Business

Asia’s technology industry has traditionally (almost stereotypically) become known for its outsourcing capabilities. More specifically, India has outstripped even China (Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are also strong) in the provision of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) i.e. the provision of back office business systems functions such as finance, data crunching etc. as well as the more front office functions such as customer contact center services.

Although these industries will continue to support significant contributions to the GDP of their home nations, there is also a realization that ‘building and creating’ can be better than just ‘doing’ for long term knowledge-based economic development. Without jumping continents too far, initiatives in the Middle East now exist to try and create 1-million Arab coders. This kind of realignment is happening around the developing world.

If not quite ready to be movers and shakers, the Asian IT industry at least wants to be makers.

Tea… and IT

Formerly Ceylon before independence in 1948, the south Asian island nation of Sri Lanka is rather better known for its tea, temples and tourism before its IT. One center of hard-core software programming and creation that has been established is the new developer center serving Swedish-born enterprise applications company IFS (Industrial & Financial Systems). IFS is known for its Field Service Management (FSM) software, which is used to optimize the schedule of remote workers and resources -- the company is also know for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions for asset-intensive industries.

The IFS facility in the Sri Lanka capital Colombo currently employs somewhere just over 1,100 staff, with a 60 to 40 split between males and females respectively. The country came out of its 25-year civil war in 2009 and the capital now resembles parts of China in terms of its massive new construction surge (indeed, China itself has invested heavily in this new boom). But, interestingly, the IFS operation was established some 21 years ago this year, so the company either had faith, visionary clairvoyance… or both.

Domain experts

What makes the IFS facility (arguably) interesting is the fact that it houses developers, programmers and all the normal flavors or software engineering professional that we would expect to find in the west or any other more developed economy. As what might be argued to be a sort of validation of their skills, some of the IFS Sri Lankan team have now been posted overseas in Europe and North American in cases where the employee has become ‘the domain expert’ in their particular field. So how did this maker (not just do-er) operation come about in the first place?

“We were looking for a new development center back in 1997, one that was high value, obviously… but also one that that gave us access to really sharp talent coming out of good universities,” said IFS senior vice president of research and development, Thomas Säld. “I would also say that Sri Lanka has a special work mentality. People are very dedicated; and this was important to us because we needed a low attrition rate. Global ERP software systems programming is pretty complex, so once you train people up you need to be able to go forward in the knowledge that they will stay with the company for the longer term.”

Säld points out that although, yes, there is a big customer support contact center located in Sri Lanka at one of the firm’s four sites… around half (500) of the employees are programmers actually working to develop software on the core IFS platform.

“It is only when you start to co-locate development in more than one global site that you really know whether or not your programming processes are efficient or not. We could have put all our development in once place and theoretically created one very large site -- but making sure we exist in more than one place on the planet ensures that you can operate with connected methodologies. What is more, it also ensures that we have more diversity in our talent pool. It helps us think about how people use our products in other parts of the world. So Sri Lanka was deliberate and we knew that we needed to be somewhere else other than where the company was initially founded, in Sweden,” said Säld.

Configuration, not customization

Across the IT industry today, there is a big push for modular solutions that come packaged in composable chunks of connected cloud, often woven together through so-called Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Software vendors want customers to use as many of their platform’s connected functionalities as possible and avoid in-house customization where possible. This is because custom-crafting add-ons and extensions builds up a silo mentality… and IT silos are difficult to move, migrate, upgrade and so on. As such, a large contingent of the Sri Lanka IFS software engineering team are trained to help firms understand the breadth of the software platform itself and look for different ways of working with it.

It’s what we call configuration rather that customization -- and it takes a developer brain to be able to know the difference.
“IFS started 21 years ago with just 28 staff and [as already noted here] we now employ around 1,100,” said Ranil Rajapakse, SVP and COO head of world operations for IFS Sri Lanka. “Looking at the establishment and growth of this now considerably extended team, it has always been important for us to be part of the global IFS technology proposition. It was very important that we were never thought of as ‘offshore’, we are part of the whole company and we’re just on a different shoreline. That term offshore seems to plant something in people in peoples’ minds and that’s not the way global IT companies need to develop these days. We run operations on the concept of what I like to call global-local duality and, ultimately, I think we will help reverse the diaspora and help to attract domestically born tech talent that has emigrated back to Sri Lanka.”

Skills investment

The company claims to be pretty serious about skills investment at the university level. IFS runs software application development courses at a number of local universities and technical institutes including the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT). This effort encompasses and includes lectures, seminars, computer labs training, full coursework programme curriculum development and exams. IFS supplies these services free of charge. The company also offers around 80 scholarships for those that cannot afford to attend university in Colombo.

“The way our team in Sri Lanka is now integrated with our other development, consulting and support operations within IFS globally is of meaningful value to our customers. Regardless of where a customer is located around the world, we are able to consistently offer them the best service from the most aptly skilled experts. The differentiator in our approach compared to peers is that customers are at the center of investment decisions like this,” said IFS chief executive officer Darren Roos.

Sri Lankan economic outlook

If we think back to the information technology pre-Windows 95, we were using Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the web was only just started to bubble upwards into our collective conscience. People went to work in the office and ordered sandwiches at lunchtime. A business (or indeed leisure) trip to China, the Middle East, Africa or India seemed like a lifetime voyage and Asia (as a whole) was still known for producing the cheaper end of the mass manufacturing goods market.

A quarter century later and we’re all about the web connected cloud in an age when open source is now the cherished darling of every enterprise software vendor. Lots of us work from home (or freelance) in the new age ‘gig economy’ and we’ve all swapped sandwiches for low carb quinoa and kale smoothies. The new Asia is one with developers actually developing (look at the number of Indian engineers that have gone on to become C-suite execs in Silicon Valley) and Sri Lanka wants to be a part of that boom.

What develops next could come down to the quality of Sri Lanka’s graduate market (the country has a 92% literacy rate compared to 74% in India) and its relative size. The tea, temples, tourists and tuk tuk auto-rickshaws will always be there, but technology could be the next reason you know where Sri Lanka is.

(Forbes)

The Central Bank has taken measures to create awareness on carrying out businesses in Sri Lanka by releasing the eighth edition of the “A Step by Step Guide to Doing Business in Sri Lanka”.
 
This has been categorized under three main chapters; ‘Starting a Business’, ‘During the Business’ and ‘Other Activities’ and contains useful information for the business community, potential entrepreneurs, foreign investors and investment promotion agencies.
 
Under each topic, comprehensive information is provided on relevant institutions, documentary requirements, regulatory clearances and associated costs.
 
Furthermore, the necessary amendments up to mid-2018 gathered from relevant institutions are incorporated into this edition.guidelines recently with the aim of promoting local business.
 
The current political situation has pulled back the progress made through various economic reforms and has drastically affected the business environment, analysts said, adding that it is essential to restore political stability in the country soon.

New Business activities came had come to a grinding halt during the past ten days following President Sirisena's unconstitutional removal of a Prime Minister and by proroguing Parliament, they claimed.

Softlogic Glomark, the first flagship global supper market was opened in Nugegoda for the benefit of retail customers. Sri Lanka’s modern grocery retail sector has seen a robust growth with improving incomes, rising urbanization and changing lifestyles which has attracted more customers from traditional grocer channels.

It was launched by Softlogic Supermarkets (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Softlogic Retail PLC under the parent group - Softlogic Holding PLC. 

As a consumer business, it has over 100 international brands marketed through country’s distribution channels.

Softlogic Glomark is expected to revolutionize the modern retail trade in Sri Lanka with its unique global experience.

It will provide the widest selection of items and the best technology for consumer experience and will introduce a series of firsts in the country.

Many of Sri Lanka’s exports are colourful, tasty or fragrant and must arrive at their destinations on time and in pristine condition, a service Emirates SkyCargo continues to provide with distinction.

According to figures released by the Colombo office of the award-winning airline, its freight division transported 27,000 tonnes of cargo from Colombo in 2017-18, a significant 23 per cent of the 118,000 tonnes of goods the island exported by air in the year.

With 28 flights from and into Colombo weekly, and the capacity to carry approximately 20 tons of cargo in the belly hold of each Boeing 777 aircraft, Emirates SkyCargo is one of the main carriers of Sri Lanka’s trade commodities and thus makes a noteworthy contribution to the national economy.

Edible fish, fruit and vegetables, flowers and other cut foliage and readymade garments are among the principal exports that SkyCargo transports from Sri Lanka to markets around the world.

An important volume of Sri Lankan exports are perishables and Emirates SkyCargo offers specialised air transport solutions  under the ‘Emirates Fresh’ umbrella that help maintain the freshness of the goods being transported.

Emirates Fresh is backed by Emirates’ modern fleet of over 270 aircraft, robust processes, experienced staff as well as state of the art cool chain facilities at its hub in Dubai.

Isobar, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has expanded its operations to Sri Lanka.

Last year, Dentsu Grant Group, a Sri Lankan communications agency, disrupted the nation’s advertising industry with the introduction of the global marketing conglomerate Dentsu Aegis Network into the country. Now, it will do so once again, reinventing Sri Lanka’s rapidly growing digital economy, with the launch of its full-service digital agency – Isobar. 

Commenting on the prospects of Isobar in Sri Lanka, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group Managing Director - Isobar South Asia said, “I am very excited to launch Isobar in this amazing country. Sri Lanka is a rising mobile economy with smartphone penetration growing by over 20% and mobile penetration growing over 120% year-on-year. With the launch of Isobar Sri Lanka we are looking at creating a leading agency for the digital age that follows a true full service model. Under the guidance of Neela and her team, I am sure we will be a force to reckon with in this market in the years to come.” 

Speaking on the launch of Isobar Sri Lanka, Neela Marikkar, Chairperson - Dentsu Grant Group and Dentsu Aegis Network Sri Lanka states, “We are thrilled to be introducing such an iconic brand into the Sri Lankan advertising industry. We are fortunate to be working so closely with our global and regional offices; we are confident that we will be able to use their global knowledge and skills to help develop business opportunities for our clients as well as help the digital economy of the country and accelerate through Isobar’s experience led transformation and brand commerce expertise.” 

eady to revolutionize the market, Isobar Sri Lanka will offer end to end full service digital media creative and technology services and help clients navigate the world of tangible and intangible businesses through mobile brand commerce, product innovations, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), the internet of things (IOT) and wearables.

Epic Technology Group cemented its position as the country’s premier Fintech solution provider by securing the coveted ‘Overall Gold Award’, ‘Overall Bronze’ and eight other accolades at the recently concluded 20th National Best Quality ICT Awards 2018 (NBQSA), conducted by the Sri Lankan chapter of the BCS and the Chartered Institute for IT.

Epic demonstrated its dominance in the industry by becoming the most awarded organization of the night by bagging three Golds, one Silver, two Bronzes and three merit awards. Further recognizing the technological prowess of the organization, Epic Lanka’s Executive Chairman Dr. Nayana Dehigama said.

Epic was honoured with the BCS Sri Lanka Chairman’s Award in recognition of its outstanding contribution to Sri Lanka’s ICT sector over the last two decades.

Displaying its drive for innovation and disruption as Sri Lanka’s trend-setting FinTech powerhouse, the group clinched the National Overall Gold Award as well as the Financial Category Gold award for their Epic Card Management System (CMS).

This system can issue the smart cards, maintain the smart cards while in use and finally take the smart cards out of use.

Chip/smart cards provide the foundation for secure electronic identity, and can be used to control access to facilities, networks or computers.

As the smart cards are security credentials for authenticating the smart card holder  the security requirements for a smart card management system are often high and therefore the vendors of these systems are found in the computer security industry.

The Terminal Line Encryption (TLE) Version 05, a secured channel-encryption solutionamong local and global financial institutions, won the Overall Bronze Award and the Gold Award in the Security Category.

While the Omni-Channel Synchronizer received the Silver Award in the Financial Category, Epic’s digital priority banking solution—Epic Premier Plus—clinched the Research and Development Category Bronze Award.

The three merit awards received by Epic were the Financial Category Merit for EPIC Automatic Reconciliation and Dispute Management Solution and Government and Public Sector Category Merits for DoxPro- SEA (Seafarer's Electronic Application System) and DoxPro-Single Window Platform solutions.

“There can be no better acknowledgement of the emphasis we place on service excellence than to be adjudged the best overall in the ICT sector in Sri Lanka,” Dr. Dehigama said.

The 4th edition of Intex South Asia, the largest international textile sourcing show in South Asia, was inaugurated today at BMICH by H.E. Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.  Ms. Indira Malwatte, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Export Development Board, Mr. Sharad Amalean, Chairman, Joint Apparel Association Forum of Sri Lanka (JAAF), heads of several trade bodies, industry leaders and delegates from several countries were also present.  The event has been organized by Worldex India Exhibition and Promotion Pvt. Ltd. The event partners include the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), Retailers Association of India, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) etc.
 
High Commissioner H.E. Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Chairperson,  Export Development Board of Sri Lanka Mrs. Indira Malwatte also jointly inaugurated the India Pavilion organized by Federation of Indian Export Organistion (FIEO).
 
High Commissioner noted that Intex South Asia has become an annual event in Sri Lanka in the calendar of textile industry, which is a reflection of efforts of all stakeholders to turn a huge potential into reality. He also recalled Prime Minister of India H.E. Mr. Narendra Modi’s vision for textiles: “From Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Factory, Factory to Fashion, Fashion to Foreign.”
 
Underlining that India is the largest cotton and jute producer in the world and second largest textiles producer, as well as the second largest producer of silk in the world, High Commissioner added that there exists significant complementarity wherein Sri Lanka can source textile material from India and transform it into apparel and garments for rest of the world.  He encouraged Sri Lankan companies to be part of the supply and value chains of large Indian companies. He praised the contribution of Sri Lankan companies, who have made substantial investments in India in textile sector. He noted that events such as Intex South Asia, would go a long way in promoting the existing synergy between India and Sri Lanka.
 
High Commissioner touched upon Khadi, a hand spun fabric, which Mahatma Gandhi had popularized, as a symbol of freedom and self-respect. India is currently paying tribute to Gandhiji as part of his 150th birth anniversary celebrations. 

High Commissioner underscored that India’s rapid growth can bring dividends for the entire region, especially Sri Lanka.  He added that there is a lot India and Sri Lanka can do together rather than at individual levels.  He called upon the business community and industry leaders to innovate and grow together.  

The 4th edition of Intex South Asia has participation of over 200 suppliers from around 15 countries showcasing a wide variety of innovative textiles products such as yarns, apparels, denim clothing, accessories etc. Alongside the exhibition, there are also Interactive Business Forums, Fashion Fiesta,  Networking Reception, Fashion Show, B2B meetings, etc. The event concludes on 16 November 2018.

Venora Lanka Power Panels (Pvt) Ltd launched its manufacturing products in the Horn of Africa, with Ethiopia being the targeted market.

The Sri Lankan firm continued to attest the faith in Africa’s fastest growing economy that continues to lure foreign investments to aid in economic growth and development. 

The new investor joins Isebella Socks Manufacturing Plc and Hirdaramani Garments Plc, already existing Sri Lankan firms in Africa’s oldest independent country.

Foreign companies not only seek to expand their market in Africa with greener pastures but look to tap in the industrial potential available in the country. Foreign investors have ventured into the industrial sector, that offers a variety of business investment opportunities. The construction of industrial parks has opened new doors of opportunities for companies with a view of creating jobs.

Ethiopia is looking to increase its GDP by 11 percent annually in the next ten years with the manufacturing sector growth projected to increase by about 25 percent every year. 

Ethiopia’s target by 2025 is to be the leading manufacturing hub in Africa. The country counts on inflows of foreign investments to catapult the ambitious goal while creating a conducive business environment for businesses.

Export-oriented manufacturer Venora Lanka Power Panels which works with world-renowned brands such as Schneider Electric, ABB, and Rexton has partnered with Ethiopian firms, namely Eulogia Electromechanical PLC and Horra Trading PLC. 

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Ethiopia Sumith Dassanayake has encouraged Sri Lankan and Ethiopian business people to work together to strengthen the bilateral ties between their respective countries through trade and investment.

Venora Lanka was recognized by the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) at the 25th Export Awards held at Colombo Hilton for its excellent performance clinching the Bronze category Award in the industrial sector last year.

Other accolades the firm has scooped include the award for Quality and Business Prestige in November 2005 in Geneva Switzerland, Arch of Europe for Quality and Technology- Frankfurt in 2012.

Aswin De Silva has resigned from the post of Chairman of the state-owned National Savings Bank (NSB) on Monday, Mr. de Silva confirmed. 

De Silva is a senior banker with more than 20 years of experience at American Express- Asia. He is FCA, FCMA and FCPA (Australia)-qualified.  During the past year, NSB saw record profitability at LKR 14 billion.

NSB asset base was recorded at LKR 1 trillion, a growth 28 per cent in the last three years. NSB also saw the lowest non performing loans in the industry at 1.4 per cent last year. Under Aswin De Silva's stewardship, NSB recently raised a USD 100 million loan facility supported by Commerzbank AG.

The excellent relationship that NSB enjoys with its banking partners has allowed NSB access to a competitive interest rate despite the current global trend of interest rate increases. 

The facility was arranged jointly by Dubai based Alpen Capital (ME) Limited and NDB Investment Bank of Sri Lanka. The funds were required as part repayment of USD 750 million which NSB borrowed from international markets in 2013 through an international bond issuance.

Sri Lankan importers have temporarily stopped importing sugar after the government hiked import duty and imposed a maximum domestic retail price, which made imports uneconomical, market sources said. The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka fixed the maximum retail price for white sugar at Rupee 100/kg on October 12, which is equivalent to $578.54/mt, for non-packaged and Rupee 105/kg for packaged. The maximum retail price for wholesale sugar was fixed at Rupee 92/kg.

"Before the hike in duty, the landed cost of Sugar in Sri Lanka was between Rupee 85-90/kg [after tax] so there was still margin to be made with the maximum retail price in place," a trader said.

The Sri Lankan government scrapped the special commodity levy of Sri Lankan Rupee 31/kg on sugar imports and brought it under the normal tax purview, increasing the import duty on sugar to Rupee 44.5/kg effective from October 18.

"The import tax was hiked to reduce imports and improve the balance of payments issue to support the [Sri Lankan] Rupee," a Sri Lankan trader said.

The Sri Lankan Rupee is down 12.66 % year to date at Rupee 172.6849 against the dollar on Wednesday.

The rally in sugar prices since the maximum domestic retail price was announced and the duty hike has increased the import cost to Rupee 103-107/kg, making it unfeasible to continue imports, market sources said.

Offers for Indian low quality white sugar since October 12 have increased from $315-$320/mt CFR Colombo to $345-350/mt CFR Colombo on Thursday, S&P Global Platts data showed.

Since the maximum domestic retail price was set, the prompt-month London No.5 white sugar futures has firmed by 6.65% to $387.7/mt on Wednesday.

However, some importers of white sugar into Sri Lanka are optimistic that the budget announcement on November 8 will help them by either reducing the duty or lifting the maximum retail price for sugar.

"The stop in [sugar] imports has to be short term since Sri Lanka relies almost entirely on imports and does not have a huge stock domestically," a North Asian trader said.

Sri Lanka has an estimated demand of 790,000 mt of white sugar for the 2018-19 (October-September) season, with a domestic production of 55,000 mt and expected imports of 565,000 mt, S&P Global Platts Analytics data showed.

(SPGlobal)

Sri Lanka tea exporters to China are increasing and the country has been able to take 10% share of the Chinese tea market, Assistant Director, Sri Lanka Tea Board, Dhanushka  Karunaratne said. He said that there is specially a growing demand from young Chinese towards Sri Lanka tea.

Karunaratne was speaking at the Sino – Sri Lanka Economic and Trade Forum where over 30 Chinese investors from Beijing participated.

Karunaratne said that in 2015, Sri Lanka was not even among the top ten exporters of tea to China and two years later Sri Lanka was able to move to top eighth position. In 2014 Sri Lankan supplied 6,105 million KG to China and in 2016 this was increase to 8,525 million KG while India was in the second position supplying 5,485 MKG of tea in 2016. Other three major exporters of tea to china are Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Meanwhile Additional Secretary, Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, Madhawa Waidyaratna said that the Urban Development Authority (UDA) is still striving to make Colombo the most livable city in the region which in turn would encourage more investments to Sri Lanka. He also said that The Colombo Port City Development project too would be a game changer to woo FDI to Sri Lanka and Chinese entrepreneurs should look at these developments close and try to invest.He also said that the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development would look at more infrastructure development projects in the future. “The light railway would be such a high priority project.”

He also outlined the economic and industrial zones that are being planned and executed by the UDA focusing on several regions of Sri Lanka. The event was coordinated by Peacock Safari and Holidays China.

Lanka Tiles, Sri Lanka’s largest manufacturer of floor and wall tiles, has ventured overseas and diversified its business becoming the only local export brand to bear the country’s image, Managing Director of Lanka Tiles, Mahendra Jayasekera said.

The company currently exports around 20 percent of its production capacity to overseas high quality markets such as Japan, Canada, Australia as well as to certain countries in the European Union. 

It has many business interests under the Lanka Wall Tiles and Lanka Tiles PLC group now, encompassing investments in aluminium, tile adhesive, plantations and packaging, Jayasekera said.. 

In its most recent expansion,  Lanka Tiles added 6,000 square meters of production to its capacity, at a cost of LKR 2.5 billion, at the factory complex in Ranala. 

New manufacturing plant in Ranala

Jayasekera said that the company expects to remain a dominant player in the local market, and to give a better product to local and overseas buyers. 

At present, Lanka Tiles is  producing 13,000 square meters of floor tiles and 7,500 square meters of wall tiles a day while bringing the best of the world to Sri Lanka, and beyond. 

Lanka Tiles is quickly becoming a brand that is globally recognised for quality.