business Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Association for Non State Higher Education Institutions (SLANSHEI) issuing a statement, congratulates the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on his appointment as the 7th Executive President of Sri Lanka.

“We take this opportunity to congratulate you and your desire and drive to promote higher education opportunities for all youth in this country.”

“SLANSHEI, as the representative body of recognized Non-State Higher education institutions in Sri Lanka,  Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka-based Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC’s National Long-Term Rating at ‘AA-(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook. Fitch has also affirmed the National Long-Term Rating on Lion’s outstanding senior unsecured debentures at ‘AA-(lka)’.

Lion’s National Long-Term Rating reflects its leading market position in the domestic beer industry, which is protected by high entry barriers from the regulatory ban on media advertising, Lion’s well-established brand and extensive retail coverage.

However, Lion’s profitability can be affected in the short-term by frequent hikes in excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, although the company has been able to pass on these tax increases to customers with demand normalising within a lag of 12 to 18 months.

sincerely hopes that the President will drive and direct the development of the Non-State higher education sector education opportunities created for the betterment of our youth in the country. We are convinced that the Non-state sector will be able to support and facilitate the vision and mission encapsulated in the President’s manifesto of providing Higher Education opportunities for all.”

Bourse witnessed a bullish sentiment for the third consecutive trading session primarily on the price appreciations made in JKH and CTC.

The benchmark index, ASPI, witnessed a volatile movement during the day, reaching an intraday high of 6,236 within the first hour of trading, followed by sideways movements, ultimately closing at 6,201 gaining 82 points, the highest closing value since 26th June 2018. The parcel trades made pertaining to 8 counters contributed. During the day, the secondary market yield curve remained almost unchanged although mid tenor maturities witnessed a slight upward shift with overall market witnessing moderate volumes. (First Capital)

Fitch Ratings has revised the expected National Long-Term Rating on HNB Finance Limited’s (HFL, A(lka)/Stable) proposed Sri Lanka rupee-denominated subordinated unsecured debentures to ‘BBB+(EXP)(lka)’ from ‘A-(EXP)(lka)’ following the publication of Exposure Draft: Non-Bank Financial Institutions Rating Criteria and Exposure Draft: Bank Rating Criteria on 15 November 2019, under which the debentures are rated.

The proposed debentures total LKR2 billion with a maturity of five years and carry fixed coupons. The company plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its Tier II capital base and support loan-book expansion. The proposed debentures are to be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

The final rating is subject to the receipt of final documentation conforming to information already received.

SLIM Brand Excellence 2019 awards ceremony is due to take place amidst glitz and glamour at the Shangri La in Colombo today. The event will be attended by crème de la crème of the Sri Lankan marketing industry.

Business and Marketing personality, Amal Cabraal, will grace the occasion as Chief Guest. Cabraal is also the former Chairman of Unilever Sri Lanka and a past President of the Chartered Institute of Marketing - Sri Lanka Region. The guest of honor will be SLIM Past President, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi. Former cricketer Aravinda De Silva will be a special guest.

The award ceremony is the pinnacle event of the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards campaign. It is where the worthiest brands, brand custodians and managers receive due recognition.

Judged by a panel of eminent professionals led by Tilan Wijesekera, the Deputy General Manager of Retail Banking at Seylan Bank PLC, the applicants of SLIM Brand Excellence go through a comprehensive and thorough process until only the best of the best are deemed worthy to walk away with the Award.

This year saw the introduction of a new award category – the SME Export Brand of the Year, as a means of further boosting the standard of that particular segment of the industry. The highest number of 101 corporate entrees was recorded this year. This reflects the prestige of the awards amongst the marketing fraternity.

Smart City has created a significant impact, after revealed its plans to introduce digital-enabled cities to the country.

As we are aware that 5G and other emerging technologies will be implemented soon in our country and therefore it is very important for the Government to provide certain tax relieves on the same. As a result of these tax relieves, consumers would be benefited considerably. Further, reducing the telecommunications levy by 25 percent will have more benefits to the end customers too.” Sanjee Balasuriya MD & CEO eCybersec Pvt Ltd said.

“An important move is that IT and enabling services to be made tax free. Services like Managed Cyber security services will have more advanced sophisticated solutions which can be offered to sectors like financial. Furthermore, this make more resilience, so that Sri Lanka will have to emphasize the need to build and develop digital networks that are environmentally friendly,” Balasuriya added. (IH)

NDB Wealth Management, the largest Asset Management firm in Sri Lanka with over Rs 100 billion in total Assets Under Management (AUM), Rs 74+ billion in private portfolio and Rs 31+ billion in Unit Trusts or Mutual Funds, is the leading Unit Trust Management firm in the country.

Beginning its momentous journey, 26 plus years ago, NDB Wealth Management has established itself as one of the most trusted Asset Management firms in Sri Lanka by acquiring and servicing over 12,000 clients.

NDB Wealth endeavours to understand client needs by analysing the core purpose for which a client plans on saving or investing and will advise the client on the best savings or investment solution taking into consideration the potential risks associated with the investment.

Prabodha Samarasekera, CEO of NDB Wealth Management commented, “We believe in, infusing professional money management skills when managing client funds thus offering financial freedom to our clients. Our in-depth knowledge of local and foreign capital markets and detailed analysis of the macro economic variables and detailed analysis of various industry sectors and companies, helps us minimise risks for our client investments while maximising their returns.”

NDB Wealth currently holds the largest and pioneering money market fund in Sri Lanka as at 21st November, which is very popular with clients due to its attractive yields (10.05% current yield) and the added flexibility it offers. Those who save with NDB Wealth Money Plus fund can deposit or withdraw funds anytime without a penalty and the income is tax free in the hands of the individuals.

Offering a service that is unparalleled with another organisation of its kind, NDB Wealth assigns a Relationship Manager to every client, thus granting them an exclusive service.

Their Relationship Managers are backed by a strong investment team who are continuously monitoring investment conditions in the market and particularly play a very crucial role in managing such conditions that may impact clients negatively. Relationship Managers are readily available to provide investment advice or any service related information and are dedicated at protecting ‘best interests’ while ensuring a successful financial future for all clients.

The Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) Chairman Eng. Ruwan Edirisinghe, cheered the sharp cuts in tax rates for the construction industry this week.

According to the Finance Ministry, it had been decided to reduce income tax on the construction industry from 28% 14%, while the VAT on condominium properties had also been abolished.

Moreover, the tax free threshold for VAT has also been raised to Rs. 25 million turnover per month from the existing Rs.1 million.

Noting that local construction companies as well as the overall industry are facing difficult times over the last couple years which had led to constrained growth as well as pressures on profitability, Edirisinghe said that the recent tax cuts would help revive the industry activities as well as overall economic activities in the country to a great extent.

He further said that the industry is plagued mainly due to the sluggish economic growth, unfair competition by foreign contractors, high cost of construction material and construction costs and many other factors.

Edirisinghe also hailed the government’s decision to reduce the income tax on the construction industry from 28% to its previous level of 14%.

“Moreover, the reduction of the current VAT rate of 15 percent to 8 percent would particularly benefit the small and medium scale companies in a big way. Nevertheless, in order to garner full benefits, the government would have to maintain these tax deductions for at least another 15 years,” Edirisinghe said.

President of Sri Lanka Chamber of Small and Medium Industries Rohan De Silva, says a simple VAT of 8%, replacing the current 15% +2% NBT is welcomed. In addtion the 5 year moratarium on taxes payable by agriculturists and small and medium enterprises wil have a major positve impact for the Agro sector.

Increase on imports tariff on goods competing with locally produced substitutes will help more local manufacturing.

Zero VAT scheme for businesses providing services to Tourist Hotels if more than 60 % of requirements are purchased locally will help the cortage industry to grow in a big way.

A clear and simplified Tax System too would bring in more tax payers.

PAYE Tax to be scrapped and personal income to be subject to a minimum of 15 % too is hihgly commended. SLCSMI says that these proposals will help in easing the burdens faced by the mixcro, small and medium industry sector which contributes 70 % of thr GDP and it’s employees constituting over 40% of the national worlforce.

Meanwhile Eng. Nissanka N. Wijeratne, Secretary General /CEO, Chamber of Construction Industry, Sri Lanka issuing a statement said the relief package was a real boost to the construction industry.

“The relief package announced by the Government will be a real boost to the construction industry which is in a grave crisis. The situation faced by this industry is so grave that if not for this relief package several construction companies could have ended up in liquidation within the next 3 months.

Reduction of income tax on construction companies from 28% to 14% was a request of this Chamber even before the election. This reduction in income tax coupled with allowing duty free import of construction machinery and advanced technology will encourage construction companies to make necessary investments on more efficient and improved construction practices. This couldreduce the demand for skilled workers which is seriously in short supply that has required companies to bring foreign workers who have to be paid in Dollars. Another positive measure is the reduction of VAT to 8% and removal of NBT. Even before NBT was not applicable to construction contractors but on materials used NBT had to be paid. This will help to reduce the construction cost which is second only to Singapore in South Asia now.

Increasing VAT applicability to those with annual incomes more than Rs 300 million from earlier Rs. 12 million will be beneficial to the cash flows of SME contractors. However, they will have to incur VAT on materials purchased as the manufacturers will be liable to VAT which will be passed on to the customers. Earlier this could be claimed as input VAT.

Removing NBT, ESC & Debit tax on banking services is another welcome move. The real benefit to the industry will be if this could reduce the lending rates by the Banks. Due to delays in payments and low construction volume many construction companies are compelled to default on loan repayments to Banks. Government should seriously consider in addition to reducing lending rates to a single digit, also to instruct banks to reschedule the loan repayments giving a grace period.

Abolishing VAT on apartments will spur the apartment development which is a necessity in Colombo and other major towns. At present a drift of population from Colombo to suburbs is noticed which will cause further traffic congestion. To peg this tendency it is important to make the apartments affordable to middle and low income groups. For this in addition to removing VAT, loans at reduced interest rates and repayable over a longer duration of about 40 years should be considered to middle & low income groups.

According to the press release all foreign exchange revenue will be free from income taxes. If this is applicable to earnings from export of construction services, then it will greatly encourage our construction companies to venture out to export construction services.Earlier companies with more than 80% export earnings from construction services were taxed at 14% and those with lesser percentage at 28%.

The Chamber of Construction Industry firmly believe that there are enough possibilities for our construction industry to be a foreign exchange earner given the right incentives and facilities. In summary the Chamber of Construction Industry lauds the measures announced but wish to urge further help to resurrect the industry.”

British Parliament took time to acknowledge and honour the work of the Hettigoda family and their services to Sri Lankan Ayurveda recently.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Indian Traditional Sciences of the House of Commons welcomed Asoka Hettigoda to address dignitaries and guests of the committee regarding Sri Lankan Ayurveda and work that his family has been devoted to for over 200 years.

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to UK, along with representatives from the Indian High Commission, were guests of the group chaired by Baroness Verma alongside Baroness Uddin and other parliamentarians.

Asoka received an award of recognition “Ayurveda Ratna” for the exceptional service of the highest order for the furtherance of Ayurveda. In addition, and on behalf of his family, Asoka also received an award honour of his ancestral lineage over six generations of Ayurvedic Physicians in Sri Lanka.

The event was covered by journalists representing Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Australia, Japan, China, and Middle East. We hope to conduct this symposium annually and will certainly be a boost to Sri Lankan Ayurveda to promote its efficacy throughout the world.

SriLankan Airlines presents the ‘Black Friday’ exclusive one day sale on Friday November 29, with amazing discounts on air tickets booked through its website www.srilankan.com to 37 exciting cities throughout its route network.

Customers can choose to travel at any time between February 1 2020 to December 31 2020.

Thirty seven destinations over the world are up for grabs for anyone who wishes to make use of this offer.More details on this offer can be found on www.srilankan.com/en_uk/special-offers/promotion/black-friday-srilankan-...

The Black Friday sale provides travelers with the option of making journeys to a wide range of destinations to which SriLankan Airlines flies. In the Far East, SriLankan offers a choice of the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Canton; Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta while in the Middle East, SriLankan flies to Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the Saudi cities of Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh. Farther afield, SriLankan serves London, Melbourne and the Seychelles as well.

This offer is also available for a vast number of cities in Asia – its hub Colombo; Male and Gan Island in the Maldives; the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore; Dhaka in Bangladesh; and Chennai, Trivandrum, Trichy, Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Kochi, Madurai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Coimbatore in India where SriLankan is the largest foreign carrier.

Srilankan.com the airline’s official website offers a number of benefits to those who book their tickets online such as the ability to cancel their tickets within 24 hours of their booking without any penalties. With 24 hour assistance and the ability to book flights and make changes to bookings anytime, anywhere with any device, Srilankan.com offers a variety of flexibilities including flexible cancellation and date change plans to its customers who book their tickets online.

SriLankan has been consistently winning prestigious accolades, including ‘Leading International Airline’ in South Asia and ‘Leading Airline Passenger Class – Business’ award, both for the second consecutive year at the South Asian Travel Awards 2019 (SATA); ‘Best Marketing Innovation’ award from APEX; two awards at the World Travel Awards 2018 Asia and Australasia; ‘Best Full Service Airline in Central & South Asia’ at the Future Travel Experience Asia Awards; and ‘Innovation in Commercial Airline Cabins’ at the In-flight Asia Pacific Awards.

A member of the prestigious oneworld global airline partnership, SriLankan Airlines also connects travelers to over 1,000 cities in 160 countries through its oneworld partner airlines.

The Sri Lankan delegation secured second place overall at the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) awards 2019 held from 19th to 22ndNovember, 2019 at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

APICTA is an alliance of national ICT organizations to build and enhance a mutually cooperative network to promote ICT across the Asia Pacific region with 16 member economies. BCS Sri Lanka Section and FITIS (Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka) Software Chapter jointly represent Sri Lanka at APICTA since 2003.

This year, a total of 36 products were selected to represent Sri Lanka. The entries comprised of 30 products nominated by the BCS Sri Lanka Section in Commercial and Tertiary Student categories and 06 products nominated by the FITIS Software Chapter in Secondary Student Category. The nominees from BCS Sri Lanka section were selected out of the winners of the NBQSA National ICT Awards 2019.

This BCS Sri Lanka Section initiated project has been at the forefront of showcasing outstanding ICT products from the local ICT industry to the international level since 1998. The secondary student nominees were selected from the Young Computer Scientist Competition conducted by FITIS.

Sri Lanka won a Total of 11 Medals – 2 Golds and 5 Merits from the Commercial Categories, 1 Gold and 2 Merits from Tertiary Student Category and 1 Merit from Secondary Student Category.

The Gold awards were won by Arimac Lanka (Pvt) Ltd , Epic Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Arimac Lanka (Pvt) Ltd won a further three merits, along with merits from Omibio Pvt Ltd, ITX 360, Informatics Institute of Technology, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology and Rahula College, Anuradhapura.

The event also saw APICTA honour one of it’s founders and former Chairpersons, Dr. Dileepa De Silva from Sri Lanka.

Recognising companies for sustainability and corporate excellence, the Best Corporate Sustainability (BCCS) Award 2019 will be held this evening (28) at the Cinnamon Grand, Colombo.

Hosted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for the sixteenth consecutive year, the objective of the awards is to recognise the importance of corporate sustainability in Sri Lanka, and encourage businesses to adopt best practices when creating goods and providing services. The Awards have evolved and improved over the last 15 years, with a dedicated panel of evaluators providing feedback to the Ceylon Chamber, and the applicants, on how to make better progress when moving forward. With this in mind, this Award this year includes a new Award which recognises women’s empowerment, under the Best Projects category.

These have encouraged contestants to assess the standing of their company in terms of sustainability when compared to their peers in the industry, and adopt best sustainability practices into their core businesses.

The panel of judges features International Finance Corporation Country (IFC) Manager, Amena Arif; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Resident Representative, Faiza Effendi, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Director Economic Growth Office, Brian Wittnebell.

UNIDO, with the public sector, has granted hi-tech machinery for the production of bamboo boards from within Sri Lanka for the first time. The first such hi-tech machinery series used for the production of bamboo boards to be set up in Sri Lanka, it greatly enhances creation of glue laminated timber boards based on local bamboo supplies.

The latest breakthrough is a part of ‘Bamboo Processing Sri Lanka - a project launched by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Industries & Supply Management of Sri Lanka. The objective of this project is to develop a bamboo supply chain and product industry in Sri Lanka. Bamboo is an exceptionally fast growing and resilient plant. Producing laminated boards from bamboo will reduce logging pressure on existing forests and therefore protect the environment.

Until now, glue laminated bamboo boards had to be imported to Sri Lanka from neighbouring countries. This machinery greatly enhances creation of glue laminated timber boards from bamboo within Sri Lanka for the first time, which can then be further processed with standard wood processing machinery into the full range of timber products, without depending on local timber supplies. By transferring advanced technology to the private sector in this way, UNIDO is improving the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises and greening of supply chains.

UNIDO, in collaboration with the public sector, has granted the line of equipment for the production of bamboo laminated boards to CEO of the Dathri/Dowell Creations Display Systems, Tyrone Fernando on November 25. The machinery is to be used in his bamboo processing facility in Negombo.

Transferring this equipment is a step towards developing a national bamboo supply chain and product industry, and will make investments towards commercial bamboo plantations on degraded land economically attractive.

A second bamboo production machinery line will be imported and set up at the Industrial Development Board of Ceylon (IDB) in Moratuwa early next year, to support local capacities for technology promotion and transfer of necessary soft skills. IDB is to establish a national bamboo training center and will promote the utilization of bamboo as a substitute for wood while tackling deforestation and creating innovative and sustainable products.

At a press briefing held yesterday on the opening of an innovation centre, foreign representatives with decades of expertise in the construction sector questioned the widespread usage of Ordinary Portland Cement in Sri Lanka.

They said that given the increasing height of buildings and the environmental damage caused by the product it was likely that widespread usage would decrease.

Executive Vice President Sale Jan Kunigk said, “I know what I am doing. In Singapore Ordinary Portland Cement is forbidden for a reason. The reason ordinary is there for a reason, In Australia it is not used anymore. Even India and Bangladesh don’t use it anymore. We have spoken to many institutions and we hear the need for local research.”

He added “We are committed in very tough economic times. We are serious and long term thinkers. We want to have the latest technologies like in the top countries of the world.

Head of Product and Solutions INSEE Cement Dr Moussa Baalbaki said, “Ordinary Portland Cement is being used for over a hundred years. In Sri Lanka more than 80 percent of the industry is still using it which has a very high CO2 footprint.

He added, “Every kilogram of cement I put in my concrete is a kilogram of CO2. We need to develop a solution. We have to walk the talk. Our share of green product is 80 percent. The number of CO2 we are saving for instance with Santa is 40 million tons of CO2. That is 40,000 cars in Sri Lanka covering 20,000 kilometers.

Baalbaki said, “We would like to change from a linear thinking to a more circular thinking. We need 15 million cubic meter of concrete every year in Sri Lanka. For the planet this is about 7 billion cubic meters. “He likened this to building New York City every 3 weeks.

Concrete accounts for about 7 percent of CO2 emissions. Innovation to Industry Collaboration Space was opened in Peliyagoda on October 31 with over 300 stakeholders from the construction industry. The space was likened to a flagship store for cement by Kunigk Competitors and all types of contractors are welcome to use the centre. The company has a public lecture organized every month on construction.

On the new centre Kunigk said, “We brought this into Sri Lanka even though economic times are tough. We continue to invest and educate people. We can really come to the level of Singapore or Australia. There is no reason for Sri Lanka to lag behind the innovation curve.

Retail trade contributes to one third of Sri Lanka’s national GDP, while accounting for 14% of the labour market.

Retail attracts over 250 million footfalls in Sri Lanka, which exemplifies a potential for physical retailing, while the number of clicks for online-retail is estimated to be 50,000 per day.

“This translates to a approximately 0.5% of retail sales, taking retail to a professional sphere and transforming the industry into one which could provide careers and personal growth in Sri Lanka.

As an industry, retail is capable of building value chains that bridges social inequalities, whilst creating access to quality living across Sri Lanka through the standards set,” Sidath Kodikara, President, Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association, said at the inauguration of the third edition of Sri Lanka Retail forum 2019, held in Colombo yesterday.

He said that the retail industry enables tourism spending, while it is also a catalyst for regional growth. The benchmark of quality and transparency set by the sector also permits for consumer protection and streamlining of State revenue potential.

“Furthermore, the establishment of internal governance standards for industry allows systems, processes and best practices to be voluntarily absorbed and set. Increasingly, the significance of retail as an industry, as a value creator for the economy as an employer and as a catalyst of growth, highlights the need to recognize retail as an industry. Therefore, we play a critical role in making and implementing policies that has an impact this industry,” he said. Murali Prakash, Chairman, Sri Lanka Retail Forum speaking at the event, said global annual spending on AI by retailers is expected to reach US$ 7.5 billion by the year 2022, while AI is expected to replace at least 7% of global jobs by the year 2025.

He said that as per a research done by IBM across 83 countries, 85% of retailers have said that either they are involved or would be involved in AI in their retail activities.

“Presently, this along with crypto currencies, I’m sure, it would take retail to a completely different dimension. While many of us are focused on AI, people such as Elon Musk, are working on measures to counter the power of AI by embedding more power to the human brain.

“Today B to C is not about business to consumers, but brain to computers. Accordingly, humans would always be better than AI,” he added.

The attention of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has been drawn to certain information published in newspapers and news websites on 26th November 2019 regarding the regulatory actions taken by the CBSL on The Finance Company PLC (TFC) and it wishes to clarify the following.

The CBSL issued a notice of cancellation of the licence granted to TFC to carry on finance business under the Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011 (FBA) on 23rd October 2019. The CBSL also informed that in terms of the provisions of the FBA, the company has the right to submit an acceptable proposal for investment in TFC along with proof of funds for capital infusion and a Business Restructuring Plan for the consideration of the CBSL within 30 days from the date of issuance of such notice.

Even though aforementioned news articles mentioned that TFC informed the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) that it has been approached by three interested parties to consider investing in the company, no such proposals have been submitted to the CBSL, so far.

Therefore, CBSL wishes to clarify that the information published in the articles in newspapers and news websites regarding any potential investments is not true and correct.

In view of the above, the CBSL informs that in terms of the FBA, the Monetary Board shall take a decision on the notice of cancellation issued to TFC after the expiration of 60 days from the date of notice of cancellation.

Minister of Roads & Highways, Ports and Shipping Johnston Fernando ordered relevant officials of the port ministry to submit a detailed report on decisions that should be made to expedite the next phase of the Eastern Container Terminal development project during a meeting held yesterday at the ministry auditorium to examine the progress of the ECT construction project.

The meeting was organized to look into the proposals made by almost all the trade unions of the port which had been forcing rulers to initiate operations at ECT with direct intervention of Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA).

Addressing the meeting Minister stressed the importance of completing ECT terminal soon as it is a rigid factor which can yield comprehensive hike in container throughputs. The Government ruled before 2015 had taken all the necessary steps to initiate operations at the ECT terminal. When the government was changed the decision taking procedure got stuck.

Minister who further expressed views at this occasion pointed out that the Colombo Port has been failing to integrate further container throughputs due to absence of ECT.

Accordingly following the facts presented by ministry officials’ Minister noted all the necessary steps will be taken to fast track the ECT development project.

Secretary of the Ministry Sirimewan Ranasinghe and SLPA officials took part in that meeting.

Sri Lanka exporters would be offered a special simplified tax system to encourage exports, Minister of Industrial Exports and Investment Promotions, Tourism and Aviation, Prasanna Ranatunga said.

He said under the new simplified tax system, more the entrepreneur exports the tax component would come down. “This is being done not only to increase exports but to rope in new exporters. “Sri Lanka’s export basket is still small and we expect these concessions to help Lanka’s export basket.”

The Minister said that the investment future promotion missions would be aligned with tourism promotions firstly cutting costs and secondly getting a bigger international audience. “Both tourism and investment promotions will aggressively promote the “Sri Lanka’ brand image.”

He said that Sri Lankan foreign missions overseas too would be given targets and their assistances too would be sought for both investment and tourism promotions.

The Minister said both tourism and FDI suffered due to the Ester Sunday attacks which the previous government could have easily avoided. “Though there were many promises that were made to offer relief packages and debt moratoriums these practically did not take off.

“We will have a mechanism to revisit these applications and offer them financial assistance on a case by case by basis.” Asked about the ongoing visa free facility offered to 47 nations, the Ministry said that this is depriving the government coffers huge amount of money. “However this scheme too is a Tourism promotion and we have no immediate plans to scrap it.”

“I also feel that there was no clear and focused global destination marketing campaign by Sri Lanka Tourism especially after Easter Sunday blasts.”

“I will sit with the private sector and Tourism Board officials and come out with a new professional destination marketing campaign giving special focus to China, Indian and Europe which sends the largest number of tourists to Sri Lanka.”

He said that investors have lost faith in this Ministry since there were several ‘bogus’ investors like Volkswagen, oil refineries that were announced only to gain publicity by the previous government. “We will not repeat this,” he added.

The Minister said that though the North did not vote in their full for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa the government would not cold shoulder the developments in the area.

“The previous government closed Sri Lanka’s second intentional airport Mattala using it to store paddy. We will not close Jaffna airport and use it to store chilies or red inions but will further develop it.”

Even the Achchuveli Industrial Zone along with the Kankesanthurai Harbour would be developed and we will also go ahead with making Batticaloa and international airport.

BOI in debt for over Rs. 100 mn to contractors

The Board of Investment (BOI) has to pay over Rs. 100 million to contractors who had undertaken and executed many contracts for the BOI for the last four years, Minister Ranatunge said.

He said that that the new BOI management will pay this debt. “This clearly shows that the previous government was bankrupt and their financial management was very poor.”

Dr. Nirmal De Silva was recognized as the ‘Outstanding Corporate Trainer of the Year - Leadership & Service (South Asia)’ at the 3rd South Asian Business Excellence Awards 2019, held recently at the Hilton Hotel in Colombo. The event saw participants from all South Asian countries with awards presented in more than 16 broad categories. Dr. De Silva was recognized with this award for his passion, dedication and commitment towards training, mentoring and empowering people on a pro-bono basis, especially in rural parts of Sri Lanka.

The judging process for the awards consisted of 7 independent professionals from across the globe, who have direct industry experience, in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art standards, technology, academic research and market trends. Chairman of this year’s Judging Panel was Dr. Khyati Shetty Datta, the Head of School of Business & Humanities, Curtin University, Australia (Dubai Campus). The South Asian Business Excellence Awards were introduced to acknowledge and reward the exceptional work and results gained by the trailblazers of the corporate domain, in the face of an ever-increasing competitive market. Now in its 3rd edition, the 2019 Business Excellence Awards seek out the leading lights of the business industry, looking for those whose creativity, commitment, experience and strong leadership had helped them achieve success in an increasingly challenging corporate climate. The purpose of the awards is to recognize and honour the most respected companies and within a variety of industries, whilst rewarding the remarkable success in all its forms throughout the South Asian business community.

Dr. De Silva is a visionary business professional with close to two decades of ‘C Level’ experience in the Asia Pacific Region, where he has provided leadership to a number of Multi National and Fortune 500 companies.

A seminar on “Trade Information Portal (TIP) Sri Lanka” will be held on December 10, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at the National Chamber Auditorium, 450, D R Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo -10.

Premathilake Jayakody, Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce, Kanchanee Seneiratne, Consultant to TIP - International Trade Center (ITC) and Fowzer Mohammed Fiyaz, Consultant to TIP - International Trade Center (ITC) will be the Resource Persons and there will be a Panel discussion headed by Dr. Dayaratne Silva, National Project Coordinator of International Trade Center and Mr. Premathilake Jayakody, Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce and Hasitha Wijesundara, Senior Advisor – GIZ – SME Development Program.

The target audience will be all Exporters & Importers, Trading community and those who are involved in Export & import and this session will be ideal to get updated with all the details related to exports & imports regulations.

A brief description about the Trade Information Portal (TIP) Sri Lanka

In parallel to the National Single Window (NSW), it is expected to implement Trade Information Portal in Sri Lanka which would help generate trade and investment in the country. The trade portal is a web-based portal system, and it will make all cross-border trade regulatory information available at a stroke of a key.

The information includes all laws, prohibitions, restrictions, technical standards, the entire commodity classification and tariffs, all procedures for license and permit application and clearance, in plain language instructions. Information pertaining to government ministries & agencies, Customs, Regulatory authorities, Ports Authority and Standards Institution will be included in the TIP. Sri Lanka TIP is expected to be launched in early July.

As per the studies already conducted, Sri Lanka TIP will carry approximately 69 Acts and Circulars, 120Gazette Notices, 23 Guidelines, 176 Measures, 186 Procedures, 225 forms and 50 information pages. It is noteworthy, that Sri Lanka is having approximately 788 regulatory documents to be uploaded to TIP and it is only second to Vietnam TIP having 1665 such documents. Countries such as Bangladesh, Lao, Cambodia, Malawi, Lesotho, Botswana and Nepal also implemented their TIPs by now.

The World Bank Group would assist Sri Lanka both technically and financially in implementing the TIP and Government of Sri Lanka, having Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will take primary responsibility of sustainability of the TIP. Cross border trading community, specially private sector would be greatly benefitted by this Trade Information Portal and Department of Commerce has launched the TIP in second half of 2018.

CIPM Sri Lanka, the Nation’s leader in human resource management, conducted an innovative Supervisory Development Program (SDP) to inculcate key personal, supervisory and management traits which are essential to influence individual and corporate performance to achieve trailblazing results. The SDP, organized by the Consultancy Training & Development Division of CIPM Sri Lanka, was held on Monday October 23, at the Members’ Lounge, CIPM Head Office “HR House” in Colombo 5. The program was facilitated by Senaka Muhandiramge (FCIPM) and Sarath Jayasinghe (FCIPM), two of the most experienced resource personnel attached to the CIPM Consultancy Training & Development Division. Over 30 participants representing a cross section of supervisors and managers from both the private as well as public sector, participated in the full day program which is the 4th in CIPM’s SDP road map.

“We are delighted and encouraged with the response we have received for the previous three SDPs as well as the current program conducted by the same two experienced resource personnel attached to CIPM. CIPM would continue to conduct these types of innovative programs to provide a high level of value addition to the participants and their organizations, in order to take them to the next level,” said Sarath Jayasinghe, CIPM Chairman, Consultancy, Training & Development Subcommittee.

The program consisted of several modules related to personality building, development of leadership skills, team work, interpersonal skills, decision making and problem solving and motivation. All participants were of the level of supervisors and above and comprised of engineers, medical doctors and managers.

“The participants were extremely interactive and asked many questions in order to get the maximum knowledge out of the program. I too enjoyed speaking to the audience and responding to their questions, while providing additional information,” said Senaka Muhandiramge, Chief Facilitator of the program. The Chief Medical Officer of Asiri Hospitals (Matara Branch), a participant of the program, stated that the time and money invested in the program was well worth it. “The leadership and motivation skills that I have learnt today, are very useful in developing my personal attributes to be an effective leader. These skills would help motivate my staff in their day to day activities as well as in pursuing our medium to long term corporate objectives,” he added.

Another participant from Sri Lankan Airlines, stated that it was a good program with a high degree of relevance and practicality to ensure success in the work environment with much to take away.

“I learnt new things on how to develop myself as an effective and efficient leader. Also, the lecturers were experienced and interactive, which made the program interesting,” she added.

CIPM was founded in 1959 and incorporated by a Parliamentary Act No. 24 of 1976, amended by Act No. 31 of 2018. CIPM is affiliated to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Human Resource Management and to the World Federation of People Management Associations. CIPM, being a professional institute, is also a constituent member of the Organization of Professional Associations [OPA] Sri Lanka. Currently, CIPM comprises of over 1600 Professional Members who serve in both public and private organizations. It was elevated to Chartered Status by the Parliament of Sri Lanka on the September 28, 2018, by amending an original act of establishment.

Academics, policy makers, journalists and other stakeholders involved in cross-national issues related to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will gather in Kolkata, India this week.

The forum from November 28 to 29 will discuss and analyse the brand value of BIMSTEC and its opportunities for wider collaborations and focus on understanding the prevalent narratives within BIMSTEC. The event named ‘Kolkata Colloquium-Re-imagining BIMSTEC’ has been organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an independent think tank in India in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation, New Delhi.

“Strong BIMSTEC can be a good stepping stone for cooperation in broader Indo-Pacific construction,” says Dr. Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, Senior Fellow and Programme Coordinator, ORF, Kolkata.

She adds, “When the whole world is at a critical strategic crossroads the BIMSTEC in its own way has an opportunity to show some direction.”

The forum is divided into three main business sessions - Connecting nations within BIMSTEC; Climate Change, Disaster Management and BIMSTEC; and Enhancing trade and cultural interactions: Engaging members in BIMSTEC.

Meanwhile the 2nd meeting of the BIMSTEC Permanent Working Committee (BPWC) hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was held in Colombo in October. Sri Lanka is the current chair of BIMSTEC. The deliberations were attended by all BIMSTEC Member States namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the BIMSTEC Secretariat. The meeting was chaired by P.M. Amza Additional Secretary, Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha noted with concern that BIMSTEC which entered its third decade, is yet to reap benefits of the full socio-economic potential of the region – with intra- regional trade at only 3.7% and investment approximately 5%. He urged delegations to actively seek to understand what holds the organization back – imagination, resources or political will. As current BIMSTEC Chair, Sri Lanka saw as crucial re-energizing the organization, the early finalization of the BIMSTEC Charter and the rationalization of the sectors in order to maximize utilization of resources and to make BIMSTEC a result oriented organization delivering tangible benefits to all its people. Sri Lanka will forge closer cooperation, especially in the areas of counter terrorism and transnational crimes. He also emphasized the importance of BIMSTEC working closely with various international organizations such as the IORA, ASEAN and the ADB.

ACL Cables PLC announced that the company has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement to acquire 51% per cent of the issued shares of Cable Solutions (Private) limited for Rs 481 million. A stock exchange filing said that the overall transaction contemplated includes the purchase of up to 75% of the issued shares of Cable Solutions from its existing shareholders by the Company and a consortium of investors.

The purchase of the aforementioned 51% of Cable Solutions by the Company however is subject to several conditions identified in the said share sale and purchase agreement, being completed by the existing shareholders and Cable Solutions prior to the purchase by inter alia the company.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka-based Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) National Long-Term Rating at ‘AA+(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook.

The rating on CEB, which is 100% state-owned, is equalised with that of the Sri Lankan sovereign (B/Stable), reflecting strong linkages with the parent, in line with Fitch’s Parent and Subsidiary Rating Linkage criteria. The equalisation takes into consideration CEB’s strategic importance to Sri Lanka in ensuring power security and supply of affordable electricity to the public.

Strong Linkages with State: Fitch assesses the linkages between CEB and the state to be strong, reflecting explicit guarantees and financial support through equity infusions and debt funding.

The government also implicitly guarantees CEB’s project loans, which account for around 80% of its outstanding debt. These loans are extended by bilateral and multilateral agencies and routed through the government for development of power infrastructure. CEB’s strategic importance to the state stems from its position as the country’s sole grid operator and distributor and the generator of 80% of electricity in Sri Lanka.

Fitch believes the Sri Lankan government uses CEB as a vehicle to provide an essential public service.

The TUI Mein Schiff 6 based in Europe, was in Sri Lanka for the first time and was anchored at the Colombo Harbour last week. It had 2,500 holiday makers on board, with a crew of 500.

Most of the holiday makers went on cruise excursions organized by Aitken Spence Travels to Kandy, Galle, Ingiriya Tea Plantations, village tours, Tuk Tuk rides, walking tours and shopping.

Mein Schiff 6 is a cruise ship owned by TUI Cruises.

Asia Pacific region needs to accelerate progress towards all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda as SDGs in Asia and pacific will likely miss all goals by 2030 at the current pace of growth.

Goal 17 is the key to enable the success of SDGs. UN ESCAP emphasises the need to implement initiatives in the areas of finance, data, and technology to achieve such ambitious goals, said Dr Tientip Subhanij-Chief Financing for Development Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division-UN ESCAP.

“Despite its ambitions, SDGs consists of goals on poverty, planet, people, peace and partnerships and it ranges from focusing on people, poverty, hunger, wellbeing, quality education and equality,” she told the National Consultation on Innovative Climate Finance Mechanisms for Financial institutions in Sri Lanka workshop held in Colombo last week. She said further that SDGs implementation needs to be accelerated and more importantly, climate change is something that needs to be addressed urgently.

“We need to step up finance to finance SDGs, We need to review strategies as to how we can move forward and step it up. Accelerating progress on climate action requires significant resources, and therefore private sector has to play an important role in this regard. The choices you make today for climate finance will make critical benefits for the future,” Dr. Subhanij emphasised. “Since it has been assessed that Asia pacific will miss every single goals by 2030 deadline given the commitment of progress, we also need to identify current bottlenecks faced by the financial institutions when it comes to granting loans for green and social projects,” she said.

She added that UN ESCAP has worked actively in engaging fostering climate finance as UN ESCAP has successfully organized several international conferences in the past.

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Policy Development in a statement with regard to various media reports, say that the present loan schemes offered on concessionary rates should be revised to suit current priorities of the economy.

“The Government clearly recognizes that the incentives (concessionary interest rate loans) offered for SMEs should continue. “They contribute to the national economic development and are a major factor that has a positive bearing on the country’s economic growth.

However, the government’s position is that that these concessionary interest rate loans must be properly identified and implemented.

Therefore, the Ministry of Finance, Economic and Policy Development has decided to review and reorganize these loan schemes in compliance with the new government’s policies and to identify key sectors of the economy, while increasing its contribution to the national economy.

Accordingly, the Government after a comprehensive study, would take steps to re offer these loan schemes, covering a wider range of areas to strengthen SME investment objectives.

The Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) congratulates Gotabaya Rajapaksa on being elected as the seventh Executive President of Sri Lanka.

Abbas Kamrudeen, Chairman of FITIS went on to state “As the Apex body in the ICT industry, we look forward to your successful tenure and working with you on your vision of “ A Technology Based Society (Smart Nation)” to uplifting the standard of technology across the country and to make Sri Lanka the next technology hub”. FITIS recognizes key areas under this vision are making Sri Lanka a Global Innovation Hub. Citizen Centric Digital Government, Digitally Inclusive Sri Lanka and IT Entrepreneurship

Over the years FITIS has played a prominent role in the development of ICT and the expansion of Sri Lanka’s innovative capacity with the active support of the government and private sector Institutions. Thus, FITIS hopes to work with the new administration in order to help businesses and entrepreneurs grow exponentially in Sri Lanka, and globally with Digital Transformation.

FITIS further states, it is indeed a new chapter for Sri Lanka, as we are at a juncture where technology must be adapted by the citizenry to ensure that Sri Lanka reaches its fullest potential. FITIS confirms its readiness and confidence to work together with your newly formed Government and to assist you in reforms and policy of ICT to make Sri Lanka a top-notch IT destination.

FITIS was set up in 1996 with the purpose of giving a much-needed focal point for the ICT industry in Sri Lanka.

DFCC Bank PLC recently entered into a break through partnership with one of the oldest and most established corporate entities in the Maldives, Cyprea Group of Companies, for a dual-tranche bilateral term loan, together with trade finance and guarantee facility. This landmark transaction is the single largest bilateral deal arranged by DFCC Bank to-date.

The new term loan was structured by DFCC Bank to refinance existing term borrowings and meet key capital investments and related expenses of Cyprea Group. The trade and guarantee facilities were structured to support Cyprea Group’s thriving energy and travel businesses.

Since commencing operations in 1978, Cyprea Group has grown to become one of the largest and most respected corporate names in the Maldives. Today, the Group’s interests have diversified into many areas including travel and tourism, marine foods, energy, logistics and engineering. DFCC Bank Director and CEO Lakshman Silva commented, “DFCC Bank is delighted to support and partner Cyprea Group in structuring and arranging this dual-tranche term loan, trade and guarantee facility.

This transaction clearly demonstrates DFCC Bank’s capabilities in managing cross-border financing transactions. DFCC Bank continues to be a dominant force in Sri Lanka, and this transaction stands as a further testament to our ability in closing large transactions, and our strong and continued commitment to our stakeholders. Cross-border financing and key international connectivity will be key focus areas of the Bank’s growth strategy.”

DFCC Bank Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Banking Shamindra Marcelline stated, “This landmark transaction is the largest-ever bilateral loan facility of the bank and clearly marks another significant achievement, especially given the significant challenges prevailing in the local and global financial markets. This transaction amply demonstrates the confidence placed by the bank in the Cyprea Group’s strong credit story.”

CAL Holdings Limited, a leading investment bank, receannounced that Rajitha Jayasuriya had joined the CAL Holdings Limited Board as Non-Executive Independent Director.

Rajitha Jayasuriya, Attorney-at-Law, currently heads the overall legal operation of the USD 2 Bn Sri Lankan apparel industry leader MAS Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, as its Group Director - Legal. She draws from a two decade long legal career and has built a cross-functional legal team for the apparel giant. She was ranked number 11 in the list of the 50 most Influential Business Leaders in Sri Lanka in 2014.

In 2017 she was recognized at the Top 50 Professional and Career Women Awards by Women in Management and awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award for Law, at the Zonta Woman of Achievement Awards.

Capital Alliance (CAL) offers capital market solutions mainly focused on family office and family business solutions.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has released a new and updated ‘Directory of Members.’

The Directory is a comprehensive guide consisting of the contact details and business activities of 630 member companies of the Ceylon Chamber. These are further categorized as exporters, importers, manufacturers, service providers, agent’s representatives,

traders, suppliers and wholesalers and joint venture interests of member companies, for easy reference.

It also comprises useful contacts such as Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions Overseas, Diplomatic Missions in Sri Lanka, Banks, Hotels, Government Institutions and International Agencies. Arrangements have already been made to circulate copies of the Directory to 128 overseas trade promotion organisations, where the Ceylon Chamber has established partnerships through signing Memoranda of Understandings.

Established in March 25, 1839, the Ceylon Chamber commenced with 26 members, when the population of the country was 1.4 million. Today, with a populace surpassing the 21 million mark, the Chamber’s membership has grown to 630, with an outreach of over 8,500 institutions through various affiliated regional Chambers of Commerce, Trade Associations and Business Councils. Twenty-nine of the current members have maintained their membership for over a hundred years.

A latest First Capital Research report says despite the 50bps rate cuts each in May and August; the door is open for a rate cut considering the need to address the sluggishness in economic activity.

“The external outlook favouring Sri Lanka, easing political uncertainty and positive macro environment provides, opportunity for monetary easing despite the risk in lower liquidity position. Accordingly, we do not rule out a possibility of a rate cut though at a lower probability of 40%. We are more biased towards a rate cut in December 2019 considering the risk in lower liquidity position.

The First Capital pre policy analysis report says, “In line with our expectation, CBSL, maintained its policy rates at current levels as they believed that private sector credit may pick gradually and also there is ample space for market lending rates to adjust downwards in response to the policy measures taken to address the sub par economic growth which was affected by Easter Sunday attacks.”

“Although in our previous report dated October 7 we mentioned that there will be no more policy changes for 2019 we are revising our stance considering the recent changes in the political and economical landscape of the country and external outlook for Sri Lanka.”

Analysing the surprise Fed rate cut leads another round of global easing, the report said “Fed in late October 2019 cut benchmark overnight lending rate a quarter point to a range of 1.50%-1.75%, the 3rd such move in 2019 while most of the committee members saw the moves as enough to support the outlook of moderate growth. Following US’s Fed move, China, Thailand and Gulf countries also joined a round of monetary easing (see slide 04). The global move towards easing monetary policy, creates a supportive environment for SL to provide further easing in the domestic economy.”

First Capital believes, Strengthening macroeconomic indicators and the current high yields has been slowly attracting foreign inflows which is likely to further accelerate post Presidential Election amid easing political uncertainty to a certain extent.

With the support of foreign inflows, currency has been strengthening over the past couple of weeks. We believe a significantly undervalued rupee (as indicated by the REER) and lower credit growth, provides room for CBSL to buy dollars, strengthening the reserves and increasing liquidity in the system.

Sri Lanka’s external position looks comfortable near-term, with foreign reserves at USD 7.8 bn as at October 2019 and the improved current account position. The Central Bank plans to raise a Samurai bond of USD 500 million in December 2019, further adding cushion to the foreign reserves. “We expect reserves to hover comfortably around USD 8 billion mark with sufficient foreign repayment cover during the rest of 2019. Accordingly, we expect the comfortable position in the external sector to exert lower pressure on reserves.”

Post Easter Sunday attacks, Sri Lanka’s GDP growth for 2Q2019 slowed down to 1.6%. We expect GDP growth to gradually improve with lower interest rates and the election season. Private sector credit growth continues to remains negligible with January to September 2019 growth at 2.13%.

Despite CBSL cutting rates in August 2019 for the second time, the decline in interest rates has been slow amid the high level of NPLs in the system forcing CBSL to introduce lending caps to banks.

Post completion of the Presidential Election business activity and credit growth has shown slow progress but continues to remain below expectations calling for further monetary easing, the report said.

Vistara - India’s finest full-service carrier and a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, inaugurated its service to Colombo, Sri Lanka flying daily (except on Wednesdays) between Mumbai and Colombo.

Chief Strategy Officer Vistara, Vinod Kannan, said: “We are very happy to step into another new geography with flights to Sri Lanka, a nation with enormous potential for tourism as well as trade.”

He said that Visatara in addition to catering to Business would also be a good travel option to the SME sector to Indian destinations.

“We would also introduce Airbus A320 to Colombo soon.”

The airline would add Delhi next year and would also look at operating to Jaffna and Mattala, depending on the demand adding that Vistara would continue to grow rapidly across India.”

Vistara has appointed North South Lines Pvt. Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Sri Lankan conglomerate, Hayleys PLC, as its representation company in Sri Lanka. Chairman, Chief Executive, Hayleys PLC, Ranjith Pandithage, said that the airline would also add many Indian destinations soon.

Airlines also fly to Singapore as its first destination, followed by Dubai, UAE and Bangkok, Thailand and operates to over 30 Indian destinations.

Vistara is India’s highest-rated airline on Skytrax and TripAdvisor and the winner of several ‘Best Airline’ awards.

Tata Sons holds the majority stake of 51% in Vistara and SIA holds the remaining 49%.

(SS)

The Port is similar to heart of the country. Regularly it contributes to state’s total income in big numbers.

Therefore as the port sector is playing a crucial role in posting positive statistics for country’s economy, the new administration is primarily to be focused on turning its institutions and services more efficient to ensure the accomplishment of expected expansion in the sector, Roads & Highways, Ports and Shipping Johnston Fernando said after assuming duties at the port ministry yesterday.

“I invite all the trade unions of this institution to contribute in this process. I believe that with the contribution of all the stakeholders of the institution we can accomplish expected development goals,” he said.

There are major challenges in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Sri Lanka and this should be addressed as soon as possible, Minister of Tourism and Aviation Prasanna Ranatunga said.

Speaking after assuming duties at the Ministry in the WTC he said that one of the biggest issues the previous government had was weakening the public service, which were afraid even to take the right decisions in fear of being penalized.

“Under this government I can assure you that all ‘right’ decisions would be fully back by me and the government and officials should not be afraid to execute their duties.

He said that due to the formation of an interim government where the Cabinet has been reduced to 15 they would not be able to present a budget until such time an election was held. “I think a general election is on the cards in February.”

He said that till then and even after the general elections the officials should work with dedication to fulfill the aspirations of the people and should not be lethargic towards executing their duties.”

(SS)

Prime  Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday assumed duties as Finance,  Economic and Policy Development Minister at the Ministry premises at the  Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. Treasury Secretary S.R. Atygala,  Secretary to the Prime Minister Gamini Senerath, Secretary to the  President Dr. P.B. Jayasundera and Ministers Bandula Gunewardena and  Johnston Fernando were also present. Picture by Sudath Malaweera  

New Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Economic Affairs, Policy Development, Buddha Sasana, Cultural, Water Supply & Urban Development, and Housing Facilities Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said under the previous regime, Sri Lanka’s economy was weakened and investors and the people completely loss their confident in the government. “We have to correct this soon.”

He said that even during the war with LTTE the economy grew at around 6% and today Sri Lankan economic growth rate is among the lowest almost in par with Afghanistan.

“There was a steady increase in foreign reserves from 2,735 million dollars in 2005 to a record 8,208 million dollars by the end of 2014. However this positive trend was reversed due to short sighted economic policies of the previous government.”

The interest rate along with Inflation doubled from 6%, while foreign reserves dipped and the tourism sector was also badly affected due to the Easter Sunday attack. The US Dollar was Rs. 131.05 when the year ended in 2014. It had been held steady at Rs. 127-131 from 2011 to 2014.

“When I handed over power to the new Government, the economy was on a very sound footing and the country as a whole was a single worksite,” said the Premier.

The total foreign debt component of the Government was 39 percent in 2005 and this was reduced every year till it reached 31.8 percent in 2014. Interest rates were held steady at around 7 to 9 percent from 2010 to 2014. When I handed over power to a new Government, the economy was on a very sound footing and the country as a whole was a single worksite,” the Premier said.

He said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made some election promises and they will ensure that these would be fulfilled before the end of his term.

Mihimandala Environmental Foundation, a leading environmental organization working closely with the corporate sector, was honoured at the recently concluded Nelson Mandela Peace awards at the BMICH recently.

Established in year 2000, the Mihimandala Environmental Foundation won an award under the ‘Social Service and Environmental category’ for their continuous efforts towards the protection of nature and also for their anti AIDS CSR campaign.

Mihimandala is an organization founded by a group of nature lovers to make a stronger voice to protect the environment and both fauna and flora.

Speaking about the recognition Upul Devapriya, President and Media Spokes person of Mihimandala, said that they as a nonprofit organization thanked all who had lent a helping hand towards the success of their genuine effort of protecting mother nature of Sri Lanka.’

“Mihimandala had also planned several awareness campaigns this year too to mark World AIDS Day on December 1.

Dedunu Fiber Mills was crowned winner of the Merit of Industry Manufacturing Sector, Large category, Best Value Added Enterprise and Best Energy Efficient Enterprise at Western Province Entrepreneurship Awards 2019.

Speaking about this great victory Chairman of Dedunu Fibre Mills Nalin Viraj Uthurawala said the award would provide the firm with invaluable resources. “We’re delighted to have won the competition, it was much unexpected. We’ve got a 20 years’ experience and entered to the business in 1998 in the midst of many difficulties with efficiently and environmentally friendly. While we have started as the coir company in the first time, by 2011 it was possible to enter the export market. In 2016 Dedunu Fibre Mills was able to export its products to 15 world leading countries. Specially to USA, Japan, UK, Spain and Sweden. We were able to maintain close relationship with them by customizing and exporting products to suites their needs. Dedunu Fibre Mills provides 120 direct and indirect employments opportunities for the village people. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to contribute to the country foreign exchange by strengthening the country’s economy with my business.”

Nalin Uthurawala appreciated the services rendered by the Coconut Development Authority, Export Development Board, other Financial Institutions and banks for their great support extended and also selecting them as winners at this award ceremony.

LEARN, Sri Lanka’s National Research and Education Network marked three decades of innovation in connectivity, heralding a new era of connectivity, whilst supporting the needs of research and education community through a high-speed backbone network.

At an event held at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, Former President Maithripala Sirisena, graced the momentous occasion signaling the appreciation and acknowledgement of the dedicated and unmatched innovation in service offered by LEARN.

The Lanka Education and Research Network is the NREN (National Research and Education Network) of Sri Lanka, which interconnects Educational and Research institutions across the country, while providing network-related services to them.

Prof. Abhaya Induruwa, Founder of LEARN said, “LEARN was the first IP based WAN in the country. It was conceptualized to empower researchers and our students to embrace the benefits of ICT, promote research within the country and facilitate knowledge sharing with their peers across the world. Despite the challenges, in 1995, LEARN went live. In a time before Facebook, Whats App, and other technologies, this was a monumental feat.”

LEARN offers connectivity to 45 educational and research institutions and has a total bandwidth of 20Gbps. A far cry from the 64kbps connection utilized to connect just 3 universities in 1995. However, as the requirements of the research community evolved, the network evolved as well.

The organization tackles challenges closer to home, such as the poor integration of technology in education. It identified that many previous approaches to introduce technology into classrooms, were highly technical. This halted many initiatives as teachers simply did not possess the required level of technical skills. Hence, as the local NREN, it’s working to develop simple technological tools for teachers to utilize in classrooms.

Recognizing these evolving needs, alongside connectivity, LEARN offers a host of services to local research and educational institutes.

These services include video conferencing facilities, Voice of IP (VoIP) connectivity, Federated Identity Access, an international education roaming service (aka eduroam) and a Technical Assistance Center offering engineering support to its member institutes.

Beyond these services, the Organization has formed strong partnerships to support local researchers. Through its partnership with eduroam, LEARN offers its international WiFi-roaming service. Similarly, the organization has partnered with regional and international research bodies such as Trans Eurasia Information Network (TEIN), Asi@Connect, the National Knowledge Network (NKN) of India, SingAREN, and many more. These partnerships have given local researchers access to networks connecting international educational and research institutes.

Through these networks, local researchers have greater access to a global pool of knowledge and could better collaborate with their international counterparts to bring about innovation. For such purposes, the LEARN network offers dedicated 3Gbps of connectivity to these international academic networks. Over the past 3 decades, LEARN has played an integral role behind the scenes to connect local researchers with the rest of the world. However, the network was born in a time when internet access in Sri Lanka was virtually non-existent. 

SLASSCOM recently hosted its annual AI Asia Summit, for the second consecutive year this year at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo. The theme of this year’s summit was to stress on the importance of formulating a proactive policy and building capacity around Artificial intelligence (AI) to leverage the ICT industry to new heights.

The AI Asia Summit 2019 was designed to challenge, motivate, and inspire all participants in the rapidly developing field of AI to further the grow of the ICT industry of the country. This year’s summit expressively provided a forum for the most recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, predominantly in emerging AI application and research whilst event featured globally as well as locally renowned expert speakers who shared their thoughts and experiences in their micro-fields within AI with regards to the growing trends of this day and age.

The panel included Dr. Chrisantha Fernando - Senior Research Scientist at Google DeepMind who spoke on‘The Minimal Turin Test and Minimal Agency’, Dr. Romesh Ranawana - CTO at TENGRI UAV Ltd. spoke on ‘The Future of Aerial Unmanned Intelligent Systems’, Dr. Inga Strümke - Manager AI and Machine Learning at PwC Norway on ‘Responsible use of AI’, Dr. Srinath Perera - Vice PresidentResearch at WSO2 on ‘AI in the Real World, Challenges and Risks’,Samith Gunasekara - Head of AI and Machine Learning at Boeing Analytx on ‘Powerful AI Trends to Drive Digital Transformation’, Tone Therese Paulsen - Product Lead, (Nordics and Europe) at Boost.ai on ‘Beyond Bots – Conversational AI and Reinventing the use of Virtual Agents’, Dr. Rukshan Batuwita - former Lead Data Scientist at Woolworths GroupAustralia on ‘Getting Data Science/Machine Learning Right for Your Business’, and Dr. Rajitha Nawarathna - former imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney CompanyUSA on ‘Reading Audience Mind Through Vision in Movies’.

The event saw an excellent turnout of over 350 participants attend the Summit this year while AI Asia Summit, held the previous year also was an extreme accomplishment for SLASSCOM with over 300 participants taking part in the event to share knowledge and network.

The Summit shed light on the background of AI systems and how they could be utilized in a responsible way. It brought to the frontlines how AI should comprise of essential security, transparency and responsible disclosures.

Speaking at the event, the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Trine Jøranli Eskedal stated that the Norwegian Embassy has proceeded to sign a Memorandum of Understanding securing a two year commitment to foster collaboration in the ICT industry with SLASSCOM. It is also aligned with the vision for 2025 around the future of Digital Sri Lanka which has the emphasis on IT education and harnessing future techniques. Moreover, Ambassador Eskedal highlighted the MOU hopes to strengthen bonds between Norway Sri Lanka.

“It is important for us to expand the knowledge of AI and related technologies throughout the population of Sri Lanka, as the country is progressing rapidly and it is a crucial contribution to Sri Lanka’s ambitious target of becoming a hub for knowledge and innovation. We have played a significant role specifically in terms of software development and service delivery within the country and we have contributed to the development of the ICT industry generously, although it is important to note that if we are to further its development, we are also required to concentrate on moving up the value chain to add high value and bring in more revenue to the industry,” stated Ranil Rajapakse - Chairman, SLASSCOM.

The Summit also emphasized on the involvement of industries, academia, the government and other agencies in Sri Lanka could enhance education and skill development in terms of technologies related to AI. SLASSCOM brought to light how re-skilling and re-training Sri Lanka’s existing workforce through the movement to novel concepts involving AI, as AI has the potential to develop society as a whole, while also improving public sector services, contributing to the increase of wealth creation, investments and trade growth.

SLASSCOM acts as the facilitator of growth for the Sri Lankan knowledge and innovation industry by empowering trade and business, circulating education and employment, encouraging research and innovation, and by supporting the creation of a progressive national policy framework for the knowledge solutions industry.