BIZ-Briefs

BOI signs agreement for $500m Colombo South Container Terminal

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BoI) signed an agreement with Colombo International Container Terminals Limited redcently to develop and operate the Colombo South Container Terminal. Acting Chairman/Director General Eshana de Silva signed the agreement on behalf of the BOI Deputy Managing Director of China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited Nelson Liu, and Deputy Chairman/CEO of Aitken Spence PLC J.M.S. Brito signed the agreement on behalf of Colombo International Container Terminals Limited.

IFC identifies inclusive business models

IFC has identified inclusive business models that create opportunity at base of economic pyramid. The new report identifies seven inclusive business models that expand access to goods, services, and livelihoods for the world’s poorest people while generating strong financial returns.

IFC clients from South Asia profiled in the report include Dialog Telekom in Sri Lanka, and Apollo Hospitals, Husk Power, FINO, Idea Cellular, Jain Irrigation, Suvidhaa, and WaterHealth International in India.

The report underscores IFC’s commitment to creating opportunity at the base of the economic pyramid.

Lanka re-elected to chair CTO

Sri Lanka was unanimously re-elected Chairman of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) at the 51st Council Meeting held at Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, from September 15-16, 2011.

The Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL),Anusha Palpita, chaired the 51st Council Meeting at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Top Panasonic official to attend Eco Convention in Sri Lanka

Panasonic Corporation’s Managing Executive Officer of the Corporate Management Division for Asia and Oceania, Yorihisa Shiokawa will be in Sri Lanka to attend the Panasonic Eco Convention,

An event introducing Panasonic’s range of technologically advanced environment friendly “Eco” range of consumer electronics appliances.

Yorihisa Shiokawa, who is also the Managing Director of Panasonic Asia Pacific is expected in Sri Lanka during the end of September and together with Softlogic, the authorised Distributor for Panasonic in Sri Lanka will launch the Panasonic Eco Convention.

EDEX Live Your Dreams

Keeping in line with its vision to empower youth to be globally competitive, EDEX the annual social responsibility project of the Royal College Union launched a program themed ‘Live Your Dream’ to help aspiring youth and students to realise their educational skills that would benefit their communities.

‘EDEX Live Your Dream’ will facilitate accomplishment of projects that can be achieved with minimal resources, irrespective of location in the areas.

SUV at DIMOJeep Grand Cherokee

Nearly two decades ago, Jeep invented the premium sport-utility vehicle (SUV) segment with the introduction of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. More than four million sales later, Jeep improved the formula and delivered the ultimate combination of Jeep 4X4 capability and on-road refinement with the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Jeep Grand Cherokee delivers premium on-road performance while maintaining the Jeep brand’s legendary four-wheel-drive, torque-on-demand two-speed transfer case and towing capability. It also offers improved fuel economy and a world-class interior cabin.

Singer Shop and Win

Singer Mega, recently concluded its Shop and Win Promotion. The competition was open to customers whose purchases exceeded Rs. 5,000. These customers were entitled to a coupon for every Rs. 5,000 they spent. The winner of the grand prize Dr. Ajith Rajapaksha has a choice between Disney World USA or a Kenyan safari for the entire family. Singer Mega and Singer Homes have begun a new competition along the same lines with the Grand Prize being a trip to Hawai and monthly consolation prizes of air taxi rides around Sri Lanka.

DIMO organises second ‘Riya Pola’ with BoC

DIMO and Bank of Ceylon organised another ‘Riya Pola’ recently at the Kadawatha New Town complex. A large number of visitors and corporate customers participated. Tata Commercial vehicles and Tata Passenger vehicles were displayed and demonstrated at the ‘Riya Pola’ while BOC arranged customised leasing schemes at the location.

Emirates unveils special fares for Business and Economy classes

Valid for travel in September, October and November, Emirates special fares cover 16 popular destinations in Europe, North America and Asia, and represent several tiers of savings going up to a massive 42 percent.

The 16 destinations promoted with special fares are Singapore and Dubai in Asia; New York, Houston, Los Angeles and Toronto in North America; London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Newcastle in the UK and Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, Milan and Zurich in mainland Europe.

“These special fares provide an opportunity for regular customers and those who have not experienced Emirates before to enjoy our award-winning product and value additions at a significant saving,” said Emirates Sales Manager in Sri Lanka, Devika Ellepola.

Tech One Global merges with Sanje Lanka

Tech One Global signed an agreement to acquire and merge with Sanje Lanka and Sanje Pvt Ltd and their subsidiaries for shares in Tech One Global Ltd (BVI). The merger will position Tech One Global group as one of the largest privately held software and services companies in Sri Lanka with a strength of over 3,000 and a marked valuation in excess of$ 30 m.

The merger will propel Tech One’s system integration and services business specifically in enterprise content and Information Management. Sanje brings a software development unit with a robust ECM solution, a data and image capture service bureau and a facility in Colombo.

HR business leaders forum

HR Business Forum themed “The art of optimising 3 P‘s By HR - People, Performance and Profit” organised by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Sri Lanka branch will be held on September 26 from 6.00 pm - 7 .30 pm at the Galle Face Hotel.

Guest speakers will be Sunil Dissanayake, Isuru Thilakawardane and Rohan Pandithakoralage. The session will be moderated by Janaka Kumarasinghe (Past President, IPM Sri Lanka).The program will focus on the role of HR in turning around business corporations and the importance of people as a strategic asset.

Nokia X7 arrives in Sri Lanka

Nokia’s latest smartphone for entertainment enthusiasts, the Nokia X7, is now available in Sri Lanka. The device, which features a large 4 inch screen and preloaded games, is one of the first Nokia smartphones to ship with the Symbian Anna software update.

“The large display on the Nokia X7 is perfect for internet browsing, playing games and viewing video content,” said Accounts Manager, Nokia EA Ltd, Shiblee Shakik Ahmed. “Not only have we preloaded the Nokia X7 with the popular games Asphalt 5 HD and Galaxy on Fire HD, but our customers can enjoy other software too.

Union Bank launches Save & win

Union Bank of Colombo PLC (UBC) held the Mega Dinum promotion prize awarding ceremony at its Kollupitiya Branch recently. The winner of the Super Prize of a new Suzuki A Star motor car and two years free fuel was produced by the UBC Old Moor Street branch, and the winner, M. Yoganathan received his prize from Senior Director Asoka De Silva in the presence of Director/CEO, Anil Amarasuriya, Chief Operating Officer Nilanth De Silva and, VP-International and Business Development, Beverley Labrooy. Union Bank, one of Sri Lanka’s fastest growing Banks is continuously innovating and adding value to its product portfolio hence the bank offers a comprehensive retail product portfolio to customers with competitive features. The Bank’s premier savings account Ultra Saver pays 7 percent and Piyawara, the minor savings account pays 10 percent which are the highest interest for savings.

In addition the bank also pays over 9.5 percent for Fixed Deposits.

With the awarding of the super prize the Mega Dinum draw was concluded and the Bank launched a new savings promotion “The Save & win Draw”. The new draw offers prize money up to Rs. 1m and 100 lucky winners the chance to win Rs. 10,000 at the grand draw to be held in December. The eligibility criteria has been kept simple and require Rs. 25,000 in a savings account or Rs. 15,000 in a current account for a minimum period of one month.

Seminar on construction materials

The Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI) has organised a seminar on the ‘Quality Assurance of Construction Materials’, on September 27 at 9.00 a.m. at the , Galle Face Hotel.

Director General of Sri Lanka Standards Institute Dr. L.N. Senaweera will speak on the policy and Sri Lankan standards framework. Prof. Anura Nanayakkara of the University of Moratuwa will speak on Sri Lankan standards for cement and aggregate, while Prof. Priyan Dias will make a presentation on specifications for steel and concrete.

The Chamber has also invited Eng. K.J. Ramesh, an acknowledged authority from India and a practising professional specialised in restoration of concrete structures to be the guest speaker whose presentation will be on ‘Management of improper use of concrete in structures’.

Hospitality trade expo from Oct 27-29

by P. Krishnaswamy

Two companies in the exhibition industry – Montgomery Worldwide and PICO Sri Lanka – will hold an international exhibition in Colombo from October 27-29. The exhibition is titled “Hotel, Hospitality and Food Sri Lanka 2011”. It is a pioneer effort to enable hoteliers, restaurant owners and others in the industry to source suppliers and also to enable suppliers to launch and introduce new lines of products to this market.

The exhibition will be held at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC). The exhibition is being held under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka and the Association of Small and Medium hotel while the strategic partner of the event is the European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka.