|
||||
|
More News Communications
industry: Two agencies vie for launching rights!
Nielsen Media
Research (NMR), which is the world leader in TV audience measurement,
announced last week that it plans to launch a Peoplemeter service
in Sri Lanka. Forrest Didier,
Head of Nielsen Media Research in Asia Pacific said Sri Lanka is
one of the few markets in Asia which have been left untapped by
NMR and with support from the Sri Lankan industry on a Peoplemeter
Service, this gap will now be closed. The Peoplemeter
is an electronic device which automatically detects the channel
which is being viewed and stores it in its memory chip. Additionally,
it records which members of the family are viewing which programmes,
through a remote control device, similar to the normal TV remote.
In Sri Lanka, NMR's entry has been facilitated by the Sri Lankan
company, ORG-MARG-SMART who has now changed its name to ACNielsen
Lanka, owned by the VNU-Nielsen group. NMR is the leading provider of television audience measurement and related services, worldwide and is active directly in more than 40 countries worldwide, offering television and radio audience measurement, print readership and customised media research services. Through a network of affiliates, coverage is extended to more than 70 countries, representing 85 percent of the world's advertising spending. Small enterprises
play major role Today small
business enjoys a privileged position in the world economy because
every government in every country has recognised their contribution
to economic growth. Small business
is responsible for the majority of the jobs created world over and
their value added to the economies is very high. In recognition
of their importance, the international financial community led by
the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the other regional and
national development banks have created and maintained projects
to uplift the standards of the smaller business units. Financial facilities
in Sri Lanka for the SMI sector are being channelled by the National
Development Bank via commercial banks. But the benefits do not appear
to seep into the lowest levels due to various problems, mainly due
to the attitudes of those who give; a change in attitudes is required
even at the receiving end. A large number
of government and non-governmental organisations created and funded
by both local and foreign sources to create employment and to develop
entrepreneurship in the country are active in the provinces. In spite of
all these services, the smaller business units still suffer from
malnutrition. "There
is no national policy on small business. Sri Lanka does not even
have a national definition of what a small bushiness is," says
Nihal Dissanayake, Chief Editor of the Sinhala language management
journal, Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa. What should
be done? Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa has now decided to reach an
English audience too and is launching the Small Business International
which is the English language version of the Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa.
SBI shares
the same objectives as Athwela. That is, to help the small business
community to acquire the required attitudes, knowledge and skills,
necessary to start, manage and steer their small business towards
success. There is a small difference. "We also have added a new objective to the English version: to promote foreign trade among the small and medium sized business operators in the region," according to a statement from Athwela. Exports pick
up in August, show surplus The data when
compared with exports in August 2001 showed export earnings gaining
by $ 140 million or a 33 percent rise. Meanwhile spending
on imports, measured in dollar terms, also rose by six percent in
August. The recovery in the importation of intermediate and investment
goods continued, indicating higher inflows of inputs raising potential
future growth in exports. A surplus of
$ 110 million was recorded in the trade account in August, which
is due to exports amounting to $ 568 million and imports amounting
to $ 458 million Export earnings
for the first eight months of 2002 showed a decline of seven percent
over the same period in 2001 while imports showed a decline of six
percent. "Consequently the trade deficit during the first eight
months rose by seven percent to $ 866 million from a deficit of
$ 811 million in the same period in 2001," the Central Bank
statement added. It said export
earnings in August were the highest since December 2001. Earnings
during the first eight months of this year were $ 3.0 billion against
$ 3.3 billion in the same period in 2001. Earnings from
textile and garment exports rose 47 percent to $ 339 million as
a result of a 51 percent growth in volumes as export prices remained
at a lower level than in August 2001. Spending on
imports in August rose by six percent over the August 2001 figure.
The expenditure on imports during the first eight months of 2002 was $ 3.8 billion, a decline of six percent over the first eight months of 2001. Seminar
on cutting edge selling Samararatne,
a former CEO of SATHOSA (CWE) as well as the Sales Training Manager
of Ceylon Tobacco Co. Ltd, is one of Sri Lanka's most outstanding
course leaders in the sphere of sales training and motivation. An
old boy himself of Wesley College, Samararatne has trained over
40,000 persons, from a wide spectrum ranging from sales representatives
to the cream of Sri Lankan management. The seminar
would be structured on the following lines - The development of
a professional image, the customer-emotional factors, why people
buy, building a healthy relationship with a customer and identifying
customer needs and sensitively. Among the organisers of the seminar are, Rienzie T. Wijethilake, Managing Director, Hatton National Bank Ltd. (President, Wesley College Old Boys' Union), Richard Ebell (Director, Hayleys Ltd) and Ivor Maharoof, CEO, Metropolitan Office. keen
on solid waste disposal "The response
has been very good and the next step in the process is the RFP (Request
for Proposals)," Fikrath Shuaib, BII Project Co-ordinator,
said. In the RFP,
the interested parties will be asked to give information on geographical
area preference and details on how they hope to provide the services. In the case
of two parties bidding for the same geographical area, only one
party will be chosen based on quality and capability. Selections
are expected to be made early next year. The services to be provided
by the private sector include waste collection, transportation,
recycling, storage, waste exchange and disposal. The projects are to be carried out on a Build-Own-Operate, Build-Operate-Transfer or any other acceptable variant. (TM) Four-day
programme on 'job analysis' The programme
has been initiated by the Staff Development Centre, the HRD arm
of Commercial Bank, as part of its plans to bring high premium international
training expertise within easy reach of Sri Lankan corporates. Senior
officers of several banks are scheduled to participate in this programme,
which will be facilitated by Richard McConkey, Senior Consultant,
SHL. Job analysis is a process, which would assist an organisation to determine the duties and skills requirements of a job and the type of person who should be hired for it, the Commercial Bank said. Apollo
holds free cardiac clinic in Kandy "This
programme reiterated the point that although Apollo is located in
Colombo, its policy is to cater to the needs of the whole country.
This is the first of many such programmes scheduled to be held to
convey this message of Apollo being truly Sri Lankan," a statement
from the hospital said. At the seminar
presentations on Apollo and its cardiac specialty departments were
made by Dr. Vinay Kumar Bahl, Coordinator/Senior Consultant Cardiologist,
Dr. Siva Kumar, Interventional Cardiologist, and Dr. Prasad Krishnan,
Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon. The seminar was attended by approximately
75 doctors from the area. Apollo is equipped
for all types of cardiac surgery which can be performed on patients
ranging from age three months to 80 years. The cardiac specialists
at Apollo Hospitals, Colombo, have also collaborated in at least
two groundbreaking operations in Sri Lanka - one of which is the
use of an Amplatzer Septal Occluder (ASO) device to treat an Atrial
Septal Defect (ASD) or heart defect. This procedure was performed
on August 2 by the Interventional Cardiology Department of Apollo
Hospitals, Colombo. This non-surgical device only requires two days
of hospitalisation with the patient walking out of the hospital
with minimal discomfort and no scarring. This was the first successful
instance of this procedure being performed by a hospital in Sri
Lanka. Established in India in 1983 the Apollo Hospitals Group has treated over 7.5 million patients up to date. The group already has 4,000 beds and it plans to add 3,000 more within the next three years. Vim bar soap
to be made locally Unilever Ceylon
said its main aim in having the plant set up here was to achieve
savings on the costs of importing the product but that it would
not reduce the price of Vim bar soap. Ehsan Malik,
Unilever Ceylon chairman, said the company had initially thought
of making Vim soap itself, given the high import tariffs, but later
decided to outsource it to a supplier. It had been marketing Vim
bar soap for seven years from India. "While
we have superior technology in some areas, in most, we no longer
have the ability of producing at the cheapest cost," Malik
said at the inauguration ceremony of the Vim plant at the Lanka
Industrial Estate in Lindel last week. It would generate 50 new
direct jobs. Unilever was "not about to give in on manufacturing
in this country," Malik said, adding that the firm would "give
it our best shot" to get unions and workers to understand the
challenge they face. "But unless
we can significantly alter the work practices and renegotiate emolument
and productivity terms and get world class, the writing is on the
wall," he said. Unilever brand
manager Rohita Annasiwatta said that having the soap made locally
would help in getting a fresher product to the market in the pack
size they want. When asked whether this effort would bring down the price of the Vim Bar now, Annasiwatta said, "It would not reduce the price but we will be able to maintain the price at the same level." - Thushara |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
