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Delmege Insurance Brokers (DIB), one of the foremost insurance brokers in Sri Lanka, has outsourced its brand management to the international marketing consultancy MTI to further enhance professionalism and service levels, the company said. With gross written premium (GWP) of over Rs 350 million at the end of the last financial year, Delmege Insurance is a leading service provider to the corporate and institutional sectors, which require a high level of expertise and commitment in end-to-end insurance solutions.
The appointment of MTI to manage the Delmege Insurance brand would include the development of new marketing strategies, innovative services and training programmes for company personnel with a focus on relationship management, DIB's Deputy Chairman Niranjan Mendis disclosed.
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and the Centre for Policy Alternative (CPA) in association with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung is organising a seminar on "International Labour Standards and Labour Law Reform" on March 15 at the chamber auditorium.
Presentations will be made on - International Labour Standards and Labour Law Reform -Perspectives of the ILO by: Ms. Claudia Coenjaerts, ILO Director in Colombo, International Labour Standards and Labour Law Reform (Employer perspectives) by Gotabaya Dassanayake, Director-General, Employer's Federation of Ceylon, and International Labour Standards and Labour Reform (Employee perspectives) by Ms. Nimalka Fernando, Attorney at Law and representing the Free Trade Union Dialogue Centre
The seminar is primarily targeted at senior executives in the private sector, key government officials, leaders of professional, trade union and civil society organisations, the legal profession and development specialists. It will be the second in the series of seminars and workshops organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Centre for Policy Alternatives in association with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung aimed at addressing key issues of governance and strategic development.
With the opening of the Anuradhapura Branch, the National Development Bank (NDB) has now extended its network to 13 branches in Sri Lanka, the bank said.
The Anuradhapura branch was open by NDB Director/General Manager, Mr. Nihal Welikala on February 22. It will offer medium to long-term project loans, as well as working capital and leasing facilities for business enterprises. The branch will also operate special lending scheme such as the Perennial Crop Development Project (PCDP), and Environmentally Friendly Project (E-Friends) Fund, and will also focus on providing finance and advisory support to small and medium scale industries, through the SMILE credit line.
The Institute of Human Development & Training (IHDT) has organized a workshop on the above topic on March 26 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI)
This one day, interactive workshop is designed to improve managers counselling skills in situations that require correcting employee behavior, developing employee strengths, and appraising employee performance. Role-plays, group exercises and case studies allow participants to learn practical ways to deal with a wide range of interaction between managers and employees.
The International College of Business and Technology (ICBT), a member of Ceylinco Consolidated recently launched their BBA degree programme awarded by the Curtin University of Technology of Perth, Australia.
By Clinton Rodrigo
As a planter and senior executive with experience in all three crops - tea, rubber and coconut - in almost equal measure, I would like to share my thoughts on several issues concerning our great plantations industry which has a history of more than 100 years.
The government is said to be planning to allow imports of coconuts from countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. The aim is said to be to bring down the retail prices of local nuts, which are now high due to the drought.
I suppose agriculturists and coconut planters are aware of the 'Cumingi' beetle that seriously infested coconut plantations in Sri Lanka and almost wiped out the entire industry about two decades ago. This pest was obviously of foreign origin. It took a Herculean effort by scientists in the country and even abroad to control and eliminate this dangerous beetle.
The practice also prevails where latex or manufactured rubber is imported from other countries at a supposedly cheaper price than that available in this country.
This is supposed to enable industrialists to manufacture rubber goods or to add value to another country's rubber crop rather than help the rubber industry in this country that is on the brink of extinction.
It is a great pity that this country is not adequately national minded to look after our own crops and to look outside and tie up with foreign consortia permitting them to add value to someone else's raw products.
Are we not wasting valuable foreign exchange? Why cannot local firms with foreign collaboration, if needed, use our own rubber to make almost all our tyres, tubes, surgical gloves, and condoms rather than helping other countries become rich at the expense of Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka is now the largest exporter of tea in the world shipping almost 300 million kg annually. We produce the best orthodox tea and also high quality seasonal teas from the Western High Grown Dambulla/Dickoya range in January - March and the Uva quality teas from the Uva region in August - October. We manufacture only about 5 - 8 percent of CTC (crush, tear and curl) teas for the international tea bag market. Certain individuals are again trying to make a "fast buck" by importing sub-standard, low quality teas mainly from India and diluting our premium teas, accepted internationally as amongst the best.
The planting of new crops like oil palm is diverting attention away from the country's three main plantation crops. Many an experienced, qualified scientist has pointed out that the disadvantages of oil palm greatly out-weigh the advantages of crops like coconut and rubber.
We should listen to these scientists and not to step into the unknown and thereby damage to the country's plantation crop industry and its economy and environment. The known devil is better than the unknown angel. We should allow competent local scientists to guide us in our new endeavours.
Another issue is that of succession planning in the private sector. The government says the private sector should constitute the country's engine of growth.
But we have to concede that old engines have to be replaced by new ones if performance is to be maintained at an acceptable level.
Hence, the government should insist that the entire private sector impose a compulsory retirement age for senior executives. Some established and well-managed private sector firms already do so. At John Keells the compulsory retirement age for executives is 60 years. This could be an incentive for aspiring younger staffers who are trying to reach the top.
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