[Biz Briefs]

New SG for CCC

Mangala P. B. Yapa has been appointed CEO and Secretary General (SG) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and will assume duties on October 1.

Yapa’s appointment follows the retirement of Harin Malwatte, who served as the Secretary General and CEO of the Chamber for five and a half years.

Yapa was previously the Managing Director and CEO of Colombo Dockyard PLC.

Yapa is the President of the National Chamber of Exporters.

German factory orders rise

The strongest monthly rise in German industrial output in over a year is an ‘encouraging signal’ for the economy, Germany's statistics agency, Destatis said.

German industrial output rose 4.6% in July despite concerns over the Ukraine crisis, the agency said.

The economy ministry figure was much higher than what many economists had forecast and comes after a 2.7% fall in output in June. Foreign orders made up the bulk of the rise in demand, the ministry said.

Domestic orders increased 1.7% and foreign orders rose by 69%. - BBC

Abans introduces modern air-conditioners

Mitsubishi has been a trusted brand name in Sri Lanka for decades. Abans is the sole agent in Sri Lanka for Mitsubishi Electric home appliances and air conditioners.

The Mr. Slim series of small to medium-sized split-type room air conditioners offers the convenience of being compact yet powerful. A combination ensuring performance and easy installation. It is available in a variety of capacity and design combinations, the series is ideal for creating a 'best match' system for air conditioning needs.

BASF Lanka appoints new MD

Panduka Weerasingha was appointed Managing Director of BASF Lanka (Pvt) Ltd on August 28. He succeeds S. Ramnath.

Weerasingha has also been appointed as a Director on the Board of BASF Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

Weerasingha was educated at S Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from a University in Los Angeles, California.

He has more than 15 years of experience in leadership roles and has previously worked with companies such as Browns, Singer, Nivasie Developers and Lanka Walltiles.

Lanka nominated for Offshoring Destination award

The Sri Lankan Outsourcing industry has continued to add to its growing brand value and international recognition by being short listed by the National Association for Outsourcing (NOA) in the UK for the Offshoring Destination of the Year Award for 2014. Winners will be announced on November 20, at an event at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square.

The National Outsourcing Association Awards (NOAAs) now in its eleventh year, recognises and celebrates the efforts of companies and countries which have demonstrated best-practice in outsourcing.

Seylan Bank upgrades branches

Seylan Bank recently upgraded nine of its branches on the same day.

Accordingly, the Manipay, Pallekele, Kaluwanchikudy, Medawachchiya, Nochchiyagama, Eppawala, Kotiyakumbura, Aralaganwila and Bowatta centres now function as full-fledged branches. Members of the Senior Management of Seylan Bank attended the inauguration of the branches.

Seylan Bank's friendly, efficient and conversant staff are always at hand to serve customers with ultra-modern banking facilities and the upgraded branches now offer the entire portfolio of banking products and services, a bank spokesman said.

Lanka Hospitals partners People's Bank

Lanka Hospitals PLC teamed up with People's Bank to launch 'People's Nirogi', an all-in-one healthcare solution for People's Bank customers.

Under the scheme, a variety of services with discounts upto 25 percent would be on offer.

People's bank account holders and their immediate family members could avail themselves of the benefits with the use of their People's Visa debit and People's Visa credit cards and receive an opportunity to settle their hospital expenses at Lanka Hospitals pharmacies and laboratories network islandwide, in a cost-effective and hassle-free manner through the 'People's Nirogi' healthcare plan.

- SJ

APOT. Asia to expand

Asia Pacific On-board Travel (APOT.Asia), an organisation that brings together tourism and hospitality leaders in the Asia Pacific region, plans to expand its tourism promotional strategies with the appointment of Chairman, SriLankan Airlines Nishantha Wickremesinghe as its Chairman.

Wickremesinghe took over duties from the outgoing chairperson, Senior Vice President of Korean Air, Ms. Heather Cho last month.

Aimed at collectively formulating and improving new strategies to attract more tourists to the region, APOT.Asia is a global body with a member base ranging from airline in-flight products and service suppliers, airline caterers, catering product suppliers, airline management, hospitality partners and media organisations.

- SJ

UNDP appoints new Country Director

Joern Soerensen assumed duties as UNDP Sri Lanka Country Director recently. Before his appointment in Sri Lanka, Soerensen served as the Country Director in India and Deputy Country Director in Nepal from 2009 to 2014.

Before his tenures in South Asia, Soerensen was attached to the UNDP Iraq program since 2001, first as Assistant Program Director in Kurdistan and later as Program Advisor attached to the Regional Bureau for Arab States in New York.

In 2004, Soerensen moved to the Middle East to take up a position in the Iraq Country Office in Amman, Jordan, concluding his assignment with UNDP Iraq as Head of Strategic Planning and Partnering in 2009.