Financial Times

A viable investment opportunity
Private Forestry or growing commercially valuable timber species is a viable and sound investment opportunity, claimed Professor Hemanthi Ranasinghe, Head of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science of University of Sri Jayawardenepura at a seminar held recently at Hotel Taj Samudra organized by the University of Sri Jayawardenepura and sponsored by Touchwood Investments Ltd.

Speaking to a distinguished gathering from the financial, corporate and state sectors, Prof. Hemanthi Ranasinghe said that Private Forestry can give economical, environmental and social benefits to people. She congratulated the companies who had already taken an initiative in investing in forestry. Mr. T. Hewage, Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, during his keynote address said that government has taken the responsibility of providing all possible encouragement for the private sector to take part in development of Sri Lanka and forestry is no exception. The provision of overall policy, guidelines and facilities for the involvement of private sector in managing forest resources in Sri Lanka is a key task assigned to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. In this connection, he emphasized that a very conducive environment is provided for the public-private sector partnership in management of forest estate as well as encouragement of the establishment of forestry by private sector in both the National Forestry Policy (1995) and the Forestry Sector Master Plan (1995-2020). It is the strategy of the Ministry to plan and organize all forestry sector activities under the guidelines specified in the forestry policy and the Forest Sector Master Plan.

LOLC in a warm-hearted gesture towards Kandy
LOLC with a view to enhance the historic value of Kandy, undertook a project to light up a fair proportion of the lake area and a few other important areas which were completed recently a press release said.

The Mayor of Kandy, who approved this project and who was the chief guest said that it was a great gesture made by LOLC and that they were extremely delighted and thanked the company officials for completing this project which has added value to this historic city. An official from LOLC stated that this is one of the many projects that they have completed in the recent past and that LOLC is making consise effort in adding value not only in their business operations but to society at large. The official went on to say that they had done a similar project in Galle where it portrayed the historical values of Galle. "Our intention is to preserve and add value to the nation, that is our social obligation," he went on to add.

McDonald's Sri Lanka wins international award
McDonald's Sri Lanka is the proud recipient of the prestigious McDonald's International Award for "Outstanding Sales And Transaction Increase Through Value" for the year 2002 a press release said.

McDonald's Sri Lanka's outstanding sales performance has been achieved by their concerted efforts to provide the public with value added products at affordable prices.

Whereas dining out in Sri Lanka is pretty expensive, McDonald's wholesome meals and snacks provide a welcome substitute, specially for those who want to have a quick, 'no fuss' meal and for families who want their kids to have fun as well in McDonald's spacious play area.

In an effort to popularize McDonald's amongst all walks of life and all communities in Sri Lanka, the McDonald's menu provides a wide variety of meals and snacks which satisfy the requirements of everyone. McDonald's cater to the taste buds of vegetarians with their Vegetable Burger and Vegetable Meal and also strictly protect the susceptibilities of their Muslim patrons by serving 100% Halal food.

All food items imported by McDonald's conform to strict Halal certification from the New Zealand Islamic Meat Management - Halal Processed Foods Management Division and the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia. Even the French fries that are imported are certified Halal. Also food items purchased locally are procured only from certified Halal suppliers.

The third McDonald's Restaurant in Sri Lanka was recently opened in Welisara which has a 'Drive Thru' facility.

So if you reside in Welisara, the next time you feel hungry and want a quick meal without the hassle, just zip through the McDonald's Drive Thru and you can place your order, pay your bill and collect your food without getting out of your car. McDonald's at Rajagiriya have a similar Drive Thru facility, while the McDonald's at Kollupitiya have a McStop where you can conveniently park in the by-lane while a cheerful McDonald's crew member will take your order and serve you in your car.

ISO 9001 for HSBC Payment Services
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) announced that its Payment Services Department has obtained the ISO 9001-2000 quality standard. The standard further instills the bank's commitment to providing the promised levels of service excellence to its customers.

"In order to meet our customer expectations we need to have a systematic and well-planned processing system in place, and a way of ensuring that we are meeting the standards we have set ourselves in terms of service quality", explained Keshini Jayawardena - Manager Services on the rationale in applying for the standard.

The Payment Services Department is a back office function that forms the NSC (Network Services Centre). The NSC was set up in 1998 to maximize economies of scale, and free up staff in branches and corporate banking departments to further concentrate on service delivery and relationship management of HSBC customers. The NSC now provides centralized processing of all its 10 branches and corporate banking departments, thus streamlining processes and improving speed of transactions. This includes documentation, remittances, payment services, cheque clearing, etc. For example, when an account is opened the initial information is immediately entered into the system to provide the customer with necessary information such as the account number. Thereafter, the balance documentation and completion of the transaction is transferred to the NSC.

The adoption of the standard means the department would have to conform to its stated quality policy, and policy objectives that are verified regularly by external officers of the issuing body. In turn, the customer benefits by an improved customer service. Ms. Jayawardena explained that these are stated in terms of specific Service Level Agreements with other departments. For example, over 85% and 95% of inward and outward remittances respectively would have to be auto processed with no manual intervention. To a customer this measures in terms of guaranteed, speedier transaction virtually all the time. Further, for instance corporate customers who subscribe to the cheque outsourcing service of the bank are guaranteed that a cheque would be processed and ready for collection by courier within 30 minutes upon giving the instruction to the bank.

Other such paradigms include standards where personal account holders whose employers are HSBC corporate customers would receive their salary payments within two hours upon the organization handing in payroll instructions.

The NSC serves internal customers in the form of other departments and branches, and also external customers, to both of which it is committed to providing service excellence.

"The ISO standard gives us a framework for us to meet and measure our performance. Each year an Internal Customer Service Survey is carried out among department using NSC services. These results are reflected in appraisals of NSC staff and used as feedback to fine tune our operations", adds Ms. Jayawardena.

The Payment Services Department becomes the third unit that would have ISO certification. Other units are the Trade Services and Custodian Services Departments. Other departments of the NSC would be considered for certification eventually, if it is felt that the standard would all value to the services offered to customers.

HSBC as part of its global network also has many systems, processes, products and services that are subjected to various internal standards and continuous inspections.

HNB exclusive bonanza
Hatton National Bank, the pioneer of banking boosted the biggest ever prize structure from private banks in the year 2002 when it awarded its customers with a special Exclusive bonanza a press release said. HNB has been able to convince the people that savings is invaluable particularly to realize their future aspirations.

The Pathum Udanaya Scheme endured for the past several years, the bank has seen more and more deposits and it is satisfied that people have been encouraged to save their money for the future.

The lucky winners for the year 2003 Grand Draw and Special Exclusive draw were Mr. K.A.U.H. Kahandawa of Mount Lavinia branch (JAGUAR - X TYPE CAR) accepting the prize from the Managing Director HNB Mr. R.T. Wijetileke at a special ceremony held at HNB Towers.

SIA, Virgin Atlantic commence Manchester codeshare
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Atlantic Airways have started an Economy Class codeshare service on all SIA flights between Manchester and Singapore, offering Virgin's customers more convenience and flexibility in their travel to Asia and beyond a press release said.

Virgin Atlantic Economy Class passengers will be able to fly non-stop between Singapore and Manchester five times weekly on SIA's B777-200 ER aircraft. Virgin Atlantic and SIA already have a codeshare arrangement on SIA's three daily flights between London and Singapore.

Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President - Marketing and the Regions, Mr. Huang Cheng Eng, said, "We are pleased to be able to further our already strong relationship with Virgin Atlantic by enabling Virgin to offer its customers a choice of flights from both Manchester and London to Singapore."

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