HSBC Sri Lanka and the Maldives Chief Executive Officer Nick A Nicolaou together with the Bank’s senior staff and South Asia Partnership Sri Lanka (SAPSRI) Executive Director Dr. (Ms.) Padma Ratnayake recently visited the women entrepreneurs of the Diriya Kantha Samithiya in Kirulapone.

During his visit Nicolaou met with many women entrepreneurs who obtained financial assistance from the Bank to start up home grown businesses to sustain their livelihoods. Working in partnership with the South Asia Partnership Sri Lanka, this joint initiative has helped to identify many deserving individuals from the marginalised communities in the country. This has also created a social impact within the community, as it has enabled these women to work together as a team.

These women entrepreneurs have obtained revolving loans starting from Rs. 7,500 to Rs. 100,000 to establish their own businesses, which range from beauty salons to sale of food products, catering equipment for outdoor functions, grocery stores, clothes, producing handbags and selling fruits.

The loans have helped these women to establish and expand their businesses and improve their lives. Many had bought new equipment for their business, set up new business premises and simultaneously improved their living conditions and replaced their temporary wooden housing with more permanent structures.

In June 2006 HSBC launched the urban microfinance programme as part of its commitment to empower women and alleviate poverty in Sri Lanka. Conducted in collaboration with SAPSRI and titled "Empowering Urban Women Entrepreneurs," the programme aims to lend money to them.

Spurring rural development

The latest addition to Sampath Bank’s electronically linked branch network is located at Kumaradasa Mawatha, Wellawaya.

This branch, centrally located in the Wellawaya town strives to provide superior banking services to many customers who reside and who traverse this transit township in their day to day business. The opening of the new Sampath Bank branch has indicated a new era of banking services and facilities to the community in the area which consists of customers from many walks of life such as civil service, agriculture, fisheries, brick manufacturing, poultry, timber and other small, medium and large industries.

Sampath Bank as the pioneer in new age banking services provider is a timely and favourable solutions provider to the increase in demand for banking services in the area due to the development of industries. With a modern branch being opened, the bank aims to sustain the development of the area by providing the much needed banking solutions with a greater quality of service.

Bone China production

Noritake Lanka Porcelain (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Noritake Co., Ltd, Japan has pioneered in manufacturing Bone China Tableware in Sri Lanka.

Noritake Lanka was established in Sri Lanka in 1972 as a joint venture company between Ceylon Ceramic Corporation (CCC) and Noritake. It was the first joint venture operation between a Sri Lankan organization and a Japanese company. By that time Sri Lanka had been manufacturing only earthen tableware which is a less vitreous body, even though it had high quality raw materials to manufacture fully vitreous porcelain bodies. Noritake and CCC made a bold decision to start manufacturing Porcelain Tableware for the first time and succeeded with the start of its production in 1973.

Since then Noritake Lanka Porcelain with its brand "Noritake" has gained fame to Sri Lanka’s ceramic industry as a whole.

Tableware manufactured in the factory situated in Matale are shipped to nearly 100 countries. At present Noritake Lanka Porcelain provides employment to about 1,200 families in and around Matale and manufacture s one million pieces of fine tableware.

After 35 years, Noritake Lanka Porcelain got the consent from Noritake Japan to manufacture Bone China Tableware in Sri Lanka.

Bone China Tableware invented in UK is regarded as the ultimate evolvement in Tableware industry and is the most expensive tableware in the world. Due to the properties of its body mix, making Bone China tableware is more of a scientific process blended with art.

Natural Bone Ash contains a majority portion of the body mix. Due to this, bone china tableware has more translucency, high chip resistance, high whiteness, high thermal shock resistance and is less in weight compared with regular fine porcelain tableware. Further it has a better elegance effect compared to fine porcelain.

The Noritake Lanka Porcelain technical team with the support of Noritake Co.’s, Technical Department carried out a series of testing for several years by spending millions of rupees to achieve the present position.

Further, many technical staff were trained in Noritake’s Bone China plant in Imari, Japan. Noritake Lanka Porcelain spent more than Rs. 300 million to facilitate Bone China production in its factory in Matale. This includes modern fast firing kiln, automated forming machine and spray glazing machines.

Apart from body mix, Bone China production process has vast differences in areas such as firing techniques and glazing method when compared with the production process of the regular white porcelain. At present Bone China production process is controlled by a Japanese expert. He trains local production staff in these vital areas.

Already Noritake Lanka Porcelain has received orders for its Bone China tableware from countries such as Japan, USA and UK.

Noritake Lanka is hoping to allocate the majority of its factory capacity for Bone china production in the future as it generates more value for inputs.

Noritake Lanka Porcelain has introduced Freezer to Microwave proof designs with gold decoration-bright designs which are lead and cadmium free.

625,000 visually disabled

Phoenix Ogilvy which conceptualized several campaigns including the "Touch" & "Lantern" campaigns to raise the awareness of blindness was felicitated by the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped (SLFVH) recently.

The agency was recognized for its creative work where partner media organizations and production companies were also acknowledged for their support.

The campaigns have been instrumental in driving awareness of the Federation’s cause, making them some of the most successful communications campaigns for SLFVH. They were also a testament to Ogilvy’s creativity as the campaigns have won many local and international awards including a finalist credential at the Cannes Advertising Awards.

SLFVH Adviser Dr. Wickrama Weerasuriya said, "As Nobel winner Albert Einstein once said ‘of all the disabled, the blind need help the most. Because they are blind they do not know whom to reach out to for help." He adds that society has a responsibility towards the visually handicapped in Sri Lanka because there are additional factors that make life hard for the blind. "Most of the blind in developing countries like Sri Lanka are also poor. Hence when poverty adds to blindness it is too heavy a burden to bear," he said.

"I’m proud of the work we have done," said Phoenix Ogilvy Chairman Irvin Weerackody,

"It is important for people to understand that the blind do see the world, but that they see it in a different way. The more people are sensitive to this difference, the more aware they will become of the challenges faced by the visually handicapped."

SLFVH is an NGO established in 1990 and is dedicated to reaching out to the needs of the blind and visually disabled. The Federation assists the visually handicapped through developing housing projects for the elderly blind in the Hambantota District.

Maintaining a orphanage for blind children at Anuradhapura and also offering financial assistance to patients who cannot afford cataract lenses. SLFVH also operates an eye clinic in Colombo with volunteer optometrists offering their expertise to patients. The Clinic holds eye camps in remote areas such as Mahavilachchiya, Amparai, Kalmunai and Pilessa, offering free eye tests and spectacles to the needy.

There are over 125,000 persons in Sri Lanka who have lost complete eyesight and almost 500,000 more who are visually disabled, making the Federation’s cause an important social cause.

SLFVH’s aim is to create awareness of the blind and visually handicapped, and the issues faced by this particular disadvantaged community.

Level playing field

Tax expert on Benchmark says all politicians and government servants should pay taxes in order to ensure equality.

On last week’s edition of Benchmark, Gajma & Co., Partner N. R. Gajendran, discussed expectations of Budget 2009, with a special emphasis on taxes.

He told viewers of the weekly business programme: "2008 has been challenging as never before, because revenue was targeted to be around Rs. 750 billion. It was the first time that expenditure went over Rs. one trillion. Although it was budgeted at this figure, it may go up to Rs.1.2 or Rs. 1.5 trillion. In that event, the deficit can go up to Rs. 800 or Rs. 900 billion."

Pointing out that such a scenario would be "mind-boggling" and result in fiscal discipline escalating out of control, Gajendran warned that it would be a huge challenge for the government.

Speaking about policy changes that should be implemented to deal with errant taxpayers, he emphasised that firstly, all politicians should become liable for tax. "They and government servants must open a file and know the pain of paying taxes. This equality must be brought in," he told Benchmark’s audience of over a million potential viewers.

Despite concerns being raised in many quarters with regard to taxes, Gajendran was optimistic that taxes would not be increased, since the tax base had reached the point of exhaustion.

Addressing the issue of corruption against the backdrop of the existing taxation system, Gajendran said, "Corruption has nothing to do with a simplified or complex tax system. People will be corrupt if the leadership is corrupt."

Touching on the much-debated bailout plan for the State’s proposed budget airline, MihinAir, Gajendran said it was a highly controversial issue. "You can spend only if you have money. If you don’t have money then you have a problem. At this point of time, you can’t embark on extravagance and excessive expenditure because you might not find the money at some point or another for your basic requirements," he said.

Benchmark is presented by LMD and airs on TNL on Sundays at noon, with a repeat at 9.05 p.m. The programme is also carried over Dialog TV as well as on LBN and on Bloomberg Channel on Mondays at 10 p.m. The weekly biz show is produced by The Wrap Factory.

Hatton National Bank’s (HNB’s) inhouse system development capabilities was recognized and awarded accolades at the National Best Quality Software Awards(NBQSA) 2008 for its automated software solution the KPI Wizard, awarded the Bronze under the Research and Development Category. Meanwhile, HNB was recognized by NBQSA for its elearning system last year in which the bank was presented a Silver Award.

The elearning system allows staff members access to a variety of training modules through the banks own intranet for their personal development.

The bank’s KPI Wizard is an automated software solution that captures information across the bank’s network of branches, regions and zones where the effectiveness and contribution to bank’s performance is assessed across the organization.

"This system has benefited us in several ways-standardizing performance measures, benchmarking of performance across business units, creating a culture of continuous improvement and accountability for results."

Technology has been identified as a crucial enabler for HNB to achieve its future goals.

They are in the process of rolling out a new core banking system (Finacle)developed by Infosys India which would play a pivotal role in taking customer service standards and convenience to a new high in the future.

HSBC on Wednesday won the Brand-with-a-Conscience Award of the Year, the Grand Award of the first-ever award scheme organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing.

The award scheme aims to acknowledge the contributions of Hong Kong’s companies which are successful in branding and active in sustainability activities.

HSBC was a clear winner, taking not only the Grand Award, but also standing out in the Business Ethnics (Gold Award), Corporate Governance (Gold Award), Caring Work Environment (Gold Award), Environmental Care (Gold Award) and Community Care (Silver Award) categories.

The awards recognise HSBC’s leading position in promoting sustainability in the community.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd., Asia Pacific Region Corporate Sustainability Head Ms. Teresa Au was presented with the Brand-with-a-Conscience Grand Award by HKIM-BC Award Judging Panel Chairman Dr Chan Yan Chong and Hong Kong Institute of Marketing Chairman K Y Yim at the awards recognition Ceremony.

HSBC Asia Pacific Region Human Resources Head Nigel Fretwell also attended the ceremony to receive the Caring Work Environment (Gold Award).

Teresa Au said, "For HSBC, sustainability is about making decisions that maintain the right balance between the environment, society and the economy to ensure long-term business success. We believe that it is our duty to our customers, investors and employees to foster an ethical, responsible and sustainable corporate philosophy.

As a responsible corporate citizen, HSBC will continue to promote sustainable development in the community and inspire diverse stakeholders to join hands to work for the betterment of the community."

The awards were assessed by a well-represented judging panel and an honorary advisory board covering academics, professionals and community leaders.

Surpasses Rs.20 bn.,

Ceylinco Life’s Life Fund surpassed a milestone Rs 20 billion at the end of the third quarter of the current financial year, achieving another stability benchmark for Sri Lanka’s life insurance leader.

According to figures released by the company recently, Ceylinco Life’s Life fund stood at Rs 20.4 billion as at September 30, 2008, a Rs 4.2 billion increase over the preceding 12 months.

This represented a 26% growth over the figure at the end of the 2007 third quarter and underlined the financial strength of the company, despite the challenging macroeconomic environment and tougher local market conditions.

"Recent events have focussed greater attention on the strength and stability of financial sector companies," Ceylinco Life’s Chief Executive Director R. Renganathan said. "The Life Fund is one key benchmark for gauging stability and as the industry leader, we are pleased to be a beacon of reassurance to our policyholders and shareholders."

Pointing out that insurance companies are supervised and regulated by the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL), he said that according to the 2007 IBSL Annual Report, Ceylinco Insurance’s Life Division accounted for a market share of 33.03% on the basis of Gross Written Premium in the year reviewed.

Ceylinco Life’s Rs 6.8 billion premium income for the year ending December 2007 was Rs 2.3 billion or 53% more than the second largest life insurance business in the market, and the company’s market share was 11.43% higher, the IBSL report revealed.

Growth in premium income and market share has been consistent over the four years since the company achieved leadership, indicating that Ceylinco Life has earned and built on the trust and confidence of its target market segments, Renganathan said. According to IBSL, Ceylinco Life’s market share for 2004, 2005 and 2006 was 31.65%, 32.36% and 33.43% respectively.

Ceylinco Life is acknowledged as the benchmark for innovation in the local insurance industry for its work in product research and development, customer service and professional development.

In keeping with its vision of protecting every Sri Lankan family with insurance, the company has developed many products to make insurance affordable and appealing to diverse market segments, and today has the widest portfolio of products in the local market. This approach is supported by the company’s physical presence, with an islandwide branch network that is the largest in the industry.

Blue X’mas by govt.,

New import restrictions brought about by the government has eased the upward pressure on the US dollar, market sources told The Sunday Leader.

The dollar was commanding a Rs. 110 price in spot trading on Friday. On top of the new taxes that has been proposed in Budget 2009 for a number of imports, a few days prior to the Budget, the government imposed 100% margins on the opening of certain letters of credit, 100% margins on foreign exchange bookings and doubling the margins on vehicle imports from 100% to 200%. Though the Christmas season is now on, importers are going through a liquidity crunch because of all these additional requirements by the government, they said. As a result they are unable to make the necessary imports, the sources further said.

One off trade

The market on Friday saw a seemingly internal transfer from a local account held by a Sri Lankan corporate to its foreign account of two million shares of Distilleries done at Rs. 53.25 a share, which accounted for Rs. 106 million of Friday’s total turnover of Rs. 164.5 million.

This transaction was done below the market price, with Distilleries trading at Rs.56 whereas the transaction was done at Rs.53.25.

"If one removes this one off transaction, then Friday’s turnover is under Rs.60 million," sources said, adding that the doom and gloom scenario as far as the local bourse was concerned was still persisting.

Global recessionary fears are hitting the market and as there is no foreign investment, the market will not have a direction, they said. It’s only dominated by retailers, with local institutions and high networth individuals also keeping away, they said.

Protectionist tax

A government official defended against accusations that Budget 2009 was an import substitution budget.

Treasury Secretary Sumith Abeysinghe speaking at a budget seminar on Friday said that an import substitution regime existed in the 1970s. During that period certain imports which were thought to be a threat to locally manufactured products were banned, he said. But budget 2009 has not imposed such bans, he said. It has only increased import taxes against such imports which were thought to be a threat to local products, the Secretary said.

"Anybody can import anything provided they pay taxes, that is not import substitution," he added. "What we are now doing is to protect the local manufacturer because there are other countries which give export incentives," Abeysinghe further said.

This is to stop unhealthy competition. Every country adopts various measures to protect their local industry, the Secretary added.

Returns vs., inflation

Local insurers stand to gain due to the high interest rate regime as most of their assets have been invested in gilt edged securities, Ms. Marina Tharmaratnam, CEO Union Assurance plc said. However, Managing Director Aitken Spence plc Rajan Brito who also spoke at this event organized by insurers on Wednesday warned that inflation would eat into those returns. Brito, who is also chairman of DFCC Bank said that banks’ non performing assets were increasing because of the economic downturn.

Silencer System

Wartsila has introduced a novel engine exhaust noise reduction system that could eventually make conventional single unit diesel engine silencers a thing of the past. Designed for applications where little or no engine noise is an operational requirement, such as passenger ships and ferries, offshore and military vessels, Wärtsilä’s Compact Silencer System (CSS) is a patented method for designing the complete exhaust systems using multiple silencer elements distributed along the exhaust pipe. (Marine Talk)

Facing the crisis

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will host a seminar on the Global Economic Slowdown: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities on Friday where internationally renowned and eminent academic and financial sector representatives will present their views on the topic.

Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands Senior Lecturer Dr. Howard Nicholas will speak on "World Economic Crisis, Recession and the coming shift in global economic power" during the sessions.

Nicholas’s research interests range from Macroeconomic dynamics of developing market-oriented economies, the operation of financial markets in developing market-oriented economies and the nature and operation of business cycles (particularly in a global setting). He has many publications and recorded predictions to his name and has served Sri Lanka under many roles previously.

Following Nicholas would be World Bank’s South Asia Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit Director Dr. Earnesto May who will speak on "Global Financial Crisis-Implications and Options."

A panel discussion would follow with ADB Country Director Dr. Richard Vokes, HSBC Deputy CEO and Corporate Banking Head Trevine Fernandopulle and John Keells Holdings PLC Group Finance Director Ronnie Peiris participating.

42 cos., at WTM

This year, 42 companies, including eight small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will participate at the World Travel Market (WTM) , the second largest global tourism event after ITB, and will be held at the Excel Centre, over four days beginning tomorrow .

The local delegation will be headed by Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda and will include Secretary George Michael, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Renton de Alwis and Managing Director, Dileep Mudadeniya along with the director the UK office Sanjika Perera.

At the WTM,the Minister will appoint WTM Chairman Tom Nutley as a tourism brand ambassador.

Graduate employability

Over 92% of graduates passed out from Moratuwa University (MU) in the 2007/08 academic year. Of those only 3% were unemployed three months after graduation.

More than 70% of them were employed in the private sector. Cost to the State in churning out a graduate from MU: US$ 5,000-MU Vice Chancellor Prof. Malik Ranasinghe speaking at a function on Tuesday.

95 vie for top spot

An "Annual Report Competition"organized by a local accountancy body has attracted 95 entries, up from 70 last year.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) President Nishan Fernandotold reporters on Wednesday (November 5) that companies’ accounting practices are enhanced and value addition generated to the numbers displayed, when they participate in such competitions.

He said that 75 of the applications received were from listed companies while the balance were from the State controlled commercial banks, NGOs and chambers of commerce organizations.

The awards presentation will be held on November 27.

Indian fabric

The devaluation of the Indian rupee would enable the local garment industry to look at sourcing their fabric requirements from the Sub-Continent, a garment exporter said.

Ajith Dias, Chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), the apex body of the country’s garment sector said on Thursday the industry sources its fabric requirements worth US$ one billion annually from the Far East.

The industry is a US$ 3.2 billion venture, he said.

This was due to a quality problem when trying to source this item from India, he said.

Quality plays a big role, because Sri Lanka’s target market is not the mass market, but the middle to upper-end markets, said Dias.

Dias further said that India has devalued its rupee by 20%. In contrast, the Sri Lanka rupee, the US dollar and the Japanese yen are three of the world’s strongest currencies, he claimed.

Dias was speaking at an apparel industry and fabric exhibition which opened at the BMICH on Thursday.

Cairns makes US$74mn., PAT

Consolidated revenue of Cairn India Ltd., that has been granted an exploration licence to explore for oil and natural gas in the Mannar Basin for third quarter (Q3) of 2008 was Indian Rs. (Rs.) 3,206 million (US$ 73.5 million), up from Q3 2007 figure of Rs. 2,658 million (US$ 65.6 million).

Cconsolidated Profit after tax for Q3 2008 was Rs. 2,933 million (US$ 67.2 million) up over Q3 2007 figure of Rs. 232 million (US$ 5.7 million).

Gross production of operating units was 65,566 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in Q3 2008 (75,280 boepd in Q3 2007).

The average oil price realisation in Q3 2008 was US$ 116.3/bbl and for Q3 2007 was US $77.2/bbl. The gas price realisation in Q3 2008 was US $ 4.1/mscf on par with the corresponding quarter last year.

ICT Olympiad

Search to find four students to participate in an international ICT Olympiad that will be held in Bulgaria in August 2009 is now underway.

International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), a global computer science competition, has seen Sri Lanka participated in all IOIs since 1992, having won three golds, seven silver and 17 bronze medals to date.

Sri Lanka’s success at the IOI rests on 2 factors – identifying and attracting talented students and extensive training in computer programming and problem solving conducted by past IOI medal winners. Even though the IOI is a computer programming competition, knowledge of computer programming is NOT a requirement to apply – the initial stages of the selection process will only test for problem solving ability, and computer programming skills will be developed during the training period. Sri Lanka’s participation at the IOI is organized by the University of Colombo School of Computing.

Audit committees

The Colombo Stock Exchange Listing Rules now requires a minimum number of independent non executive directors to be members of the audit committees of listed companies. The new Companies Act No.7 of 2007 also increases accountability and responsibility of directors.

Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) and KPMG having identified that there is an evolving role and commitment of audit committee members and board members to implement effective audit committee processes have organized a breakfast meeting on "Exploring Expectations of Audit Committee Effectiveness at Hilton Colombo Residencies on November 19.

The responsibility assigned to or assumed by the board and audit committees for the oversight of significant business risks facing the company and the coordination of risk oversight activities will be one area that will be reviewed and discussed at this meeting.

The keynote speaker will be KPMG India founding partner Sammy Medora.

The panellists will be Colombo Stock Exchange Chairman Nihal Fonseka, John Keells Holdings PLC Group Finance Director Ronnie Peiris, Securities & Exchange Commission Director General Channa de Silva and KPMG Partner Reyaz Mihular.

Employing the disabled

The EFC Employers’ Network on Disability has over the last eight years succeeded in providing employment opportunities to over 200 disabled persons in various enterprises.

The Network presently consists of 32 companies which have demonstrated enthusiasm to promote job opportunities for the disabled.

Last year the Network released a publication on "Barrier Free Access to the Disabled," which helped employers to understand regulations on accessibility.

The Network has now produced six movies (Each movie of duration of 5 to 6 minutes) in order to raise public awareness and encourage more employers to consider offering job opportunities to the disabled.

Quite apart from employers, civil society should also be aware of the capabilities of disabled persons and the need to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their skills.

EFC in this connection will be launching the six movies at Cinnamon Grand Hotel on November 13.

Management fees reduced

NAMAL Money Market Fund managers have decided to reduce the present fee from 1% per annum to 0.60% per annum, a 0.40% per annum reduction with immediate effect.

Coals to Newcastle

First Global Investments (FGI), a Sri Lanka- based Islamic finance solutions provider completed its training assignment for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s (ADCB) venture into Islamic banking known as Meethaq.

The FGI team comprising President Muhammed Ikram Thowfeeq, CEO Sabri Abdul Cader and Shari’ah Board Member Sheikh Yoosuf. They were in the UAE for four weeks to train ADCB’s over 1,000-strong workforce in Islamic Banking and Finance which is a fast emerging sector of banking, particularly in the Middle East.

The following Islamic banking products and services were covered in the training sessions: Murabaha Auto Finance, Murabaha Personal Finance, Home Finance (Ijara) and Islamic Liability Products.

ADCB is the third largest banking group in the UAE and enjoys one of the largest deposit bases with total assets at over USD 106.2 billion.

It was selected as Euromoney’s Best Bank in the UAE in 2007 and has also won Best Retail Bank-UAE and Best Customer Loyalty Programme at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail financial Services Awards for 2008.

ISO-9001

Tokyo SuperMix ready mix concrete, a member of the Tokyo Cement Group, recently received ISO 9001:2000 from Certification International (CI) UK with accreditation from UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service). This certification was awarded to the main ready mix concrete plant at Peliyagoda and will be extended to cover all other units in the second stage.