams to improve their understanding of sales, enhance their performance and to be in the forefront of today’s competitive sales culture. The CPS is a tailor made program including components like corporate culture management, consumer organization and buyer behaviour, personal selling–approaches and strategies, and effective communication skills.

The President of SLIM, Suranjith Swaris said, “As the national body of marketing, SLIM plays a vital role in imparting marketing education to the nation. SLIM’s programs groom professionals to stand as equals, not only with their local competitors, but also their global counterparts. The corporate sector in Sri Lanka continues to keep confidence in SLIM’s Corporate Solutions programs as they effectively contribute towards enhancing the performance of their employees.”

Johann De Zilwa, the Director/CMO of Astron Limited stated, “It is of utmost importance for us as a company to provide necessary education and training to our staff in order to bring about professional growth, and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our employees. As the national body of marketing in Sri Lanka, SLIM has proven its flexibility in conducting customized professional programs for the corporate sector. We believe that the individuals who follow this educational program would demonstrate developed skill levels that will reflect in both their personal and professional growth”.

The Certificate in Professional Selling (CPS) will facilitate Astron Limited in upgrading the skills of its employees by significantly increasing sales, enhancing the retention and loyalty of employees, and developing a well-equipped sales team. Qualifying in CPS will open new vistas in education for the Astron medical sales team.

Speaking at the event, the CEO and Executive Director of SLIM, Sanath Senanayake said, “The corporate sector in Sri Lanka has endorsed SLIM Corporate Education programs due to their effectiveness in enhancing the performance of their employees.”

Roshan Karunathilake, the Head of Sales at Astron Limited, noted, “The corporate sector in Sri Lanka has confidence in SLIM’s programs since they effectively contribute towards enhancing the performance of employees. Our medical sales team will benefit immensely from this program, which will develop them both as individuals and a team that excels in sales”.

The agriculture industry is responsible for providing food and fiber to feed and clothe over 7 billion people. It also employs over 40% of the global workforce. As demand and consumption increase, there is pressure for supply chains to be more efficient. However, there are many issues surrounding supply chains. Some $40 billion is lost annually due to global food fraud, farmers risk not being paid, and only 43% of suppliers are confident in sharing data and collaborating with partners.

During a knowledge sharing event at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Bridie Ohlsson, project lead for blockchain at AgriDigital, shared their experience in using blockchain to make transactions more efficient and transparent for farmers, buyers and consumers (link is external). Founded in 2015, AgriDigital is a Sydney-based start-up agtech (agriculture technology) company that develops software solutions to make global agricultural supply chains simple, easy, and secure.

What are the issues affecting supply chains today?

There are enormous leaks and risks in supply chains. Supply chains typically work with silos of information. Organizations keep data around trade flows, financial flows, and information flows very separate, within an organization and with other organizations. Thus, it loses its ability to leverage information to develop new products, provide traceability, and improve efficiencies across the supply chain. This leads to delays, fraud, and counterfeit goods moving along the supply chain. 

There are three big problems associated with supply chains today.

Farmers do not receive payment upon delivery of their commodities. On the average, payments in the Australian grains industry take from 2 to 5 weeks. (link is external)

Buyers do not have access to finance that will enable them to pay farmers on time. Commodity-backed finance is complex and risky and very few financiers are willing to lend.

Consumers lack trust and access to verifiable information around the status and quality of goods.

What is the solution?

Data, trade, and finance flows should be integrated resulting in a streamlined supply chain where all the players across the agricultural supply chain—farmers, buyers, storage operators, and consumers—operate and interact on one platform, sharing and leveraging datato deliver innovative products and services. The supply chain should enable greater transparency and security around the data and the products and commodities that are moving. 

The following features of blockchain make its use ideal for supply chains:

• It supports peer-to-peer transactions, removing the need for an intermediary to facilitate transactions.
•  Information is distributed in a network and not centralized.
•  Data storage is immutable and secure.
•  Changes to the network require consensus among participants.

What are some of the use cases of blockchain in the agriculture sector?

Transactions and payment security

In 2017, AgriDigital successfully completed a pilot that generated a digital title for a commodity and executed payment on the blockchain. The pilot was carried out with CBH Group (link is external), Australia’s largest cooperative and a leader in the Australian grain industry. CBH’s wholly owned subsidiary, Blue Lake Milling, functioned as buyer and processor of oats.

Upon delivery of the oats to Blue Lake Milling, a digital title was generated using AgriDigital’s commodity management platform and kept in the grower’s wallet. Information on the quantity and quality of the oats was captured providing a robust view of the commodities.

Using a smart contract, payment was made from the buyer to the grower, and simultaneously the asset (digital title) was transferred from the grower to the buyer. This eliminated counterparty risk, providing full security to the grower and clear visibility over ownership of the commodity.

The pilot also traced the movement of organic oats from farmgate, through milling and production, to retail consumer. During critical stages of processing, data was stored and analyzed on a blockchain to prove the organic status of the oats. Because blockchain was used, it was immutable and consumers were guaranteed of the provenance and quality of the goods they purchased. 

Trade finance

AgriDigital partnered with Rabobank to deliver a true commodity-backed financing product (link is external). In this financing scheme, the trader acts as a Rabobank agent. Rabobank makes use of a trader’s facility wallet to address the financing gap between the time the commodity is delivered by the grower and the time the trader has a ready buyer. The grower delivers the grain to the warehouse. A digital asset is issued to the grower’s wallet, which includes details of the quality and quantity.

The grower sends the asset directly to the trader’s facility wallet. At the same time that the asset is transferred, payment is executed from the trader’s facility wallet to the grower’s wallet. This gives Rabobank a clear view of the digital assets that it owns.

The farmer receives digital money which can be easily converted to fiat money.

A = Rabobank issues Australian dollar (AUD) token to the agent’s Rabobank Facility under master agreement.

B = Grain delivered and registered at warehouse.

C = Digital title to the grain is issued to grower by site operator of warehouse, in this case the trader acting as site operator.

D1 = Grower allocates the grain to purchase contract with trader as agent for Rabobank.

D2 = Smart contracts execute payment from Rabobank to the grower in AUD token, ownership of digital title grain token transfers from the grower to Rabobank.

E1 = Trader requests to purchase the grain, which is the subject of the sale contract.

E2 = Smart contracts execute payment from trader to Rabobank and beneficiaries in AUD token. Digital title transfers from Rabobank to trader.

l Trader is acting as the site operator and agent for Rabobank in the purchase contract and the final buyer of the grain.

When the trader is ready to sell the grain, the digital asset will be moved from the trader’s facility wallet to the trader’s digital wallet. At the same time, the trader makes a payment back to the facility wallet. Through this financing arrangement, documentation requirements are lessened, streamlining the process and shortening the processing time.

What are key considerations to enable full utilization of blockchain technology in the agriculture sector?

A challenge with using digital systems is matching the physical with the digital. The business process must ensure that what is specified in the system accurately represents what can be found in the warehouse.  

Available technology, such as weighbridge integration and quality testing instruments, can be used to reconcile the two. In case the technological infrastructure is not yet in place, a declaration-based process involving manual human data input can be followed. Note however that human interaction may increase the risk of error and compromise the integrity of data. 

In the same manner, for payments, the digital money must be backed by fiat money to achieve real-time payments. In the CBH pilot, payments on the blockchain layer were parallel processed using traditional banking methods. For the Rabobank financing product, a Rabobank-backed digital dollar was used.

Bridie Ohlsson manages blockchain pilots to develop solutions to challenges in global supply chains. Before joining AgriDigital, she worked on research, policy analysis, and compliance in the legal and not-for-profit sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts in French and Politics from the University of Sydney and Sciences Po, Paris. She is the founder of sustainable food production startup, Crecos. (Source: AgriDigital)

China has developed and completed the manned cabin for a new deep-sea manned submersible capable of carrying three people deeper than 10,000 meters, according to media reports.

Researchers from the Institute of Metal Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said Monday that the manned cabin has the largest space and carrying capacity among myriameter (10,000 meters) manned cabins worldwide.

The manned cabin, made of titanium alloy, is the core component of the deep-sea manned submersible, and has recently passed through hydrostatic pressure-test assessments and obtained approvals for the vehicle’s integration unit.

There are three observation windows on the spherical shell of the manned cabin – at the front is a main driving window, while the remaining two are for general viewing at both sides.

After the crew enters the cabin from the top, the hatch cover will be closed, making the spherical shell a completely enclosed environment.

The shell is both the cab and only activity space for crew members. With a diameter of less than two meters, the crew can only squat or sit in the cabin.

On completion the submersible will able to plunge deep down into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest trench in the world, and allow China to carry out scientific research in the deepest sea areas.

This, however, is not the first time that China’s self-developed submersibles have dived into the deepest trench.

In June 2012, China’s first deep-sea manned submersible, Jiaolong, named after a mythical sea dragon, set a world diving record for submersibles of its kind by making it 7,062 meters deep in the Mariana Trench.

This made China the fifth country, after the United States, Russia, France and Japan, to have the ability to send humans deep into the sea. This also meant the country is capable of exploring more than 99.8 percent of the ocean floor.

But China set further goals, dedicating itself to developing a new manned submersible that can reach a depth of 11,000 meters.

Lei Jiafeng, deputy designer of the submersible, said they took three years to complete the construction of the cabin.

“At the beginning of the project, there was not such a material plan globally to build a cabin that can dive into 10,000-meter depths of water,” he said.

Despite challenges, they successfully developed the ideal material, titanium alloy, for building the submarine.

“Titanium alloy, also known as marine metal, is resistant to seawater corrosion. It does not report signs of corrosion when it is put in seawater, even after decades,” said Lei.

Further work, including the installation and integration of devices in and outside the cabin, is still underway, according to Liu Shuai, general constructor of the submersible.

It is estimated that it will take more than 10 hours for the submersibles to travel to and from the 10,000-meter deep sea and carry out scientific research. All crews will face mental and physical challenges in the voyages undertaken in the claustrophobic environment.

The submersible was built after a second-generation Rainbow Fish reached a depth of more than 10,900 meters last year. Most of its key components were domestically made. (Chinadaily.com.cn)

Shareholders approved Virgin Galactic’s merger with the Social Capital Hedosophia venture capital fund on Wednesday, according to SEC filings, setting up the space tourism company to list directly on the New York Stock Exchange.

Virgin Galactic will become the first human spaceflight company to trade on public markets.

The merger was announced in July, with Social Capital Hedosophia — run by noted tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya — taking a 49 percent stake in Virgin Galactic. The merger gives the combined company a valuation of $1.5 billion, with Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson retaining a 51 percent controlling stake.

Palihapitiya’s VC firm already trades on the NYSE, under the ticker IPOA. The filing said the company expects the merger with Virgin to close on Friday. After the closing, the shares will trade under the ticker symbol SPCE at the NYSE.

Branson hinted to CNBC in an interview last week that Virgin Galactic’s public debut was coming soon. “It’s not long now,” he said during the company’s unveiling of its spacewear collection with Under Armour.

Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft can carry six passengers and two pilots to the edge of space. The spaceship is dropped from a jet-powered aircraft and fires a rocket motor, reaching over three times the speed of sound as it climbs though Earth’s atmosphere.

The spacecraft and its passengers then float weightless for a few minutes, before gliding back down to land on Earth much like a traditional aircraft.

A ticket for a Virgin Galactic flight goes for about $250,000 per person, and the company has a list of 603 customers waiting to fly. (CNBC)

Bangladesh’s first aviation university is set to begin academic activities from January next year.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU) is expected to begin admissions from November, pending final approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC).

UGC sources said the letter of final approval is likely to be sent within the next week.

The university will temporarily hold classes at the four-storey old Public Service Commission (PSC) Building in Tejgaon, and has asked for permission from Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) to use another nearby building as well. 

Meanwhile, the permanent main campus of the university is being set up in Lalmonirhat, by transforming the Lalmonirhat Airport that has been abandoned since World War II. A branch of the university will also be set up at Ashkona, close to   Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

BSMRAAU is being set up with the aim of promoting aeronautical and aerospace studies in the country, and to ensure the training of pilots, aviation scientists, engineers and other skilled manpower in the field of aviation. Students will be able to study aircraft construction, repair, satellite construction and launching, as well as conduct aerospace research.

“The country needs skilled manpower and human resources in the aviation sector, in order to reap the benefit of the national demographic dividend. This institution [BSMRAAU] will help create aeronautical and aerospace professionals locally,” BSMRAAU Vice Chancellor Air Vice-Marshal AHM Fazlul Haque told Dhaka Tribune.

“This institution is a step towards becoming a developing nation. It will be a major economic boost, and will help create skilled manpower with higher income potential,” he added.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimates that growth in global air passenger travel will double by 2030, and the Asia Pacific region is expected to become the largest air transport market in the world within the next 10 years, the VC further said.

“This means there will be ample opportunities in the aviation sector.” 

The curriculum at a glance

BSMRAAU’s initial target is to admit 100-150 students under three bachelors and two masters programs.

The bachelors programs are in aviation operation management, aviation safety and security, and aircraft maintenance engineering (aerospace), while the masters programs are in aviation operation management, and aeronautical engineering.

Furthermore, flight maintenance and management programs will be introduced next year.

UGC Director of Public Universities Md Kamal Hossain said they have already received a letter from the university requesting permission to begin admissions and academic activities, and the permission will be finalized very soon.

“We need to follow some procedures before granting the permission. The letter granting permission is likely to be sent within the first week of November,” he added.

VC AHM Fazlul Haque said BSMRAAU will be an international standard institution, and the curriculum is being prepared with assistance from a number of different countries.

The Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB) and Bangladesh Air Force will be the driving forces behind the university, while Biman Bangladesh Airlines and other local and international industry stakeholders will work together to run BSMRAAU.

The university plans to run 37 departments under seven faculties and four institutes.

(Dhaka Tribune)

A group of volunteers from HSBC travelled to Tissamahamaharama to help local school students and their parents learn how to gain necessary skills to thrive in the modern workplace.The 15-strong group from Colombo, spent a day at the Mahasenpura School and two rural schools Osuwinna and Ranminithenna, as part of a horizon expanding exercise.

During the morning session, individual team members related their personal life stories to show that students from even the remotest background that they too could aspire to similar jobs if they worked hard to gain the right educational qualifications.

The team explained as to why IT and English are particularly important for office-based jobs. As such, they encouraged the parents of Grade Nine students to add the two subjects to their children’s O-level list.

They also highlighted why gaining real world experience through job placements is as important as educational certificates in the eyes of many future employers.

In the afternoon, the HSBC team handed out prizes to students from the Hambantota area who had participated in a zonal-wide Power Point competition organized by the School’s Relief Initiative (SRI), a local NGO. The Bank had been working with SRI since 2009 to help students enhance their employability and as the sole sponsor of the NGO’s Regional Training Centre, located in the grounds of Mahasenpura School.

Amana Takaful (ATL) continued its winning streak by bagging two Gold Awards at the recently-concluded Sri Lanka Islamic Banking and Finance Industry Awards (SLIBFI). ATL was awarded the prestigious Gold Award in the ‘Takaful Entity of the Year’ category and also bagged Gold in the ‘Product of the Year’ category, for its groundbreaking trade protection plan ‘All-In-One.’

The annual awards recognize institutions that had made significant contributions to the Islamic Banking Finance Industry during the year 2018. Over the years, ATL has been a consistent winner at the SLIBFI Awards, having been recognized with numerous products and social upliftment awards. ATL has taken home the “Takaful Entity of the Year” award on numerous occasions. The company also took home two golds in each of the past two years and has managed to take home multiple awards every year since 2012.

Held for the 8th consecutive year, the SLIBFI Awards are one of the most prestigious awards within the Islamic banking and finance sphere, providing an opportunity for all institutions in Sri Lanka, that offer Islamic finance to be recognized for their achievements. SLIBFI and their members comprise of banks, finance institutions, insurance providers, capital market funds and educational institutes. The award ceremony is organized by UTO EduConsult, in conjunction with KPMG.

Sharing his thoughts about the latest accolades, Fazal Ghaffoor, Chief Executive Officer of ATL, stated: “We at ATL Insurance, are proud to receive yet another two Gold Awards at Sri Lanka Islamic Banking and Finance Industry Awards (SLIBFI) held recently. We have made a habit of winning at the SLIBFI Awards over the years. This shows that ATL has been consistently able to deliver service excellence to our valued customers through our wide array of insurance solutions that caters to all segments of society in Sri Lanka.”

ATL continuously reaches out to customers from all segments of society and offers innovative and state-of-the-art insurance products that are convenient, affordable and reliable. As part of its commitment to remain ‘Open to all,’ ATL reaches out to all communities through a multi-ethnic team across its network.

With a passion to nurture and foster a healthy sustainable nation by assisting and empowering farmers to invest in farm fresh toxic-free food, Saaraketha Organics recently, clinched the overall Gold Award for the ‘Best Value Added Exporter,’ in addition to another Gold Award in the ‘Fresh Food Products’ sector at the 27th Annual NCE Export Awards 2019.

Organized by the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE), to recognize and reward the efforts of Sri Lankan exporters, this year’s event themed ‘strengthening good governance for sustainability,’ stressed on the need for ethical business practices.

Its products and solutions continue to contribute towards an enriched nation and very recently, ventured into the organic prepared-food segment with a motive to instill healthy food habits among its discerning customers. The company has partnered with the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and UN’s World Food Program to introduce a range of snacks, juices and portion controlled meals, all of which are in compliance with canteen guidelines set by experts.

‘Over the past seven years, we have empowered farmers to improve their lives by bringing them together with people that invest in real, farm fresh food without toxins. With a little additional support from us, farmers could take control of their destiny, working with passionate and committed people to make a brighter future. Our awards in truth are a tribute to our farmers,’ said Prasanna Hettiarachchi, Founder and Managing Director of Saaraketha Organics.

Since its inception, Saaraketha Organics has embarked on an environmentally sustainable philosophy with a growing network of nature-friendly partners and stakeholders. It also switched from conventional MAP packaging material to a hundred percent compostable sugarcane bagasse tray packaging.

Saaraketha Organics constantly introduce a range of value-added products, while its latest additions include the heirloom rice flours, Kaluheenati, Suwandel, pachchaperumal and Kuruluthuda and heirloom rice flour bread, Kaluheenati and Suwandel, the first ever products in Sri Lanka to be 100 percent gluten and wheat free.

The company has embarked on developing their Bees Honey infusion range with a great blend of herbs, cinnamon, gotukola, ginger, garlic, amla and more.

It has also added a range of coconut value added products such as coconut sugar, coconut flour, desiccated coconut, coconut cream and coconut milk, to its ever expanding portfolio.

Recently, it introduced multi-hued dehydrated fruits and a range of fruit powder that are great as snacks, dessert toppings, accompaniments, juices and smoothies.

Saaraketha Organics, constantly monitors and explores new avenues with a driven enthusiasm to make healthy living an adventure, while giving mundane foods an interesting twist and spark.