BUSINESS

SLECIC issues whole turnover
export credit guarantee to HNB

The Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SLECIC) issued a whole turnover export credit guarantee to Hatton National Bank (HNB) recently, which covers the entire short-term export credit portfolio of HNB.

The guarantee will enable HNB to offer pre/post shipment credit facilities to exporters more liberally and in a hassle free manner and in turn will help exporters improve their performance and competitiveness in international markets.

At a simple ceremony held at HNB Towers, Chairman and Managing Director, SLECIC, Hemaka de Alwis presented the whole turnover  credit guarantee to Managing Director, HNB, Rienzie T. Wijetilleke.

De Alwis said the new whole turnover export credit guarantee signifies the trust and confidence that the banking sector has placed in SLECIC.

He said several other commercial banks have indicated their desire to obtain similar guarantees and HNB's lead role will undoubtedly have a catalytic effect in this exercise.

Wijetilleke stated that obtaining the whole turnover export credit guarantee of SLECIC is a historic and yet another pioneering step that HNB has taken to intensify its support to the nation's export promotion drive. It also adds value to the bank's assets portfolio in view of the underwriting of the credit risk by SLECIC.

Commenting on the Bank's long-standing relationship with SLECIC, Wijetilleke stated that he looks forward to a mutually beneficial relationship in the years to come and commended SLECIC for the meaningful and innovative steps taken to partner the banking sector in order to facilitate the development of exports.

SLECIC is the export credit agency of the government of Sri Lanka and functions under the Commerce Ministry. With its global network of other export credit agencies, SLECIC has the expertise and resources to ensure that Sri Lankan exporters are protected from the risks associated with international trade.

SLECIC's appetite for risk taking has increased due to organisational process improvements and re-structuring that has been carried out during the recent past. This has also helped SLECIC transform itself into a dynamic public sector organization that strives to satisfy the aspirations of exporters (policyholders).

The two principal activities of SLECIC, the export payments insurance policies and export credit guarantees are designed to assist and reduce risks faced by exporters and commercial banks financing them.

The export payments insurance policy of SLECIC is offered directly to exporters to protect them against nonpayment by their foreign buyers. Export credit guarantees are offered to commercial banks financing exporters, to protect the banks against nonpayment by exporters.

SCQuARE ventures into Sri Lanka

SCQuARE International, a training and consulting company for 'business planning,' recently ventured into Sri Lanka through its regional office in Malaysia. The company, founded in the UK, counts over 10 years of experience in this field.

The Chief Operating Officer, Edwin Silvester Das from the Malaysian regional office visited Sri Lanka last week with a view to pursuing business opportunities in Sri Lanka. He together with SCQuARE representative in Sri Lanka, Nirmali Jayetileke, met with a number of key persons from leading business organisations both from the public and private sectors.

SCQuARE, (a mnemonic), is a business process that takes an idea or a problem from analysis to the ultimate decision. It incorporates the four key elements of planning and decision making-analysis, synthesis, creativity and presentation-into one clear and cohesive framework.

It is a complete process for consistently converting ideas into bulletproof business plans and propositions and selling them through organisations.

It provides managers with a process to organise their thinking in a structured way, to maximise their creativity and present their arguments convincingly in writing or by way of a formal presentation, thereby enabling them to "think strategically and communicate clearly."

SCQuARE transcends cultures and functions, creating a common language enabling;

            Functional expertise and teamwork to be enhanced

          Valid ideas to be pursued as business propositions with confidence.

          Flawed ideas to be recognised early and reworked/discarded.

            Individual and corporate creativity to be liberated

            Unproductive/needless meetings to be eliminated.

The five distinct sections of the SCQuARE structure are designed to test logic, validate assumptions and substantiate arguments for a well reasoned answer and presentation.

The SCQuARE methodology covers the following core areas which are:

Settings - The starting point, the aims of the organisation, mission, objectives, strengths, undisputable facts. Where you were, are and plan to be.

Change or Complication - A new set of circumstances, opportunities, threats, competitor activity, limitations, restrictions, barriers.

Question - The axis of the proposition. The pivotal question that is arrived at through the analysis of the setting and change. The identification of the action that must be taken to meet the objectives and deal with the key issues.

Answer - The answer to the pivotal question. Includes the strategies to deal with the issues and the barriers and the desired benefits/results. It also includes the authentication of the strategies/substantiating of the answers.

Recommendations (how) - The visualisable action required to achieve the strategies in the Answer. The specific costed detailed actions. The decision points.

Evidence (why) - The reason for each action, the evidence that each action is justified and the benefits (volumes, sales, profits) that each will generate. The supporting data, statistics and the detailed quantifiable results to be expected.

SCQuARE clients claim that with SCQuARE they get the right ideas to the market place in a fraction of the normal time. SCQuARE has serviced a number of clients worldwide in various industries both from Fortune 500 and multinationals. British American Tobacco, Nestles, Pepsi Co (Europe), Standard Chartered Bank, McCann Ericksons, DHL, BBC worldwide, Saatchi and Saatchi are some of them to name a few.

The company has the view that Sri Lanka is a country that is developing fast and has a great potential for growth. Therefore the need for proper planning techniques and methods to harness creativity and strategic thinking whilst optimising time utilisation is evident.

The company believes that "SCQuARE" will provide the frame- work which will enable this process effectively, helping Sri Lankan managers to make better decisions faster.

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