Power sharing key to economic development

Minister of Export Development and International Trade G. L. Peiris said that power sharing will be a practical solution if the country is serious about economic development. He said it made more sense for each area to make their own decisions politically without having to depend on Colombo to make all the decisions for them. "This will bring governance closer to the people and reduce the distance between the people and the administration. This will ensure that real needs will be catered for in the formulation of government policy. This will be a more democratic, beneficial and timely thing to do," Peiris said. Peiris said that through decentralisation of power, economic policy decisions will take into consideration the particular aspects of each part of the country. The crux of our country’s failure, a failure because more than half the county’s wealth is in one single district, is not providing equal opportunities which would have developed more districts, if not the whole country. "The focus on social equity is very important when formulating and implementing national policy," Peiris said. Sri Lanka is no longer classified as a low income country but as a middle income country with a per capita income of US$1370. The country’s exports grew by 15 per cent in 2007 but, "the real problem is in the redistribution of the country’s wealth," Peiris pointed out. After the JVP insurrection in the 80s, Peiris worked for the Presidential Youth Commission which brought him into contact with youth from the length and breadth of the country when this commission set out to find out practical ways and means of avoiding a repeat of that bloody insurrection. "We listened to these young people and this was the central theme of what they told us then: ‘We can put up with adversity, but not injustice.’ They told us that they were constantly being denied the opportunities and access to the means of development. They were indignant that nothing was done to uplift economic conditions in rural areas." Peiris said that government is focusing on establishing export promotion villages around the country with several already off the ground. Peiris was the Chief Guest at the occasion of the 49th Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka on Thursday. The Chamber through its Business Promotion Fund, sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, disbursed Rs.68 million to 260 SME entrepreneurs island wide with only one of them from Colombo. The Chamber will also organise an agriculture exhibition in Buttala later this year. "We will take farming machinery and tools, fertiliser and everything farmers will need right to their doorsteps. We will also conduct seminars on the latest farming methods and update them on the latest research. We are also talking to financial institutions to join us in this endeavour and assist farmers by granting credit without guarantors and documentation," the Chamber’s President D. Eassuwaren said.

Engineering services sector not in CEPA

Department of Commerce Director General assured engineers that the sector will not be on the agenda when the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India comes up for further negotiations in March. "I assure that the engineering services sector will not be open for discussion when negotiations resume with India on CEPA until such time a regulatory framework is implemented to register and monitor engineers in Sri Lanka," Director General Manel de Silva said. de Silva said this at a panel discussion on CEPA and the ‘Export and Import of Professional Services-Opportunities for Sri Lankan Engineers’, organised by the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka recently. "We will not open up the sector without regulations in place, and we will only do so when you ask us to do so," de Silva said allaying the engineers' fear that engineers from India will swarm over them if the sector was opened up through CEPA. "We are not against opening up the sector, but we have to be cautious because without proper monitoring the floodgates will be open and engineers could lose their jobs to Indians," the institution's President Ranjith Gunawardana said. Minister of Export Development and International Trade G. L. Peiris said that the government was taking a broad approach based on the priority of the people and with consultation with professional bodies. "Government will consult fully with professionals before decisions are taken. Government will never impose anything," he said. Peiris said that when the FTA was implemented there were strong fears and apprehensions but the experience proved otherwise. He said that trade with India grew from US$ 500 million in 1998 when the FTA was implemented to US$ 2.5 billion in 2007. "CEPA is a logical extension of the Free Trade Agreement currently in place with India," he said. Ravi Karunanayake MP said that the Services sector should take up the challenge to be globally competitive. He was for opening up the Services sector, but believed the government needed to take more precautions. He said that even without CEPA, Sri Lankan engineers are not getting an opportunity to work in the infrastructure projects handled by the Chinese, which could be an ideal opportunity for knowledge and technological transfers. "Government needs to be consistent and coherent in their policy. Once the trade agreements are signed there can be no turnaround. CEPA will not have a 13 amendment to fall back on," he remarked wryly.

MAS to provide education to Apparel, BPO and ICT sectors

MAS Holdings inaugurated the MAS Institute of Management and Technology (MIMT), located in its Fabric Park in Thulhiriya, yesterday. MIMT will focus on the textile, apparel, IT and BPO sectors, providing basic courses which will pave the way for rural youth to be employable in these sectors. "MIMT will give rural youth the opportunity to overcome the barriers, which are knowledge- and skills-based, to gain employment in these sectors," Chandan de Silva, CEO, MIMT, said. MIMT will offer IT courses from diploma level to degree level in conjunction with Informatics Institute of Technology. Also, courses in English and social etiquette will bridge the gap between the rural youth and the private sector, where all the best jobs are. English will be the first hurdle rural youth will have to clear. MIMT has a basic skills course in English which will be held over a period of three months. The fee is Rs.3500 + VAT and can be paid in instalments. "MIMT hopes to be financially self-sustaining from the second year. Our course fees will be reasonable and affordable so as to enable rural youth to participate. Perhaps, the industry could provide scholarships in time to come," de Silva said. Dulindra Fernando, CEO, Mass Investments, said that MIMT was in touch with the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA)discussing ways and means by which MIMT can help meet the demand for staff for the BPO and IT sectors. "MIMT will not only facilitate the apparel and textile industry in Sri Lanka, but also the BPO industry as well," he said. "MIMT will also function as an outsourced recruitment centre for the MAS Fabric Park in Thulhiriya, which will have 5,000 vacancies in three to four years time," Deepthi de Silva, Director, Group Human Resources, MAS Holdings said. MIMT will also provide corporate training programmes targeting workers, supervisors and executives which will include experiential learning. The MIMT facilities include an auditorium large enough for 300 persons, 17 training rooms with labs for English language, IT, Textile Processing and Sewing Machine mechanics. Up to 250 persons can be accommodated in the residential facilities provided by MIMT. MAS will launch the MAS Business School for senior executives later this year which will focus on leadership excellence and innovation. MIMT is BOI approved and has an obligation to educate 2,000 rural youth. "MIMT is not only empowering youth to be employable in jobs of today, but they can fill the vacancies emerging in the industries of tomorrow, like the BPO sector." Deepthi de Silva added.

Academia, business community take up local graduates’ cause

"Why is it so difficult for graduates to get jobs when there is a brain drain in the country? Why should they be the ones protesting, sitting on the streets trying to make the government find employment for them. It must be very disappointing and demoralising for them not to be able to find jobs after studying hard to secure seats in universities, which are limited, and then going through financial difficulties to complete their education, as the majority often do as they are from poor families from rural areas." This was how David Griffiths, CEO HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives, articulated the failure of our higher education system and the injustice our society continues to commit. He spoke at a workshop conducted by the Institute for Enterprise of Leeds Metropolitan University UK, The British Council, The Council for Business with Britain (an affiliation of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce) and the Ministry of Higher Education which brought together the academic and business community to find out ways to make the elusive employable graduate a reality. The workshop "Creating Graduate Excellence—Enterprising Graduates: routes to employability" was a fact finding mission about what the business community expected from graduates. Around 35 delegates representing the Apparel, Architecture, BPO/ICT, Education, Finance, Leisure, Human Resources and Services Sectors participated. Half of them represented the Education sector from several local universities. Studying the problem is the first step to solving the problem and that was what this workshop firstly intended to bring about. The dissemination of views, ideas and opinions of the delegates will be compiled into a detailed report commissioned by the Leeds Metropolitan University. The delegates demonstrated a tendency to agree or strongly agree on the following points; * Skills that will make graduates employable should be an outcome of higher education. * Students are not fully ‘work ready’ soon after graduation. * Students need to understand the ‘real world’ of the world of work. * Universities and businesses can work closer to support students in all subjects/disciplines which will make them employable. It was agreed that students needed to demonstrate a desire to change, be enterprising and have a sense of responsibility to the country. The academia asked the business community to provide opportunities for internships so that local graduates will be ‘work ready’ when their degrees are completed. Funding want hurt either. While it was acknowledged that various corporate organisations are funding students and faculties, there was a lack of awareness which, according to Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo, has led to the notion that the academia and the business community continue to work in isolation. Prof. Lakshman Ratnayake, Project Director, Improving Relevance and Quality of Undergraduate Education Project, Ministry of Higher Education said that University resources are stretched thin. "In the ‘50s and ‘60s, the government spent four percent of GDP on education. Today its two percent with only 0.4 percent of GDP spent on higher education. When ever the UGC requests the government for more funding, because education brings social benefits, the government stand is that higher education brings private benefits and so no additional funding is received," he said. Today, While the free education system benefits children from rural lower income families, higher education benefits students from the rich and upper middle class he said. "Students from rural areas, and the poor, cannot afford to enrol into schools with better facilities or pay for extra tuition and books which will help them compete for the limited seats available in the universities." The lack of good communication skills in the English language and social etiquette is also placing rural students at a disadvantage. English is the official language in many, if not all, business organisations in Colombo and if Sri Lanka aspires to be a hub of the global BPO and ICT sectors, prospective employees must be competent in the language. A command of the English language has other benefits too. "Out of a total of 129 CIMA graduates, 97 of them are from Colombo or close to Colombo and 32 from other districts and there is no unemployment among CIMA graduates," Ratnayake pointed out, highlighting the growing disparity between Colombo and rural areas. The business community wanted the universities to revolutionise their methods so that students did not end up book smart but become employable with a well balanced education, fortified with soft skills and a command of the English language. Ratnayake affirmed that "unless reforms are done, apart from the medical, engineering and businesses faculties, the graduates from all the faculties will always be unemployed. With regards to who was responsible, the government, private sector, the universities and the students and their families all shared the responsibility in varying degrees. Alison Price, Leeds Metropolitan University, said that the next step will be to compile a report which will be disseminated to the delegates. The report will put out recommendations on what needs to be done and who should be responsible and for what. Her report will be compared to similar reports compiled in the UK and other countries. Gill Westaway, British Council Country Director, said that this project, funded by the British government, will be closely monitored and together with Ministry of Higher Education, Universities and the confirmed private sector participants will build partnerships and lobby for reforms. "The problem of employability is a global issue, but it is accentuated in developing countries," she said. The British Council will host a similar policy dialogue in February, where six vice chancellors will share their experiences as to how universities can align themselves to requirements of the business world.

Iran asked to defend our GSP plus status

Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Sarath Amunugama appealed to the Islamic Republic of Iran to help defend the country’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) plus status when it comes under review by the European Union later this year. At a meeting with the Iranian Minister of Commerce Dr. Massoud Mir Kazemi and his delegates last week, Amunugama said that Iran should defend her friend by lobbying for the EU to retain Sri Lanka’s GSP plus status. "GSP plus is very significant for us and it is important for us to defend it when it comes up for review. The garment industry in Sri Lanka is doing very well and even India is asking for our assistance. Two of our biggest garment exporters received 1000 acres each in India to set up facilities there," he said. Meanwhile, Iranian engineers have already been commissioned with estimating the cost required to construct an underground irrigation tunnel which will take water from the central highlands to the Hambantota District. "The Oma Oya project will be the biggest infrastructure project. It will be a 28km underground tunnel and it can be a good symbol of the friendship between the two countries if the Iranian government can help fund this project," Amunugama said. Massoud said the project is estimated at US$ 400 million and stressed that the project will ensure the transfer of science and technology from Iran. Farab, an Iranian company specialising in energy and water projects, will handle this project. A spokesman for Farab told The Island Financial Review that the company was ready to commence the project. "We have already contracted engineers and other related services. We are even willing to fund a part of the project. However, the two governments are still discussing the funding issues, so we will have to wait," he said.

Nature’s Secret goes global

Nature’s Beauty Creations Limited (NBCL), last week said, that its exotic herbal cosmetic line,Nature’s Secret, was already registered in 25 countries where the cosmetic products will be gradually introduced to by 2010. "Our products already occupy shelves in Bangladesh and the Middle East and we will soon export Nature’s Secret products to Russia, China and Pakistan," Samantha Kumarasinghe, Chairman/Managing Director NBCL said. Kumarasinghe said that Sri Lanka has the potential to tap into the US$ 240 billion global cosmetic market and is confident Nature’s Secret will be a global brand by 2020. "We are in a unique position to market our range of cosmetics because Sri Lanka has the natural resources in which to produce herbal cosmetics and being in the tropics, we can market our products as being truly exotic," Kumarasinghe said. Currently, the company’s exports amount to 10 per cent of its annual turnover and the company hopes to reverse this situation by 2010 when exports will contribute 90 per cent to its turnover. Kumarasinghe said the company will be carrying out extensive market research and marketing campaigns in order to establish itself as a global provider of herbal cosmetic products. Exports to India had to be suspended last year when the company experienced capacity constraints in production. To overcome this problem and to facilitate exports to more countries, a seven thousand sq. foot Rs.350 million factory complex at Horana was unveiled last week. The factory’s microbiology facilities employ European GMP standards and the complex is surrounded by a garden containing 350 varieties of herbs and plants. "The factory will increase our production capacity six times over," Kumarasinghe said. Since 1999, Nature’s Secret herbal cosmetics were produced in a-15 thousand square foot factory employing 140 staff. The new factory complex will increase staff to 225 strong. The entire production process, from taking plant extracts to delivery, will be centralised in the factory complex. "We are not interested in subcontracting any of our processors," Kumarasinghe said, stressing that that NBCL had to remain in control of the entire production cycle of Nature’s Secret in order to maintain high quality standards. "Our staff shares in the company’s profit," Kumarasinghe said with a flourish. "They are paid an incentive every month, the company makes a profit, irrespective of their contribution. And this is besides their salaries, overtime payments and the bonus they receive twice a year." NBCL is a subsidiary of Multichemi Group of Companies which enjoys a global presence through their detergent products, herbal cosmetics, herbal medicines, enzyme treatment for apparels and anti-soil erosion techniques.

First night of CCC Foundation brings Rs. 3 ml

The Courage, Compassion and Commitment (CCC) Foundation Inc. confirmed pledges amounting to Rs. 3 million on the very night it launched a fund raising campaign to build a transit home for cancer patients at the cancer hospital in Maharagama. The fund raising project was launched last Thursday in the presence of several representatives of corporate bodies among the attendees. "We received pledges amounting to Rs. 6.5 million out of which Rs. 3 million are already confirmed," Jetha Devapura, Chairman and Founder of CCC Foundation, said. The objective of the fund raiser is to build a transit home, which will be called CCC House, for cancer patients who require outpatient treatment such as radiotherapy and day chemotherapy and do not require intensive supervision. This will allow the cancer hospital to concentrate their stretched thin resources to serious cases. Currently the capacity of the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama, is 650 beds and inpatients amount to 800, so many patients occupy the floor along the corridors. Many of them come to the hospital from remote areas for one day treatment and have no way of reaching their homes. The condition of the hospital is not only painful to the patients, among them children, who suffer the most because their little bodies cannot take the painful treatment easily, but family members too become psychologically scared. Some parents have even committed suicide because they could not do any thing but look on, hopelessly, while their little ones suffered. "This is a very sad and depressing situation," Dr. Kanishka Karunaratne, Director, National Cancer Institute said, "Treatment for cancer is very expensive and the government cannot improve the infrastructure because it spends a lot on medicines." The hospital caters to the whole nation and according Dr. Karunaratne patients from the North and East found their way to Maharagama in shiploads through the ICRC even during the tense of times. Cancer is the fifth common cause of death in Sri Lanka. In 2003, the cure rate was 40 percent (which means that only four out of ten patients were cured). The CCC Foundation and the National Cancer Institute believe that it can improve to 80 percent by 2020 through the CCC House and other ongoing projects by the CCC to improve the lives of both patients and their families who suffer together in Maharagama. CCC Foundation was established in Australia and with its partners, the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre of Melbourne, is working closely with the National Cancer Institute to implement best practice oncology treatment and care for both children and adults through training visits of medical staff from Australia to Maharagama. The foundation has already raised funds for a paediatric ward in 2005 and a 14 bed children’s ward which was opened in 2006. The CCC House will be located at the rear of the Cancer Hospital and will provide accommodation for 140 outpatients. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 175 million. How you can donate… Since the Cancer hospital opened its doors to the public, individuals and organisations have stepped in to dispense much needed aid and spend time with the patients. Many corporate organisations have even made a visit to the hospital an annual event in their CSR calendars, sharing some of their profits to improve conditions for the patients. For businesses, CSR is all about improving their corporate images no matter what they may say. But then again, intensions don’t matter when another human being is given a helping hand. Perhaps we should look through CSR projects ‘advertised in the press to boost PR’ and be grateful that someone is indeed doing something. After all, a corporate entity includes its human beings. Perhaps the greatest thing that comes out of a CSR project at the cancer hospital is when corporate employees spend time with the children, entertaining and playing with them. How happy they must be to laugh, or even smile, if only for a while? We can make a difference. So maybe you can ask your company to do something. Go ahead…try. Even if your company has other plans; there’s still you! Corporate establishments have the opportunity to sponsor a child’s room for Rs. 1 million, an adult cubicle for Rs. 0.6 million or even donate towards the expenses for furniture and fittings. Individuals can make their contributions with the option of volunteering to spend time with the children at the cancer hospital. For more information contact:CCC Foundation, 47 Alexandra Place, Colombo 7, 0777 675708, Email-info@cccfoundation.org.au, Web-www.cccfoundation.org.au