Financial Times

New challenge for chamber leaders
This new challenge will require the leadership teams of the Chambers to invest for tomorrow’s growth of the private sector, joining in the initiative sector clusters and member companies, but importantly without looking for a handout from the government.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce is celebrating “Italy 2005 : Quality and Life Styles” festivals across the key destinations of the world. In conjunction with a high quality restaurant offering healthy Italian food, a bubbly atmosphere, an attractive and friendly service an exhibition is held promoting Italy.

The Sri Lankan Chambers can select some key countries and promote Sri Lankan heritage, culture, products, tourism and life styles in conjunction with a major hotel chain and a shopping mall in the selected countries. In addition a promotional strategy targeting tourists can be arranged in Sri Lanka in conjunction with a selected hotel chain and shopping mall. The Chamber should obtain exclusive lease rights over the recently constructed structures around the Beira Lake as a part of this strategy.

The Chamber can undertake this initiative through a venture capital company with capital non voting share contributions from clusters and members. Banks, EDB, BOI, Tourist Board and other government entities can be given the option of providing loan capital at marginal rates of interest. All members and clusters benefiting should be required to pay a franchise fee, possibly computed as an increase in turnover facilitated via new markets and new contacts and a 10-year breakeven must be the Chamber’s focus.

The promotional presentations overseas can cover Sri Lankan heritage (bronze collection), culture (dance and songs) and life style offerings, focusing on tourism, Sri Lankan food and drinks, handicrafts, Ayurvedic treatment, mediation and mind fullness. The spice sector can be promoted using food, drinks and its natural medicinal values. A review of ola leaves medical records of India and Sri Lanka should provide clues to the medicinal value of all locally grown spices and medicinal plants.

In association with body shop or similar natural product marketing entities the life style, beauty and cosmetic value of these products can be promoted. In addition all visitors attending the promotions can be served tea, medicinal drinks and hot spice wines in association with the marketers of these products in the destination countries. Sri Lankan beauty queens and ambassadors of goodwill can be invited to lead these promotions.

In Sri Lanka all key restaurants of key hotel chains must be engaged to support tea and spice and life style promotions in a similar way. In respect of tea at selected restaurants and malls the tourists can be given the facilities to develop their own tea blend sheet after tasting and able to purchase the specific blend of tea of an indicated minimum quantity or allowed to import the ingredients and mix the blend in their own country.

The structures around the Beira lake can be used to promote tea, spices, apparel, ceramics, gems & jewellery, Sri Lankan food and cookery whilst the Seema Malakaya or the centre island used to facilitate and promote meditation and mind fullness.

The Chamber can take an example from Singapore that has an organized spice garden tour requiring visitors to identify in teams the spice plants and then engage in cooking traditional Singaporean dishes using the spices under the guidance of cookery demonstrators and thereafter partake of the cooked meals all upon a payment of a handsome price for this unique experience.
If the Body Shop concept of distribution could have created oils and creams from the tea tree, honey combs, aloevera, tobacco flowers, cinnamon, ginger, spices and other natural products Sri Lanka can create a globally competitive niche market business eterprise that not only makes profits but makes a significant value contribution to local communities.

All purchases made from the promotional malls, restaurants and centres around the Beira Lake should be entitled to participate in a promotional competition provided the spend exceeds a certain value with a seasonal/daily draw for prizes of participating products of apparel, tea, handicrafts etc. In addition, on the days the tea auctions are held there should be tours organized for tourists to view and understand how this unique commodity auction operates. The Chamber should with the tourism cluster make available a virtual visitor tour via the worldwide web of this offering with a lottery option that offers tourism and product options possibly getting Sri Lankan airlines as a partner.

Mahatma Gandhi has shown the way to the Chamber leaders to evaluate the above strategy when he said “Whenever you are in doubt, apply the following test: Recall the face of the poorest and weakest person you may have seen and ask yourself if the steps you contemplate are going to be of any use to them.”

(The writer could be reached at - wo_owl@yahoo.co.uk).

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