business Sri Lanka

BOI Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala indicates despite requests from top decision-makers from the government to remain in his post he has decided to relinquish himself from the position of BOI Chairman.

The following is a release from his office;

“After a meeting held this week with the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka reiterated his desire to step down from his post.

The Chairman further said that he was grateful to the government for placing the highest confidence in him and the Board and for requesting them to continue to serve and contribute effectively to promote foreign investments to help the post-COVID economic transformation of Sri Lanka.

He requested for a new leadership team to be appointed, so that they may continue with the efforts already made to further improve the services offered to investors, and thereby realise the vision set out by the government of Sri Lanka to double GDP over a decade.”

Within the framework of Planning Round 70, the Volkswagen Group resolved to further electrify its European plants in pursuit of its goal of becoming global market leader in electric mobility by 2025.

Thus, the Group vigorously drives forward the implementation of its NEW AUTO strategy. The Group headquarters and manufacturing site in Wolfsburg will be transformed and the Group’s competitiveness boosted through higher spending on future technologies. The future-oriented investments, which will be primarily in e-mobility and digitalization, will account for the largest proportion of total investments of EUR 159 billion for the first time, at 56 percent or EUR 89 billion. Volkswagen expects that by 2026 one in four vehicles sold will have a battery-electric drive system.

www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Augmenting the after-sales care facilities offered to its Bajaj customers, David Pieris Motor Company (Pvt) Ltd. launched DPMC Workshop Express recently to provide best care, quality and convenience.

DPMC Workshop Express

‘DPMC Workshop Express’ operates under the umbrella of the flagship ‘DPMC Workshops’ situated in Madapatha and Matara.

DPMC Workshop Express in Badulla, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Mathugama and Ampara are open from 8. 30am to 5.00pm from Monday to Friday.

Selected services, maintenance,running repairs, accident repairs (minor repairs for three wheelers), engine oil change, emission testing and issuing estimates, etc. are available for Bajaj motorcycles, three wheelers and Qute.

Bajaj Genuine Spare Parts and Bajaj Genuine Oil are used exclusively for all services carried out at a DPMC Workshop Express and substandard parts are not used under any circumstance.

Additionally, the standard discounts offered at DPMC Spare Parts Outlets are available for parts purchased and used for vehicle services at DPMC Workshop Express.

DPMC Workshop Express operates under health guidelines issued by the Government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Leveraging technology to provide bespoke, cost effective options, D P Logistics launched TruckBuddy a web solution that offer smart transport solutions.

With the expertise D P Logistics has garnered over the past two decades in the transport business, the platform is customized for multi industry verticals such as apparel, FMCG, industrial and electronics.

Technology takes the pain out of finding, evaluating, and negotiating with transport suppliers on a case by case basis and the extensive manual work involved in planning, monitoring, generating of reports and similar tasks.

D P Logistics is equipped with a 24/7 monitoring control center to ensure the cargo is delivered to the destination in a safe manner, meeting the expectations of its valuable customers. Company specific report templates and dashboards facilitate decisions based on data and real time GPS tracking and alert system ensures the security of the cargo until it reaches the destination.

DPL also has the added edge of being able to leverage on its own extensive fleet which includes both general purpose and specific vehicles such as cement carriers, automotive carriers, and specialized project equipment to provide customers with greater options.

Given the extremely challenging times faced by customers due to increasing freight/ transportation costs D P Logistics has been focusing on ways and means of reducing expenses, while increasing efficiency and this is the second such initiative introduced in the recent past which leverages on technology. The first was the introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to its 3PL and warehouse operations.

A David Pieris Group Company, DP Logistics covers the entire spectrum of logistics and supply chain management solutions including: Transportation, 3rd Party Logistics (3PL), Warehouse Management and Freight Forwarding.

All-electric vehicles (EVs), also referred to as battery electric vehicles, have an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine.Because it runs on electricity, the vehicle emits no exhaust from a tailpipe and does not contain the typical liquid fuel components, such as a fuel pump, fuel line, or fuel tank.

A PHEV(plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) usually offers a much greater driving range than most comparable Pure EVs do, with their combination of power sources. Although the range does vary with different models, many PHEVs can achieve around 300-400 miles with both petrol and electric sources used.

On a shallow / short-term view it will reflect that electric vehicles benefit the environment more than plug-in hybrids, since they don't use any fuel at all. However, the manufacture of batteries is a heavy CO2 emitting mechanism.

Additionally, belief is that electric vehicles help drivers save more money than plug-in hybrids do, since they don't use any fuel. However, this has to be considered along with the many other factors, such as cost of value drop, cost of replacement battery etc.

A budget electric vehicle (EV) selling in China for $4,500 (£3,200) is now outselling Tesla's more upmarket cars. The compact car is proving a big hit for state-owned SAIC Motor, China's top automaker. The Hong Guang Mini EV is being built as part of a joint venture with US car giant General Motors (GM).

Last month sales of the budget electric car in China were around double those of Tesla, which was questioned this month over safety issues there. While the $4,500 Hong Guang Mini is the most popular model, there is an upgraded one with air conditioning for just over $5,000. The cars are being marketed as "the people's commuting tool".

Car experts have said that while it clearly lags well behind Tesla when it comes to its battery, range and performance, its convenience and low price have made it one of China's bestselling "new-energy" vehicles. Having launched last year, the basic model has a top speed of 100km/h (62mph) and can accommodate four people at a squeeze.

"China's government is serious about pollution reduction and becoming the global lead in adopting and promoting innovation of electric vehicles," Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group, told the BBC.

"We remain very bullish on the adoption of budget EVs like the Hong Guang Mini to higher end ones like NIO and Tesla." To promote EVs, the Chinese government offers license plates for free and they are guaranteed. In many cities, it can take months, if not years, to get a license plate for a petrol engine through various auction systems. The Hong Guang Mini EV saw sales of 112,000 for the second half of 2020, ranking second behind Tesla's Model 3 which are made in its Shanghai factory. Earlier this month five Chinese regulators summoned Tesla over quality and safety issues at its plant. China is Tesla's largest market after the US. For January, Hong Guang Mini sales outstripped Tesla almost two-to-one. It is now believed to be the second-best-selling electric model worldwide behind the Model 3.The tiny, all-electric EV sold 25,778 models in China in January according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). This compares to 13,843 for the Tesla Model 3.

But high-end electric vehicles have still been performing well with Tesla more than doubling its sales volume in China last year. The Model 3 sells for about $39,000 (£27,000) in China factoring in price cuts due to its local production. The Hong Guang Mini EV could make an appearance outside China, as Wuling has said it plans to export the EV overseas.

"China has so many makers of small and cheap electric vehicles, however most of them are low-quality and low-speed products that do not appeal to a wide market, said Sam Fiorani, at Auto Forecast Solutions. "The Hong Guang Mini is the first time a major company has stepped up with a simple EV that targets buyers looking for a real car."

Reports have linked Wuling to a Latvian automaker who could sell a version of the car in Europe. However, the price is likely to be twice as high due to European environmental requirements. BBC

The Motor Industry is in a very sad state mainly attributed to the blunders made by the policy makers, asserted industry expert and Past President Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA) Reeza Rauf. In an interview with Daily News Motor Rauf requested policy makers to come to a consensus with stakeholders to protect the industry for its survival and implement government policies maintaining a level playing field.

Excerpts of the interview

Q: What is your perspective of the motor industry today?

Whilst we understand the present pandemic situation has affected the motor industry in the recent past I have to give you a very short answer to this: it is precarious and is in a very sad state mainly attributed to the blunders made by the policy makers.

Q: What are the consequences importers face due to the import ban?

The consequences are immense as an industry which raked in one of the highest tax revenue to the government has collapsed from the government's revenue point of view, from the industry’s point the legitimate importers investments are huge and its long term planned with providing large amounts of job opportunities locally and helping trained technicians/ mechanics to seek employment opportunities internationally. Difficulty in running the business, unable to recover overhead costs, retrenchments, lost job opportunities for the younger generation .

Q: What are your suggestions to revive the industry?

Today It is not about reviving the industry, it's about surviving, It is common sense that the transport industry plays a pivotal role in a country's development. If this is hampered the development is also affected. The Automobile industry needs long term planning, huge investments in terms of setting up infrastructure, training manpower with long term steady policies for its survival, you cannot compare it with imports of onions and potatoes and change policies overnight. If you look back into history you will find almost at every budget the custom duties and import categories are changed sometimes drastically which puts the industry in very unstable situations. Our suggestion is to come to a consensus with the stakeholders to protect the industry for its survival and implement government policies maintaining a level playing field.

Q: How has the corona pandemic affected the livelihoods of the motor stakeholders?

Definitely yes, this phenomena is not only confined to Sri Lankas, but is a global problem but the lesson to be learnt is that as an industry we are more affected and put into more difficulty due to wrong and adhoc policy decisions taken unlike in other countries.

Q: What do you expect at this moment from the government?

Have a clear and long term policy and avoid adhoc and short term policy decisions which have been happening from time to time. In order to overcome the present crisis situation of the legitimate vehicle importers at least allow imports on a quota system,

What are the relief and concessions the industry needs at this juncture?

As an industry we don’t need concessions but allow us to import the vehicles ordered and LC’s established prior to the import ban. Also ensure that we are allowed to carry on our businesses in a manner that we can sustain and justify our investments and to take care of our employees.

Q: How have these stringent measures affected your relationships with vehicle manufactures?

This has affected us very badly as we have gone against the international business norms, and as a nation we have lost our credibility and we have lost our recognition as a country to do reliable business, the most shocking is that we were not allowed to import vehicles for LC’s already established with the sudden import ban and this has made manufactures lose confidence and faith on us. When imports are allowed the future imports will see additional cost as manufactures will insist on Confirmed LC’s

Q: How will the non imports affect development activities in the country?

An efficient transport system is essential be it passenger or commercial for development of the country as this will help minimise downtime, inefficiency of ageing vehicles is a hindrance and also cost more to maintain

Q: What are the social impacts of the prohibition of vehicle imports?

Past records show that almost 70% of vehicles purchased are on borrowings, the reason being we don’t have a efficient and comfortable public transport system, due the ban of imports the used vehicle market has artificially skyrocketed which doesn’t reflect the actual residual value this also can result in high cost on insurance premiums, end of the day the common man has to face the brunt of it creating a total imbalance in the market.

Q: Will there be a relaxation to import curbs by the government?

I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, nor are we getting a decent reply from the authorities in this regard , we are basically kept in the dark

Q: How has the pandemic and ban affected your business?

The pandemic has definitely affected the business from all angles. Manufacturers are facing short supply of components and there are delays in production, the costs have shot up with escalated production and freight cost. However we are mostly affected by the import ban

Q: How are you planning to adjust to the new normal?

We are shifting our focus to pre owned vehicles and after sales and repair of vehicles with value added services with adapting or accommodating multi brands. As distributors this is not the ideal way of doing business but we have no choice but to be forced into it for our survival.

Q: What are your thoughts on introducing EV (Electric Vehicles) ?

Whether we like it or not we will have to accept this as the future of automobile is turning into EV. Having said that, we need to carefully study the impact before making any hasty decisions. Even though a couple of manufactures have EV vehicles it is still in its initial stages. Certain developed countries in Europe have begun to go full EV in the next 10 to 20 years. The shifting is not going to be that easy, the point to note is the price against the ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles.

EV are far more expensive and can we really afford it being a third world country, the question is are we ready with the infrastructure with charging points. Do we have sufficient renewable energy for charging rather than depending on thermal power. We need to allocate time for training technicians, disposal/recycling of batteries etc. If sudden policy changes come in without proper study and analysing the repercussions to the industry and to the nation would be detrimental. 

Hela Clothing, a leading end-to-end apparel supply chain solutions provider in Sri Lanka, has received the Silver Award for Workforce Enablement at the recently concluded Digital Excellence Awards.

The award comes at a time when the company has embarked on a complete digital transformation to support its global growth while future-proofing the business.

Organised by the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS), the Digital Excellence Awards recognizes the achievements of organizations that have successfully planned and executed their digital transformation through migrating enterprises from Industry 3.0 to 4.0.

As part of phase one of Hela’s digital transformation strategy the company launched the HR 360 Programme. This programme aims to connect people, systems, and devices, via the Internet, thus digitalizing the process and generating actionable insights for management. The core of the programme is built on the Microimage MiHCM solution running on the Microsoft Azure platform. Employees are able to access the HR 360 Programme via an app on their phone.

Since its launch the company has achieved a number of key benefits which include real time data availability and digital empowerment of the workforce. The initial roll-out focused on Hela’s 9 locations in Sri Lanka andfrom January 2022 the app will be made available to their teams across Africa as well.

Expressing her opinion about the win, Ruwanthi Fernando, Chief Information and Process Officer Hela Clothing, said, “We are proud to have been presented with such a prestigious award by FITIS. It underscores the fact that our digital transformation journey is heading in the right direction and further strengthens our resolve to see it through in a timely manner.”

She went on to add, “We are confident that the benefits we are seeing now are only the tip of the iceberg. Once completed, we expect our digital transformation journey to help strengthen our position and provide us with a launching pad to achieve greater innovation and prudent growth in the future.”

Nations Trust Bank affirmed its leadership in the digital banking arena, received eight awards led by an overall Silver in the ‘Digitised Organization’ category and a Gold award each in the Connected Product and Workforce Enablement sub-categories, at the inaugural FITIS Digital Excellence Awards and Conclave 2021.

Out of the 34 awards presented, Nations Trust Bank walked away with the most awards as a bank at the gala event, held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo.

The Digital Excellence Awards honoured the achievements of organizations that successfully planned and executed digital transformation through migrating enterprises from Industry 3.0 to 4.0. The highest level of transparency and impartiality was maintained throughout the evaluation process with each nomination reviewed and validated using a multi-tiered process and assessed by a panel of, both local and international, independent judges composed of industry thought leaders, veterans, and academia.

Nations Trust Bank Director and Chief Executive Officer Priyantha Talwatte spoke on the significance of the award. “We are humbled to be recognized on such a platform, sharing the space with so many organizations revolutionizing the digital space. It is heartening to see this recognition for our digital capabilities which are, aligned to delivering our vision.”

Nations Trust Bank’s robust digital ecosystem garnered wins as Nations Alpha by Nations Trust Bank received the Merit Award for the overall Digitised Operation category, whilst securing a Bronze for Customer Centric Process Automation and a Merit Award for Agile Operation. The Silver Award for Connected Partner Eco System was secured by FriMi, withthe revolutionary features of FriMi also shining under the Digitised Product and Service category with the digital mobile wallet picking up a Gold for Connected Productand a Silver for Digital Marketing Strategy, under the Digitised Customer Experience category. Together the awards made Nations Trust Bank stand high with a Silver for Digitised Organization, setting the industry benchmark.

“Nations Trust Bank embarked on digitalisationvery early, as our data driven insights showed the evolution of the banking industry. The Digital Excellence Awards we have won are a true validation of the digital strategy and digital transformation across all levels at Nations Trust Bank. We have created a digital ecosystem with robust products and services, to meet current and future demands,” said Randil Boteju, Senior Vice President Sales and Digital Banking at Nations Trust Bank speaking on the win.

The award categories and selection criteria at the FITIS Digital Excellence Awards are aligned to reflect today’s most critical business transformation areas and the framework was developed modelling the industry standard Digital Transformation Assessment Framework.

The Jayalanka Group, an emerging brand in the field of local food exports, reaffirmed its excellence by winning the Bronze Award for the Best Exporter of the Year in the New Export category at the Presidential Export Awards.

The awards ceremony was organized by the Export Development Board at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall and was attended by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and several Ministers and members of parliament.

“Our company was initially engaged in indirect exports. We had the opportunity to export a number of food products in a very short period of time after we shifted to direct exports. I gratefully acknowledge the founder of the company and my father, K.G. Upatissa who constantly strived to provide customers with high quality products,” said GaniduIshara, Chairman of the company.

Presently, the Jayalanka Group exports a wide range of local food items including spices, sesame products and treacle products to Australia, Canada, Zambia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, New Zealand and Germany which contributes to receive a significant amount of exchange to the country.

The Jayalanka Group of Companies, established in 1975, is now involved with both indirect and direct exports. Jayalanka now plans to expand its business in the future.

KVPL Director and CEO, Anura Weerakoon accepts the certificate from CCC Secretary General and CEO Manjula De Silva, as CCC Board Member Ashoka Peiris presents Hayleys Plantations Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai the award with KVPL General Manager HR, Anuruddha Gamage and KVPL Assistant Accountant, Shehan Anupama.

Kelani Valley Plantations PLC (KVPL) secured the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award in Agriculture at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards (BCCSA).

The prestigious honour cements KVPL’s status as one of the country’s most respected pioneers in the field of sustainable and ethical plantations management. Hayleys Plantations Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai believes that the company’s latest accolades will also help to establish Hayleys Plantations as a case study of exceptional corporate stewardship within the nation’s agricultural sector, at a time when sustainable innovation is the urgent need of the hour.

“We are honoured to have been granted such recognition. I express my gratitude to the entire team, without whom such an achievement would not be possible.

“Sustainability is a way of life at Hayleys Plantations, and over the years, our entire team has worked tirelessly to incorporate environmental best practices into every aspect of our operations in a real and meaningful way, while investing in our employees and their communities. Having collated our experience in sustainability, we stand tall as a veteran, ready to collaborate, and help formulate a blueprint for a more sustainable future for the entire Plantations sector,” Dr. Rajadurai stated.

Celebrating its 30th year of operations in 2022, Hayleys Plantations has been at the forefront of a progressive transformation in the plantation sector. Elaborating on the unique expertise developed by Hayleys Kelani Valley Plantations Director and CEO, Anura Weerakoon said; “For three decades, KVPL has invested, experimented and innovated an entirely new approach to plantations management. Today, we stand ready to share all of the hard-earned, in-depth knowledge that we have gained with all stakeholders to Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector.

“By adopting a total systems management approach that incorporates sustainability into every aspect of the business, and focusing on excellence in management of people, environment and finance, we are building accountability and trust with our business partners and the communities we touch, so that together, we can chart more sustainable trajectory for our nation and its citizens.”

KVPL was the first plantations company in the world to commit to the globally-recognised Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) aimed at reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Kelani Valley Plantations is also known for its unique “A Home for Every Plantation Worker” programme, supporting the wellbeing of 58,000 people including its workforce and surrounding communities, for the benefit of the plantation workforce.

HNB Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dilshan Rodrigo and HNB Chief Transformation Officer and DGM L. Chiranthi Cooray with HNB Head of Legal Shiromi Halloluwa and HNB Officer in Charge Sustainable Business, Shanel Perera.

Continuing its trailblazing legacy at the Best Corporate Citizens Sustainability Awards (BCCSA) 2021, Sri Lanka’s leading private sector HNB PLC was presented with two awards in recognition of its outstanding CSR initiatives, which includes the Bank being ranked among the Top 10 Best Corporate Citizens in Sri Lanka.

“Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, we put sustainability at the heart of our business practices, driving digital experiences exponentially and taking many innovative measures to reduce our carbon footprint. Working in alignment with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, we contributed towards the revival of businesses by supporting customers who were severely impacted. Our policies and commitment to these initiatives has ensured financial security and growth for MSMEs across the island. We are honoured by the accolades presented to HNB today and pledge to continue as a partner in progress for the nation,” HNB Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer, Dilshan Rodrigo stated.

HNB was adjudged the winner of the recently introduced award for ‘Demonstrated Resilient Practices for COVID-19 Context’ by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC)in acknowledgement of its efforts to keep staff and customers safe, support offered to customers in multiple forms of moratoriums and business revival efforts and other technological transformations.

CCC’s ranking of the 10 Best Corporate Citizens in Sri Lanka, is based on an evaluation of corporates that have enhanced the well-being of their communities in conjunction with achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Fostering a reputation for excellence, HNB has consistently ranked among the 10 Best Corporate Citizens in the past.

Moreover, CCC adopted an improved evaluation criteria this year to highlight the need to mainstream business emergency preparedness, resilience, and stakeholder management in businesses to meet unforeseen challenges. The focus area of the competition included environment, customer relations, community relations, governance, financial performance, economic contribution and special sustainable projects.

The Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards program has been in operation for 18 consecutive years and received 63 applications in 2021, the highest number of applications received in the history of the program.

Established in 1839, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is the oldest and one of the leading business chambers in Sri Lanka.

HNB has a national rating of AA- (lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd. The bank was also ranked among the World Top 1,000 Banks list compiled by the prestigious UK-based Banker Magazine for five consecutive years.

Flash Health, one of Sri Lanka’s premier healthcare service providers, revolutionizing medicine delivery, home lab testing and many more healthcare services, is proud to announce that the company has been named winner of the Merit award in the Born Digital Category of the FITIS Digital Excellence Awards. Flash Health was selected for the award by a panel of leaders in the technology sphere of Sri Lanka. 

The Born Digital award is given to recognize a brand-new category of enterprise, consisting of companies that are completely digitized, who base their strategies on the latest mobile technologies. Winning this award  is a testament of the strategy and unique operational methodology that Flash Health employs for its core activities.

In line with its goal of ‘Health & Wellness at your Convenience’ Flash Health has used mobile and digital technologies to change the people’s perspectives and buying patterns regarding medical services. From its inception as a mobile based medicine delivery company, Flash Health has scaled its operations to include additional medical services such as mobile laboratory testing facilities and many upcoming features.

Speaking about the achievement, CEO of Flash Health Arshad Ameer said, “We are honored to have received this award from FITIS. The whole Flash team is pleased to be recognized for all the work we have done over the last two years. Changing people’s perspectives and mindsets about what is possible with technology and using technology to make people’s lives easier is our driving factor. We remain committed to delivering new and innovative services and solutions to enrich the lives of all Sri Lankans.” 

The total number of international tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka during November 2021 was 44,294.

A considerable improvement during the month of November can be noticed following the sharp contraction in arrivals after the month of April, 2021.

This reflects the improvement in international arrivals potentially owing to factors such as vaccination advances around the world, softer restrictions for vaccinated travellers, use of digital tools to facilitate safe travel, such as the EU COVID Certificate and growing consumer confidence in some outbound source markets. As of November 30, 2021, 104,989 international tourists had visited Sri Lanka for this year. It is a decline of 79.3% over last year when 507,311 tourists had visited the country from January to March 18, 2020, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority monthly Tourist Arrivals Report. The largest source markets recorded for the month of November were India, the United Kingdom, and Russia, followed by Germany and Pakistan.

Asia and Pacific became the largest source of tourist traffic India, the United Kingdom, Russia,Germany and Pakistan were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist generating markets for the month of November this year. India was the largest source of tourist visits to Sri Lanka with 32.1% of the total traffic received in November. The United Kingdom and Russia accounted for 8.5% and 8% of the total traffic respectively.The growth in arrivals from countries in the Americas, and Western, Central & Eastern Europe, suggests a slight revitalization of leisure tourism, potentially enabled by factors such as the gradual improvement of traveller confidence, the lifting of travel restrictions, the increased roll out of COVID-19 vaccine programs, and the North American and Western Europe summer holiday period. Various accolades received highlighting Sri Lanka tourism in mainstream media, could have had some effect in boosting interest in Sri Lanka, however destination marketing is cumulative and this recent PR will need to be followed up to have any lasting impact.

However, with the surge in COVID cases in the European region it is anticipated that the current growth momentum will decline in the coming months.

The desire to visit friends and relatives (VFR) likely highly motivated travel consumers,especially from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Malaysia to visit Sri Lanka during this period. The presence of Pakistan and India in the top source markets is noteworthy. Easing of border restrictions, the gradual containment of the pandemic and a continued promotion of air tickets especially for Indian tourists could be the likely factors that influenced the growth in arrivals..

1.9% of the total traffic while the Americas accounted for 5.6%.

India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Kazakhstan and Ukraine were Sri Lanka’s top five international tourist-generating markets from January to November this year. All the countries, except Kazakhstan in the top ten markets from January to November, 2021, recorded declines in arrivals in comparison to the same period in 2020, likely due to the persistence of the pandemic situation and new COVID-19 outbreaks around the globe, Omicrom being the most recent. It is noteworthy that total arrivals up to November from Kazakhstan had recorded a growth in comparison to total arrivals up to November 2020, likely owing to the pilot project carried out to revive the tourism industry following a 10-month pandemic-induced closure.

The inaugural flight from Warsaw to Colombo was welcomed by a celebratory water cannon salute upon arrival from Warsaw on December 8, 2021 at BIA.

The passengers were warmly welcomed with Sri Lanka Tea Board sponsored Ceylon Tea gift packs followed by a traditional Kandyan dance performance.

LOT Polish Airlines will operate three flights a week on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

EGUARDIAN has appointment Mafaz Fahrid as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Mafaz Fahrid started his career focusing on technology and today possesses 18 years of experience in the Services and Technology industry with immense experience in the domains of Cyber Security & Digital Transformation.

He joined EGUARDIAN in 2010 as a Business Development Manager to handle a key product that successfully registered year-over-year growth. Within 5 years he rose through the ranks to become the Head of Business Development and International Operations. In 2020, Mafaz was promoted as the Vice President for Sales and Operations and by 2021 he was competent to take up the challenge as the CEO of EGUARDIAN. Throughout his career, Mafaz has been awarded and recognized as one of the most valuable employees of EGUARDIAN and has bagged the Chairman’s Award several times.

During his tenure, Mafaz spearheaded the forming of multiple teams across the company from Sales to Technical. He played a key role in representing the company at international forums and conferences, built the channel ecosystems from the ground up, introduced new business trends and created new markets by differentiating services. He was also instrumental in driving EGUARDIAN’s cyber security practices to become a leading revenue generator across the region, spearheading digital transformation engagement while also assisting many start-ups to be a part of the ecosystem.

Nabhan Akeel – MD/Director Shihan Annon – Director of EGUARDIAN stated, “His journey in the company has certainly been an inspirational one. His passion and dedication are unparalleled and his record shows how much value he brings to the company. We are sure he will do an outstanding job as the CEO as we look to expand our footprint in the region.”

Chairman of BOI -  Sanjaya Mohottala along with Acting Country Managing Director for Sri Lanka and Director of Group Strategy of edotco - Gayan Koralage, Director Finance edotco Sri Lanka - Chamika Ranasinghe and officials from edotco and BOI at BOI head office.  

edotco Services Lanka (Private) Limited (edotco) signed an agreement with Board of Investment Sri Lanka (BOI) recently to include a further 400 Multipurpose Smart Street Lamp pole locations, to its investment portfolio.

edotco Sri Lanka is a fully owned subsidiary of the world 7th largest telecommunication tower infrastructure company, edotco Group Sdn Bhd, based out of Malaysia. edotco was granted BOI Section 17 status in 2015. Aligned with its Group’s purpose of helping nations to advance its digital infrastructure in all the countries it operates, edotco has pledged an investment commitment of USD 55 million in 2019.

Today, edotco has built close to 500 streetlamp poles and invested close to USD 15 million in tower infrastructure since it entered the Sri Lankan market. The additional commitment of 400 smart streetlamp poles will help Mobile Network Operators and other technology services providers to enhance their network capacity and coverage to meet the emerging demand of increased data usage by the end customers.

The innovative and sustainable smart pole solution will reduce data congestion, provide positive customer experience and contribute to the nation’s digital ambition by addressing the digital infrastructure readiness for future advanced technology.

The Country Managing Director of edotco, Gayan Koralage, said: “We are committed and are relentless in our pursuit to help the country rollout its national digital infrastructure agendas to connect the unconnected and under-connected citizens.

The post-pandemic data boom has forced citizens to do more remotely on digital platforms which rely heavily on mobile internet availability, stability, and speed. We are committed to helping the Government enable digital connectivity by delivering next-gen engineering solutions.”

LOLC General Insurance Limited has announced an Initial Public Offering (IPO) which will open on December 16, 2021. 120,000,000 shares held by LOLC Asset Holdings Limited will be offered for sale at a price of Rs. 7.90 per share.

The offer size will amount to Rs. 948,000,000. Post IPO LOLC Group Companies; LOLC Asset Holdings Limited will have a shareholding of 63.75% and LOLC Financial Sector Holdings (Pvt) Ltd will have a shareholding of 26.25%.

LOLC General Insurance Limited is one of the fastest growing General Insurance Companies in Sri Lanka.

The LOLC Group is one of Sri Lanka’s largest diversified Financial Conglomerates with international presence. Being part of such a large conglomerate enables LOLC General Insurance to benefit through synergies within the Group. LOLC General Insurance has a steady stream of business from captive channels within the LOLC Group’s finance and leasing operations.

Leveraging on the LOLC Group’s global synergies and expansions, LOLC General Insurance has expanded its operation into Cambodia. The Company currently owns a 45% stake in Serendib Micro Insurance PLC in Cambodia. Furthermore, the Company is well placed to replicate its strategy in Sri Lanka in the future and in other offshore markets where LOLC Group has already an established presence.

LOLG General Insurance Chief Executive Officer, Kithsiri Gunawardena (Pictured) stated, “We are excited with the prospect of being able to highlight our performance and share our success with the public by becoming Listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Strong reliance on the latest technology, innovative thinking and the commitment of our staff to provide exceptional customer service has propelled the company to become the fastest growing General Insurance Company.”

The IPO is managed by Capital Trust Partners (Pvt) Ltd and P W Secretarial (Pvt) Ltd. The IPO price per share of LKR.7.90 offers an immediate upside of 49.4% to an incoming investor on the value per share of LKR. 11.80; derived from a combination of discounted cash flow (DCF) and forward-earnings ratio (PER) valuation method.

Central Banks or Governments have not regulated cryptocurrency. Therefore, a paradigm shift is required in order to adapt to it.

These sentiments were expressed at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2021, organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Addressing a session titled, ‘Charting a Path towards a Technology Hub’ at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2021, key speakers at the session Srimathi Shivashankar -Corporate VP and Program Director -New Vistas, HCL and Dinesh Saparamadu, Chairman-hSenid Business Solutions emphasised the need to promote Sri Lanka as a destination to become the world’s first green ICT/BPO sector.

“ICT and BPO industry has grown consistently between 7-8 % and is aiming to be USD 5 billion industry in 2025. However, resource scale up is a challenge. focus is required on capacity building of talent and promoting women technopreneurship.”

“We have come from agricultural exports, then we went to manufacturing with apparel, but I think the greatest and the most accelerated foreign exchange growth is going to be this industry. And what we need to do is to invite the traditional companies that have been in both agriculture and manufacturing to get involved in our industry,” said Dinesh Saparamadu.

It was also recommended at the event to improve the human base and driving the industry’s growth exponentially can be achieved by providing nano degrees which are 4-6 month concentrate courses; by conversion programmes particularly for Arts graduates; and building more universities

Both speakers also highlighted the need to enable the next generation of start up while accelerating the opportunities in traditional and non-traditional tech firms.

Sheryl Sandberg once said “When it comes time to settle down, find someone who wants an equal partner. Someone who thinks women should be smart, opinionated and ambitious. Someone who values fairness and expects or even better, wants to do his share in the home.” When marriage bars the doors of opportunities for some girls, for Chairperson of Royal Touch Ceylon Tea and Ingine Lanka, Dr. Farida S. Bondarenko it was quite the opposite.

Her marriage paved the way for her to emerge as a businesswoman who ushered novel ideas into the business world dominated by men. Born in Colombo, receiving her education at Good Shepherd Convent she did not have time to pursue a career because of her early marriage. Yet she was able to uncover her talents in Russia as she accompanied her husband, a Russian Diplomat. Daily News Business this lady who is also an international business and investment consultant.

Q: How did you experience Russia at first, when you arrived there?

A: In 1998, I married a Russian diplomat and went to Moscow with him. It was at the end of August, when we arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport, that the Russian authorities announced a default - one of the most severe economic crises in the history of Russia. In addition to internal reasons, the crisis was influenced by two significant external factors: a sharp decline in world prices for fuel and energy complex goods (and Russia has always depended on their prices) and the crisis in Southeast Asia, which broke out in mid-1997. Without going into details, I will say that the crisis has undermined the confidence of foreign investors and the population in Russian banks and the state as a whole, the ruble has been devalued. Millions of people lost their savings, thousands of enterprises went bankrupt. The banking system was paralyzed for at least six months, and several major banks declared bankruptcy.

Q:How did you respond to this situation?

A: For a year,like everyone in Moscow, I was in a state of shock. But the shock passed, it was necessary to do something, find solutions from the created difficult situation. Having met with leading Russian politicians and businessmen, in 2000 I created the All-Russian Fund for Afro-Asian Development. I must say that in order to register the name “All-Russian Foundation” with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, it was necessary to open its representative offices in more than 40 regions of Russia. We have been doing this for almost two years.

Q: What is the main focus of All-Russian Foundation?

A: We focused on investments in the Russian regions: the regions were in urgent need of the latest foreign technologies of developed countries. The trade-in timber, hydrocarbons, oil and coal was successful. At the same time, Russian products in the field of mechanical engineering, machine tool construction, chemistry, and even the automotive industry were well bought by partners in Africa. Two years later, we decided to stop the work of the Fund, focusing only on cooperation with the countries of Northeast Asia. Even then, this region became a driver of global economic growth, and these countries began to be called “Asian Tigers”.

Direct dialogue with our Asian partners, who have become the most powerful industrial holdings with advanced technologies and huge investment and financial potential, has allowed us to find completely new ways of organising, managing and subsequently putting into effect mechanisms for foreign trade cooperation. Northeast Asia produces almost the entire range of modern products-from sophisticated equipment to light industry and agricultural goods.

Thanks to our work, Russian businesses have the opportunity to directly attract the capital of the Asian Tigers, implement their own investment and trade programs, and effectively use foreign trade and exhibition sites. Including, and maybe, first of all, electronic ones. It is no secret that we used the weak side of officials who work abroad - bureaucracy and disinterest in the result. A private company can do this much more efficiently and faster. However, you have to pay money for this.

Q: How did it make you feel to be a woman in business in another country?

A: Work has never scared me. On the contrary, I like to solve difficult technological and organisational tasks. I had to fly a lot around Russia, and it is very big: from Moscow to Vladivostok, even by plane, you have to fly for more than 9 hours!

In 2003, I was offered to become a member of the Club of the Council of Entrepreneurs under the Mayor and the Government of Moscow. It was a great honour for me. I don’t know about it now, but then I was the first Sri Lankan member of this Club. In the same year, I became the “Hero of the Year” according to the magazine “Ogonyok” - one of the most popular Russian magazines. Together with me, Valentina Matvienko became the “ Politician of the Year”. To this day, she is the Speaker of the Federation Council (the Upper House of the Russian Parliament), a Senator from St. Petersburg. It was then that I first received an invitation from her to this city, which I loved and accepted with all my heart.

In Russia, I began to be called the “Ceylon Princess” because I never forgot about my homeland. I used my popularity to promote Ceylon tea, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and I also published a unique book “Russians in Ceylon” which includes rare documents from Russian archives that have never been published before about Russian-Ceylon diplomatic, trade and economic relations. The book aroused great interest - after all, the great Russian writers Chekhov, Bunin, and the last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas, visited Ceylon. I think, after reading it, many Russians wanted to visit our amazingly beautiful country.

Q:You also worked in Korea. What kind of experience did you gain there?

A: In 2010 President Vladimir Putin sent my husband to South Korea as a Trade Representative of Russia. The first year or two I was quite bored because sitting and doing nothing is not in my nature. I sat down for textbooks and defended my dissertation in absentia at the Moscow University of Finance and Law. After three years of study, constant flights to Russia and back, in 2015, I finally received a PhD (law) on the topic of protecting the rights of migrants in Russia. This topic has interested me for a long time since my time at the University. Unfortunately, I didn’t work a single day in my specialty.

At one of the business meetings, we met with representatives of a Korean company that worked in the field of alternative, namely wave energy. They have just completed the testing of new technologies, received a patent and all the necessary licences. They were going to try them out in Indonesia. That is when I suggested them to try it out in Sri Lanka instead of Indonesia. I must say that at this time a real boom in the field of alternative energy began in Korea. The government has set a task to gradually get rid of coal and nuclear energy in the next 15 years and increase the share of renewable sources to 20 % by 2030, to become a carbon-neutral country by 2050. Already, by the end of 2020, the installed capacity of solar energy alone in South Korea was 16 Gwt7. Therefore, the task set by the Government - to reach the target of 30.8 GW in 2030-looked quite achievable.

Speaking at the 2019 AFORE World Forum on Renewable Energy on Jeju Island (Korea) I suggested that Korean and international investors pay attention to Sri Lanka, which has everything necessary for the development of energy using the sun, water and wind. By that time, we had already been working with Koreans in Sri Lanka for two years on wave energy and we had something to say to foreign investors and specialists. We continued this work by organizing the Korean-Sri Lankan Forum “Creating Opportunities for Sustainability, Digital Technology & Investments” in 2020, which was attended by the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Korea and the Korean Ambassador to our country.

Now I am the head of the company Ingin Lanka, which I created, which actively advises foreign investors who want to work in Sri Lanka in the field of renewable energy and tries to attract the latest technologies and financial resources in this area to our country.

Q: Does your business interest extend only to cooperation with Korea?

A: Of course not. As the Vice-President of the Korean-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I often had to meet with many Russian businessmen. Of course, they often talked about the possibility of Russian business working in our country.

The fact is that until recently, Russia was not well known in the field of developing alternative energy technologies. This was quite understandable: Russia has enough oil, coal and gas, unlike, for example, Europe or the countries of Northeast Asia. But gradually the Russians came to understand the global trend: oil and coal may run out. In addition, harmful emissions from their combustion will sooner or later cause issues with their export. And they began to seriously engage in the development of this area. Russia has internationally recognized developments and technologies, successes that they are ready to share with Sri Lanka. Now, having returned from Korea after 10 years of work, I am negotiating with the largest Russian players in the field of renewable energy and I hope that our negotiations will lead to practical results, as it happened with the Koreans.

Q: Do you currently live in Russia?

A: I live “in three countries”: my husband and son live in Moscow, my daughter is completing a master’s degree at Yonsei University in Seoul, and my business is now mainly in Sri Lanka.

Do you only overlook the alternative energy projects in Sri Lanka?

No, not only. In 2014, I created the Royal Touch Tea company in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, there is little tea drinking in Korea. They mostly drink coffee. But 180 million people live in the Eurasian Union, which was created after the collapse of the USSR. In all these countries including Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, tea is traditionally very popular!

Unfortunately, now the import of Ceylon tea from Russia has left the first position, losing to Indian and Chinese. Teas from Kenya, Vietnam, Indonesia appeared on the market. I would like to continue to promote Ceylon tea, promote not only my tea but also other Sri Lankan companies that produce this wonderful drink to the markets of the Eurasian Union. I know that our embassy in Moscow is doing a lot in this direction, but the fact remains that Russia is now only the third-largest importer of Ceylon tea in the world. We need to change this situation.

But tea is only a part of our trade turnover. I believe that the Russian-Lankan trade and economic cooperation has great prospects! Even though the trade turnover of our countries is quite small, almost $500 million (the maximum figure was $ 732.6 million in 2013), the potential is enormous. Russia supplies us with mineral products, oil and products of its processing, chemicals, wood, pulp and paper products.

I believe that a serious market is a supply of generating equipment (turbine, generator and boiler equipment, as well as transformers for hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants ( potentially “Power machines”), the construction of power plants (presumably ROTEC), the supply of gas turbine and gas pumping equipment (presumably “ United Engine Company”). I know that Novatek is studying the possibility of implementing gas industry projects in Sri Lanka, Gazprom Neft is planning to supply petroleum products, and KAMAZ and UAZ are planning to cooperate in the field of transport. At a meeting with AndreyBoguinsky, the General Director of the Russian Helicopters company, we discussed the possibility of technical support for Russian-made helicopters operated in our country and the sale of new machines.

Sri Lanka, in turn, has repeatedly expressed interest in cooperation in the field of information and telecommunications technologies. The Sri Lankan business has repeatedly stated its interest in acquiring Russian agricultural machinery, trucks, tractors and various industrial devices, which, perhaps, can not only be imported but also assembled in Sri Lanka for further export to other countries.

I am sure that by localising their production in Sri Lanka, Russian manufacturers will be able to supply their goods to the territory of SAARC countries, as well as countries with which Sri Lanka has Free Trade Agreements. With this, they will be able to significantly reduce their logistics costs and customs fees.

Q: What do you think is holding back the growth of trade turnover?

A: The weak point in our trade, I believe, remains the ignorance or inability of Russian businessmen to participate in regional and state tenders of our country. Now our team is ready to take on not only the commercial representation of Russian exporters when participating in tenders, but also in organising business missions to Russia and Sri Lanka, exhibitions and providing consulting assistance on standardisation, certification and conformity assessment of products of Sri Lankan and Russian exporters.

Milco (Pvt) Ltd had its latest launch of delicious Premium Dairy Ice-Cream from Highland in a grand scale at the Cargills Food City of Colombo City Centre premises on December 3, 2021 with the participation of well attended gathering maintaining all health guide lines.

Highland newly launched Creamy Dairy Ice Cream with, natural fruits and flavoured varieties are packed in a lovely paper based 100% eco friendly paper tub. This novel idea is a result of Milco’s active contribution to Sri Lanka and the world’s efforts to break free from plastics and polythene.

High quality of Highland products is guaranteed by the qualified best trained experienced staff of Milco. They are usually in the habit of maximizing the production as Highland always gives the best. The hidden theme of the product is the guaranteed freshness and naturalness of the ingredients added. Hence this time it has introduced the flavour fit for a king.

The latest flavours are consisted with the real wood apple, strawberry, passion fruit, mixed berry and coffee which makes the whole thing so lip-smacking and yummy. It is made with the best quality cow’s milk collected from the dairy farmers of the country and with no fat except dairy cream. The fruits required for new products are procured from small scale entrepreneurs.

Maharsha Edirisihnghe Manager Quality Control Research and Development Milco Private Limited addressing the gathering

Sanjeewa Fernando General Manager Marketing Cargills Ceylon and Mr. Kumara Jayarathne – Deputy General Manager Operations Milco Private Limited at the memorable hour of the launch

Niluka Widanapathirana General Manager Cargills Ceylon and  Maharsha Edirisinghe Manager Quality Control Research and Development Milco Private Limited; serving the latest Highland Delicacy

Indika Perera Chief Operating Officer Cargills Ceylon and Sudath Munasinghe General Manager Milco Private Limited at the launching Ceremony

Prasanga Gamage Manager Inventory Management  Cargills Ceylon and  Asela Perera Area Manager Milco Private Limited sharing delicacies

Colombo City Centre (CCC) Mall along with Ebert Silva Holidays (Private) Limited launched the CCC Social double-decker bus, a much-needed travel experience where CCC shoppers can discover all that Colombo has to offer on a bus tour covering some of the most iconic buildings and monuments in the city of Colombo. The best part is that this entire tour is absolutely free of charge exclusively for all CCC shoppers!

On the CCC social bus tour, one can discover the magic of Colombo and learn more about the history; live commentary will be presented by a professional tourist board-certified guide who will be part of this special tour.

Travellers can learn the significance of each site along the route and witness Colombo through a new lens as the ride allows you to catch a glimpse of our rich culture and heritage through the preserved pieces of history that hide in plain sight. Thus, it is also a great educational tour, especially for children to learn more about Colombo and the history of Sri Lanka.

CCC social tour has the added advantage of being endlessly convenient as all you just have to do is park, shop, dine-in and simply hop on the bus. The tours will all start and end at Colombo City Centre. To hop on the CCC social bus the shoppers simply must present their invoices of shopping done at any retail outlet at CCC to the concierge desk and obtain a free travel pass.

The CCC social bus tour will last 90 minutes and travel about 25kms, taking you on a journey around town that will change your entire perspective on Colombo City with true historical stories about the sites.

The tours will be operated on Saturdays and Sundays with three tours each day timed at 11.30 a.m. 1 p.m. and 2.30 p.m.

During the tour, there will be two stops at the Colombo Museum and the Independence Square, where passengers can choose to hop off at these two stops, explore the locations and re-join the tour on the next rounds.

Colombo City Centre Mall launched this special bus tour to make all people, local or foreign fall in love with Colombo and provide an opportunity to truly appreciate the city.The CCC Social Bus itself is unique and beautifully designed, to capture the eyes of Colombo and make the tour itself a marvel of the city. This bus will take a great route through the city, with some of the main monuments of Colombo.

This route has been carefully planned in order to showcase as much of the city as possible.

Abans PLC will join hands with Study Buddy in taking forward this new initiative to every village, town and city in the island.

As a home-grown conglomerate with over 50 years of experience, Abans has met the needs of Sri Lankans in every corner of the country, with the most diverse portfolio of global and local brands and products.

Abans PLC will be promoting the Study Buddy package as one of their key CSR initiatives during the year 2021-2022, to all students across Sri Lanka who are in need of proper educational facilities and will greatly benefit from Study Buddy.

Armed with a network of over 400 showrooms in every area, Abans is ready and prepared to support the local public with a Corporate Social Responsibility project that aligns with the company’s vision to build sustainable communities.

Though starting off last week with a focus on the G.C.E.(O/L) examination, Study Buddy is planning to eventually cover all school grades in order to expand the offline educational revolution. It is important to note that Study Buddy conforms to the school curriculum set by the Government.

Since the lessons are taught by highly experienced Government teachers, Study Buddy can offer guaranteed results.

A launch in this regard was held last week at Galadari and it was pointed out that the unexpected disruption of children’s education was a direct outcome of such challenges. Should we permit the obstacles brought about by these uncertain times to affect our children, especially in the field of education? No, definitely not.

So, we identified the obstacles that stand in the way of children’s education, and we found an alternative way of removing such obstacles. Study Buddy is the name of that alternative. How, then, can Study Buddy be the alternative method to remove the obstacles? It is simple. The biggest barrier to children’s education at a time like this is the use of technology: that is, data, online or internet connections. The alternative we are offering is a way of obtaining education without the need for data. This creative method comes in the form of a memory card that is compatible with any smart equipment.

Study Buddy is simply the use of a memory card to give a child easy access to his or her syllabus: that is, by working offline instead of online. When this small memory card is inserted by a child into his or her smart equipment, an internal App called “Play O/L“will appear. Thereafter, this App will display the student’s syllabus. The child is now ready to do his studies without online or data facilities. This is Sri Lanka’s only offline educational revolution.

The Study Buddy memory card has 64 GB capacity. At present, it covers Grades 10 and 11. Study Buddy has already rendered a great service in Sinhala medium to students who are paying special attention to their G.C.E.(O/L) exam. The memory card covers subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Sinhala Language, English Language, History, Geography, Entrepreneurial Education, Business and Accounting Studies, and ICT.

A student may ask what are the contents to be found under each subject heading. The answer is that video lessons are found under each subject heading. Believe it or not, there are 1,289 lessons for Grade 10 alone, and for Grade 11, it is 1,085. The video content for these two Grades amount to over 70,000 minutes.

Study Buddy took notice of the fact that many children are currently preparing for the G.C.E. (O/L) examination. As a way to better prepare them for the exam, Study Buddy has included revision video lessons, too. These videos contain past question papers of 2018, 2019 and 2020. The total video time, inclusive of revision lessons, amount to over 70,000 minutes.

Study Buddy is adding further value on behalf of the children by including an English course called English For All, which is designed to provide the knowledge they need for the future. The specialty here is that the course enables the student to learn the language in a simple manner from the basics. In addition to children, even adults may, if necessary, follow the English For All course to improve their own knowledge.

Do you imagine that this is all the Study Buddy memory card can do? No, not at all. For students of Grades 10 and 11, Study Buddy provides two workbooks based on questions and answers. These workbooks are given free of charge.

More than 2,500 questions and answers are included in these workbooks, which will help parents monitor a child’s progress in studies.

There is hardly anything more to add about this offline educational revolution. Regardless of internet facilities and network signals, or the parent’s inability to pay for expensive internet packages, Study Buddy can play the role of a school that is always readily available within a child’s reach. That is, regardless of whether the child regularly attends school or focuses on tuition classes. Since classes are already being held online, a student has nothing to lose by not attending school.

Study Buddy is brought to children as a joint endeavour of Techs as International (Pvt) Ltd. and Learn TV. Techs as International (Pvt) Ltd. is a reputed company which has many years of experience in marketing smart equipment, while Learn TV is the leading production house for educational videos in Sri Lanka.

 Cycle Pure Agarbathi, a certified carbon neutral incense brand, strengthened its long-standing support for cricket by partnering with the Sri Lanka Cricket, as the title sponsor partner for the South Africa tour inSeptember 2021.This wasannounced during a virtual press conference held prior to the South Africa tour of Sri Lanka in early September - to announce the partners as well as a pre-series briefing. The conference was addressed by Arjun Ranga, MD, Cycle Pure Agarbathi, SubrmaniamEassuwaren, VC, Eswaran Brothers Exports Pvt Ltd, Rakhil Fernando, MD, Daraz Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka Cricket Captain Dasun Shanaka.

Speaking on the association during the press conference,Mr.ArjunRanga, Cycle Pure Agarbathi, said, "It is an honour for Cycle Pureincenseto be associated with the Sri Lanka Cricket. This initiative will strengthen our association and reaffirm our commitment to cricket and the Sri Lankan market. Cricket has been an important part of our brand's journey since our inception and it has worked brilliantly for our brand. It is a sport that unites us all, and we would like to be associated with all such genuine emotions and expressions of reverence. We have always tried to foster a sense of respect and adulation in our products, and this association is a logical manifestation of this vision."

Cycle Pure will be Prayer partners and sponsors for the next 4 home series played in Sri Lanka. The local (Cycle Sri Lanka) slogan – ‘Fragrance of Hope’ has been exactly what Sri Lanka Cricket has been experiencing. Cycle partnered with Sri Lanka Cricket at a very crucial juncture when not many believed or backed the Sri Lankan team at the time due to their ill-discipline and lackluster performances. However, since becoming prayer partners and sponsors of Sri Lanka Cricket, the team has completely evolved back to it’s former glory. The team went on to win series vs South Africa, whitewash the Oman series and performed like a world class side during the T20 World Cup last month and now just concluded a successful whitewash against the West Indies in a 2 match test series at the Galle Cricket Stadium. This made the Sri Lankan Cricket team rise to the top of the World Test Championship table.

Both Cycle Sri Lanka and Cycle Pure Agarbathi have played a vital role behind the scenes for Sri Lanka Cricket. The lion nation is fortunate and blessed to have been backed by global brand that provides for the betterment of the overall sport.

Cycle Pure Incense will be official prayer partners for the following tours:

* Australia tour of Sri Lanka in June 2022, which will consist of 3 T20Is, 5 ODIs and 2 Tests.

* West Indies - 2 Test match tour of Sri Lanka in October 2022, which Cycle Pure will be Title sponsors as well.

* 4 ODI - Tri Nation tour of Ireland vs South Africa vs Sri Lanka in January 2023, which will be a Co-sponsored tour by Cycle Pure.

Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA) forwarded the following letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on December 6 with regard to the Sialkot Incident

“The brutal murder of a professional of Sri Lanka, Priyantha Kumara Diyawadanage, who has been a Manager at Rajco Industries at Sialkot for over 10years, has deeply shocked all Sri Lankans.

We, the Organization of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka, as the apex body of 52 professional associations in Sri Lanka condemn this act of brutality in no uncertain terms.’

“We, as a friendly nation of Pakistan, earnestly request you to carry out the justice to the family of Diyawadanage and prosecute the culprits with full severity of the law.’

CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike noted that there was a trend towards mandatory ESG reporting as part of the listing rules of major stock exchanges the world over.

Bandaranaike said that currently 24 of the 105 exchanges involved in the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative had made ESG reporting mandatory. In 2018 this figure stood at 18 representing a 33% growth.

Bandaranaike was speaking on December 7at a webinar titled ‘Addressing Investor Needs Through Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) reporting’ organized by the Global Reporting Initiative.

Bandaranaike noted that even though not mandatory, many Sri Lankan companies used globally accepted frameworks for the reporting of their relevant ESG data. Bandaranaike noted that companies had realized the value of collating and publishing this information for the benefit of all stakeholders. Director GRI South Asia Aditi Haldar noted that there was a need for a ‘global common language’ for the compilation of ESG data. She said, “We must have an informed dialogue on the external impacts of a company.” Haldar noted that the standard was used across every sector and country on the planet.

CSE Head of Finance and Administration Kusal Nissanka noted that the data showed a positive correlation between companies that were concerned with ESG reporting and their stock returns. He noted that stakeholders also looked at ESG reporting as a good litmus test on how companies were managing their costs and as a result how strong the management was.

S&P Regional Head Koel Ghosh noted that sustainability reporting had grown very advanced and that firms were looking at very complex and abstract notions of sustainability like net-zero emissions and carbon offsets. Ghosh underscored the importance of ESG reporting to institutional investors and supporting institutions like S&P in their decision making.

Australian High Commission First Secretary Erika Seymour underpinned the Australian government’s support for the ESG reporting framework. Australia has looked to have leadership in the ESG reporting framework and has promoted initiatives across South Asia notably in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Advocata’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI) which tracks the monthly changes in the price of a basket of commonly consumed food items recorded the highest retail prices since 2019.

Since 2019, prices have increased by 44%. This means that an average family, who spent Rs. 960 weekly on the BCI basket of food items in November 2019 now has to pay Rs 1,390 for the same basket of goods just two years later.

Retail prices year on year have shown an increase of 35%. However, the food items that have increased the most in the past month alone are tomatoes (206%), beans (33%) and green chilli (23%).

The BCI tracks the weekly retail prices in the Colombo market of the most commonly consumed food ingredients that might be used in a typical Buth curry meal. The prices are collected from the Weekly Indicators that the Central Bank publishes.

The Grand Kandyan welcomed Chief of the Army Staff (India) – General Major Mukund Narvane recently on his official visit to Kandy. Here the Chief of the Army Staff (India) is signing the Visitors Book at the Grand Kandyan Hotel on his departure from the hotel. General Manager of the Grand Kandyan Thusith Samaraweera, and the Assistant Manager T.N. Amit look on. A memento was also handed over to Hotel GM, Thusith Samaraweera.

Prasantha Fernando - Chief Executive Officer of HNBA & HNBGI, Lasitha Wimalaratne – Chief Operating Officer of HNBA and Sithumina Jayasundara - Chief Operating Officer of HNBGI

HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) and its fully owned subsidiary HNB General Insurance Limited (HNBGI) posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 465 million (excluding surplus transfers from the Life Fund which will be determined at the end of the year following the valuation of the Life Fund) for the nine months ended September 2021. The Group recorded a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs 9 billion for the period.

Chairperson of HNBA and HNBGI, Rose Cooray said, “The business has delivered notable results during the period, demonstrating an impressive growth. Despite the on-going challenges in the market and travel restrictions which were in place, the Group delivered impressive results. The Life Business recorded a growth of 30% and the General Insurance Business recorded a growth of 9%.”

“During the period, the Group further enabled and enhanced its technology initiatives to improve resilience to face the on-going challenges as well as to provide a meaningful and distinctive experience to customers as well as other stakeholders. During the period, the Life Insurance Business recorded a GWP of Rs 5 billion and the General Insurance Business recorded a GWP of Rs 4 billion. The Net Income of the Group surpassed Rs 9.8 billion”.

“As businesses across the country are battling the aftermath challenges of the pandemic, and with the economy gradually recovering, HNBA and HNBGI will continue to adapt more agile business strategies to deliver superlative value to all our stakeholders, while advancing our mission to build a sustainable future”.

Chief Executive Officer of HNBA and HNBG1, Prasantha Fernando stated, “The Group continued its growth momentum despite the on-going impact of COVID-19, recording a 20% GWP growth during the period, whilst our on-going cost mitigation efforts and other effective business strategies in place helped bolster the Group’s bottom line. The Group settled Insurance benefits and claims over Rs 2.9 billion during the period”.

“Investment Income of the Group surpassed Rs 1.8 billion and Total Assets of the Group surpassed Rs 34.8 billion. Reaffirming the Group’s financial strength, the Life and General Insurance Funds reached values of Rs 19.8 billion and Rs 3.5 billion respectively. Both companies continued to be rated at A+ (Ika) for ‘National Insurance Financial Strength Rating’ by Fitch Ratings Lanka.”