Adaderana Biz English | Sri Lanka Business News

Launches premium 115-lb, 10.00 20 size, bias-ply contender for truck and prime mover operators looking for heavy load-carrying tyres CEAT Kelani Holdings has achieved another production milestone with the launch of a new locally-manufactured heavy-duty tyre for trucks, engineered and built specifically for users who consider heavy load-carrying capability with higher mileage a priority. Weighing a solid 52kgs (115 pounds) each, these bias-ply type tyres fit size 10.00 20 which represents 48 per cent of the buses and trucks on Sri Lanka’s roads. Branded ‘CEAT LYFMAX’ in acknowledgement of its extended durability, this new premium bias tyre has been extensively tested and benchmarked against two of the top brands attributed with load-carrying credentials in the local market and outperforms both, the company said. “The CEAT brand already has a dominant 63 per cent share of the Sri Lanka market for truck/bus bias-ply tyres, but we are not resting on our laurels,” CEAT Kelani Managing Director Mr Ravi Dadlani said. “We have identified a segment of lorry and prime mover customers that opts for imported bias-ply brands due to the perception of their load-carrying capabilities, and the LYFMAX tyre is our response to that challenge.” Designed at CEAT’s state-of-the-art design facility in Halol, India, the CEAT LYFMAX has an extra-robust tread pattern with optimised tread geometry, enhanced ribs and groove width and a Non-skid Depth (NSD) of 19.8mm to deliver higher mileage and better durability. The tyre’s refined footprint provides a higher contact area for uniform pressure distribution, enabling better load handling. Its new buttress design allows better temperature control at high speeds, which in combination with the advanced high performance compounds used for greater casing strength help maintain casing longevity and translates to better re-treadability, an important consideration in the commercial tyre segment. About 55 per cent of truck and bus operators in Sri Lanka use bias-ply tyres, although there is a shift towards truck/bus radials (TBRs) by fleet owners seeking the running cost and performance benefits of radial tyres. CEAT Kelani Holdings is actively contributing to this segment as well and in mid 2019 launched the CEAT Winmile AW – the first locally-produced high-performance TBR, enabling significant import substitution on TBRs coming in from India as well as China. CEAT Kelani Holdings, which manufactures nearly half of Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre requirements, is considered one of the most successful India – Sri Lanka joint ventures in the manufacturing sector. The joint venture’s cumulative investment in Sri Lanka to date totals Rs 8 billion, inclusive of Rs 3 billion committed in January 2018 for expansion of volumes, technology upgrades and new product development. The company’s manufacturing operations in Sri Lanka encompass pneumatic tyres in the radial (passenger cars, vans and SUVs), commercial (Bias-ply and radial), motorcycle, three-wheeler and agricultural vehicle segments. The CEAT brand accounts for market shares of 33 per cent in the radial segment, 65 per cent in the Truck category, 80 per cent Light Truck tyre category, 50 per cent in the Three-Wheeler tyre segment, 31 per cent in the motorcycle tyre segment and 72 per cent in the agricultural vehicle tyre category. CEAT exports about a third of its production to 16 countries in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East.

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The real challenge of COVID-19 goes far beyond the parameters of healthcare. It’s changed the way we interact socially, and challenged the most fundamental of human needs such as access to food, employment and education; challenging the very fundamentals of our society and leaving many in an extremely vulnerable position. HSBC, together with Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management(A-PAD) and Berendina Development Services (Gte) Ltd, is working on building resilience among these communities and to ease the impact of the pandemic in their daily lives. Mark Prothero, CEO HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives said, “The impact of COVID-19 is multidimensional. Therefore, the support we extend to various segments of the community affected by this has to be dynamic enough to address those multiple challenges. The immediate need, as rightly so, was to respond to the frontline and healthcare workers. But it is equally important that we support other vulnerable groups and look beyond the medical aspect to the more profound economic and societal issues that have cropped up as a result.” One of the communities most severely affected by the COVID-19 related lockdown is those identified as economically inactive poor families (EIPF). As people whose capabilities are extremely insufficient to engage in a productive economic activity due to many hindrances such as age, physical or mental strength and care commitments, they are inherently vulnerable. Abandoned elders, disabled people and widows with infants who have no regular income source fall into this category. Their survival is more often dependent on very limited government social security programmes and close relatives who are, in most cases, struggling with poverty. Under this project, HSBC together with Berendina Development Services is supporting 3,700 EIPF families in 72 divisional secretariats in 11 districts. The project, which will run from June to August 2020, provides dry ration for them. Children are another group who have felt the impact of the pandemic in great measure. In containing the virus, the country closed down schools and the education of children came to a standstill. The best way forward for recovery was making distant learning a possibility through e-learning and online schooling. While this was the most viable option in theory, the reality is that only 48% of Sri Lankan households with children under the age of 18 have access to a smart phone or computer and even fewer, 34% have access to internet. There are 10,167 schools enlisted island-wide, of which a large proportion does not even have access to electricity. Working with such ground realities, lessons being shared online or digitally is a bitter struggle for both teachers and students in rural Sri Lanka. Under the umbrella of responding to COVID-19, HSBC has teamed up with A-PAD Sri Lanka to provide additional assistance to students who are to sit for the national level examinations such as, Grade Five Scholarships programme (schedule for August), G.C.E Ordinary Level (schedule for December) and G.C.E Advanced Level (scheduled for August) in 2020. The project supports 3,000 children in most vulnerable schools with least access to distance learning from 11 districts in the country. Conducted in liaison with the provincial and district educational authorities with the support of Zonal Education Directors and the principals of the most vulnerable schools, the project supports 3,000 students directly and further thousands through the re-cycling of study material via the school library in the years to follow. The above projects are being carried out as an extension to the COVID-19 relief programmes by HSBC. In addition to this, the Bank has been supporting the first responders, healthcare professionals, healthcare facilities and affected communities with urgent supplies from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. HSBC continues to support the Sri Lankan community as the country looks to move beyond COVID-19.

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SLT has strengthened its partnership as the official ICT Service Provider of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy for the 8^th consecutive year. An agreement was signed recently to provide multitude of ICT solutions including Broad band services, PEO TV and voice communication via high speed SLT Fibre technology to the Maligawa . These services will be provided free of charge and will facilitate the media centre of Dalanda Maligawa to undertake the broadcasting and sharing of cultural and religious information with the public. Further, SLT will provide all ICT solutions to broadcast the annual Esala Perehera on all digital media channels and easy uploading of cultural & religious documentaries and photographs of religious festivals. Photo caption: From left : Mr. Priyantha Fernandez ( COO/SLT) Mr. Krishantha Hissella (Director – Media & Special Projects ,Sri Dalada Maligawa) , Mr. Lalith Seneviratne ( Executive Director & GCEO/SLT),Mr. Rohan Fernando ( SLT Group Chairman), Mr. Pradeep Nilanga Dela (Diyawadana Nilame of Sri Dalada Maligawa) , Mr. Mohan Weerakoon , PC ( Director/SLT) , Mr. Kiththi Perera ( CEO/SLT) , Mr. Prabhath Dahanayake (CMO/SLT) Mr. Lionel Imbulana (CSRO/SLT) , Mr. Shashika Senerath (CMO/ Mobitel)

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The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has offered guidance to Stakeholders on areas that require further clarity in relation to the Empower Board Listing Rules. The guidance note is intended at offering stakeholders a clear understanding on the level and manner of compliance expected and areas that will be looked into at the point of submitting a Listing application and when submitting a Sponsor application. Two-Year operating History to be demonstrated by Potential Empower Board Issuers Businesses carried out in terms of a formalized arrangement acceptable to the CSE as a sole proprietorship/partnership prior to incorporating the entity would be considered, provided that the applicant entity submits a duly certified copy of this formalized arrangement. Preparation of Financial Statements if the company is a Parent Entity In the event that the company seeking a listing on the Empower Board of the CSE is a Parent Entity, such entity is required to prepare its Financial Statements in accordance with the full Sri Lanka Accounting Standards (SLFRSs). Eligibility to be an Empower Board Sponsor A Sponsor Firm is required to have at least one staff member with a minimum of five years’ experience in Investment Banking or Corporate Finance out of which one year shall be in handling listing applications of Issuers or capital raising services (Where the Sponsor is an individual, the concept of capital raising services would not be applicable). The guidance note offers direction to Potential Sponsor Firms on these requirements, highlighting areas of importance. Independent role to be played by Empower Board Sponsors A Sponsor Firm which will offer the company pre and post listing support is required to perform its duties independently with no conflict of interest with the Entities it sponsors. Given this requirement, guidance has been offered to Private Equity/Venture Capital firms, Managers to a listing and Audit Firms, who wish to act in the capacity of a Sponsor. The comprehensive guidance note issued by the CSE can be accessed via www.cse.lk For more information: Vinduni Dullewe Head of Listing Colombo Stock Exchange Direct: +94 112356558

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Setting a new benchmark for entry-level smartphones, Huawei, the innovative smartphone manufacturer, recently launched Huawei Y6p featuring 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM. Huawei Y6p is considered as the benchmark of smartphone in its price range to offer a standard 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM in the current smartphone market. It’s 64GB ROM offers ample storage capabilities even after the memory consumed by the system itself. Besides the memory consumed by the system, it offers around 55GB to be used to store photos, video, files and apps and that is more than enough for every day usage. The 64GB storage means users can install all their essential apps and store files and the addition of 4GB RAM brings a seamless smartphone experience without any lagging or slowing issues. Its 4GB RAM is ideal for multi-tasking as it helps to load and run apps smoothly. In addition, HUAWEI Y6p taps into Huawei’s advancements in software and applies the EROFS technology in order to create additional storage for the phone. EROFS is capable of releasing an extra storage that can store up to 1000 pictures for users! With the use of hardware and software synergy, HUAWEI Y6p outperforms its competitors featuring the same RAM and storage, but which do not use EROFS technology. Huawei Y6p comes with the pre-installed Huawei AppGallery, which has grown into a wider app ecosystem with almost all the popular apps now featured in it. Huawei AppGallery offers apps and games from a wide range of categories that users can easily explore and download to their Huawei smartphones. The App Gallery has introduced another innovative tool offering the Find Apps search widget powered by Petal Search. Find Apps search widget is a new way of finding your favorite apps and get them downloaded to your device. It is a gateway for millions of apps and users can easily download the Find Apps search widget from the Huawei app gallery. This search widget also provides recommendations as to where you can download your favorite apps including the sources. It also accommodates the option of adding a widget to the home screen of your smartphone which enables you to easily search apps. Huawei Y6p features a 6.3 inch dewdrop display offering a wide an immersive viewing experience. It is powered with a long lasting 5000mAh battery which allows users to get all the tasks done continuously without requiring frequent charging. Huawei Y6p comes in phantom purple, emerald green and midnight black colors and is available in Sri Lanka for an amazing introductory price of Rs. 30,499. Huawei Y5p was introduced in parallel to Y6p and as an entry level smartphone, it also promises an optimal smartphone experience with its 2GB RAM + 32GB storage. The 5.45-inch smartphone features a 3020mAh battery, which is capable of getting through the daily tasks even with heavy usage. This compact device is available in three refreshing colors such as midnight black, phantom blue and mint green and is priced at Rs. 18,999.

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Crocodile is excited to announce its latest strategic partnership with Round Table Sri Lanka. The partnership, which was announced at the AGM of Round Table Sri Lanka at The Blue, Hilton will enable Round Table current members and alumni to avail themselves of exclusive offers at Crocodile’s Premiere Outlet at One Galle Face Mall. ‘As Sri Lanka’s leading lifestyle fashion brand, Crocodile is uniquely positioned to meet the sartorial needs of the dynamic professionals and successful businessmen of Round Table,” said Chamal Fonseka, the General Manager of Crocodile. ‘Our partnership is a perfect blend between the world renowned Round Table Organization, which has a rich 93-year history and Crocodile, which has been an iconic brand for over 70 years.’ ‘We are very pleased to be partnering with Crocodile,’ said Vivek Sundarallingam, President of Round Table Sri Lanka. ‘Our members are high achieving individuals who will welcome the opportunity to choose from a wide range of clothing and accessories that reflect their commitment to excellence.’ Founded in 1927 in the UK with the aim of promoting fellowship and social service among the leading businessmen and professionals, Round Table is an exclusive club for men between the ages of 18 and 45. These charismatic, accomplished members who are determined to make a difference in their professions and communities are certain to find their demanding requirements satisfied by the unparalleled range of stylish, sophisticated menswear available at the new Crocodile One Galle Face store. ‘From the beach to the boardroom, from the office to a night out in the city, we have ensured that we have the finest clothing and accessories to meet the demands of the most discerning clientele,’ said Chamal Fonseka, the General Manager of Crocodile. Established in 1947, Crocodile Stores are the perfect destination for the discerning, style-conscious gentleman and the brand is also available in retail outlets such as ODEL, Kandy, Cool Planet, Nolimit, Glitz, Cotton Collection, Beverly Street, Pearl of Asia, Fashion Bug, Diliganz and other leading retail stores island wide. Photo Caption: Chamal Fonseka – General Manager, Crocodile Sri Lanka (Right) announcing the partnership with Vivek Sundaralingam, President – Round Table Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka Tourism has been in discussion with the European Union Office in Colombo regarding the most effective use of a Euro 3.5 million government to government grant offered to help recover from the crisis. The total grant to the Sri Lankan government was Euro 22 million, allocated primarily to support agriculture and farmers, with Euro 3.5 million allocated to support the tourism sector. “We are pleased to announce that the EU is considering increasing the grant to EUR 4 million and are awaiting final clearance from head office. A key focus is supporting the SME segment to increase overall yield and grow tourism revenue that would benefit wider segments of society,” Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson of SLTDA stated. “The fact that 100% of the funding is invested in Sri Lanka to support Sri Lankans and to develop long term competencies as opposed to the conventional practice of donor funding being diverted back to donor countries, is a matter of pride for Sri Lanka Tourism. Especially when the resumption of long-haul travel and consumer sentiment is very uncertain, investing within Sri Lanka is sensible” she added. The grant utilisation criteria communicated to Government by the EU included support to SME’s and Wellness Tourism, including Ayurveda and Hela Wedakama. The EU has had an ongoing development programme for the Wellness sector in Sri Lanka for several years. Accordingly, Sri Lanka Tourism has agreed with the donor to include 1)one-time cash handouts to small & medium hotels 2) upskilling employees in soft skills, sanitary standards, business management 3) programs with SME/homestays to develop nature and community-based products through a small grant program 4) wellness sector – product development, branding, marketing, certification of wellness resorts focusing on Ayurveda&Hela Wedakama. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Director General Dhammika Wijayasinghe said: “Product development will be led by the private sector who is already in this segment. Wellness could make a significant contribution to Sri Lanka Tourism sustainable development goals.” With Sri Lanka’s success in battling COVID-19 due in part to indigenous medicine as well as the fact that Wellness tourism is the fastest-growing sector globally, with indigenous cures highly prized by Western travellers, focusing on this area will yield dividends. Currently, Sri Lanka Tourism is working with the Ministry of Health to finalise regulations relating to Ayurveda& Hela Wedakama and capacity building. Thereafter a product development and promotional campaign will be launched. The EDB has in place a national strategy for wellness and Sri Lanka Tourism will coordinate with them.Sri Lanka Tourism has also set up a wellness group with the private sector for support and ideas that could be incorporated into the action plan.

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Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based policy think tank, urged the government to eliminate import controls on consumer goods and raw materials, as import restriction would distort production and raise the price of goods.

According to the Extraordinary Gazette No 2182/10 of June 2020, import controls imposed by the earlier gazette Number 2176/19 of 22 May 2020 have been extended for another six months commencing from the 2nd of July 2020. The Sri Lankan economy, battered by the impact of the curfew and global recessionary patterns is in dire need of liquidity and access to credit. Downward pressure on the currency worsened the LKR’s position in the foreign exchange market which in turn led to a significant foreign exchange shortage during the COVID-19 Lockdown. To protect the currency, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced import restrictions on consumption. Therefore by use of the above extraordinary gazettes, the import of vehicles, refrigerators, luxury goods, certain raw materials and fruits and vegetables have been further restricted. “Considering the nature of the emergency, it would be acceptable to limit the import of luxury goods and vehicles temporarily however import controls on consumer goods would be harmful and inflationary,” Advocata said in a statement. Advocata argues that such import restrictions will further hamper Sri Lanka’s growth prospects and will disadvantage businesses that rely on imported raw materials. As reported by the Central Bank, imported consumer goods only amount to 19.8% of total imports, while 57% of imports are intermediate goods for production. “Therefore local manufacturers are already starting to experience the adverse effects of the import controls. One such key industry is the confectionery industry which is experiencing a 340% special commodity levy on block fat and margarine. The industry is already impacted by increased taxes on palm oil and sugar and is expected to experience an additional cost of Rs. 500 million to Rs. 600 million per month with import tax increases. The confectionery industry, directly and indirectly, employs over 600,000 people while exporting to over 55 counties bringing in $100 million in export revenue,” It said. “Moreover, Significant increases in the cost of production would make Sri Lankan products uncompetitive internationally and domestically expensive for local consumers. The adverse effects of import restrictions will spill over onto the export sector as a tax on restrictions of imports is a tax on exports. Further, the existing price stability in consumer goods is a result of existing stocks, when these stocks run out prices of domestic goods will increase leading to a reduction in welfare. This is especially impactful on lower-income groups, who rely on competition and cheap substitutes for essential products in order to sustain themselves. Additionally, the currency situation is likely to continue worsening due to emphasis placed on consumer good suspension, instead of intermediate goods – which have more demand,” it added.

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In view of the recent developments in the finance leasing business, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka appointed a three member committee to examine and report on the irregularities and illegal activities of the finance and finance leasing businesses, and to make recommendations to curtail such activities. In response to the request made by the Committee, more than 200 views, proposals or complaints were received from the general public, civil organizations, financial sector associations and other interested parties in the finance business and finance leasing business. The Committee, having examined such representations, has completed the report, and the report was handed over to the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on 07.07.2020. The Committee has placed particular emphasis on the illegal and irregular activities in the finance leasing business and has identified two set of activities in the business of finance leasing that require attention, namely, activities of the registered finance business and the activities of the illegal operators. Further, the Committee has identified that the activities emanating from the aforesaid categories mainly revolve around the problems related to the recovery of possession of equipment, abuse of the terms and conditions in the finance lease agreements entered intobetween the lessor and the lessee, certain loopholes in the provisions of the Finance Leasing Act, No. 56 of 2000. Accordingly, the Committee recommends short term and long term proposals of which the short-term proposals are expected to address the current problems by providing more efficient solutions to the problems identified and the long-term proposals mainly focus on amendments to the Finance Leasing Act. Photo – Mr. K G P Sirikumara, Director, Legal and Compliance Department, Central Bank of Sri Lanka handing over the report to Prof. W D Lakshman, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka’s export earnings have increased to US $ 950 million in June 2020 from US $ 602 million in May, customs provisional statistics outlined, which is a positive signal that Sri Lanka is in the path of recovery faster than anticipated. Hence, noting that the June exports have surpassed the US $ 602 million recorded in May, The Export Development Board (EDB) stated that this is a V-shaped recovery (a sharp rise back) for Sri Lankan exports. Meanwhile, addressing a media briefing in Colombo this morning (8) Basil Rajapaksa – the National Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna also expressed his thoughts on this. “Sri Lanka’s export earnings have increased to US $ 950 million in June 2020.” “This is a big win for us. In April Sri Lanka’s export earnings declined to US $250 million” “Hence, this is not a U-turn but a V- turn recovery,” he added.

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The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 08 July 2020, decided to reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points each, to 4.50 per cent and 5.50 per cent, respectively. The Board arrived at this decision with a view to inducing a further reduction in market lending rates, thereby encouraging the financial system to aggressively enhance lending to productive sectors of the economy, which would reinforce support to COVID-19 hit businesses as well as to the broader economy, given conditions of subdued inflation. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted near term growth prospects globally, while available indicators for Sri Lanka also suggest that economic growth is likely to have been severely affected during the second quarter of 2020. Although a rebound is expected during the second half of the year with the support of monetary and fiscal stimulus measures, the introduction of growth promoting and confidence enhancing structural reforms is imperative to foster high and sustainable economic growth over the medium term. On the external front, the trade deficit is estimated to have narrowed during the first five months of 2020, with the contraction in imports outweighing the contraction in exports. Reflecting the impact of measures taken to stem foreign currency outflows, the Sri Lankan rupee, which remained volatile briefly from mid-March to mid-April 2020, recorded a notable appreciation thereafter. Gross official reserves stood at US dollars 6.7 billion by end June 2020, sufficient to cover 4.2 months of imports. Market interest rates continued to decline, reflecting the impact of policy rate reductions and the surplus liquidity in the domestic money market. However, further space remains for market lending rates to adjust downwards commensurate with the series of easing measures taken by the Central Bank thus far during the year. Despite high levels of surplus liquidity available to banks, credit extended to the private sector contracted significantly in May 2020. However, credit extended to the private sector is likely to pick up in the period ahead, supported by the expected sharp reduction in lending rates and highly concessional credit schemes introduced to support COVID-19 hit businesses. Meanwhile, the notable increase in credit to the public sector drove the increase in domestic credit as well as the overall monetary expansion during the first five months of 2020. In consideration of the need to support a rapid recovery of the economy, the Monetary Board, at its meeting held on 08 July 2020, decided to reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points each to 4.50 per cent and 5.50 per cent, respectively, with effect from 09 July 2020. The Monetary Board wishes to strongly reiterate that all financial institutions led by licensed commercial banks (LCBs) must pass on the full benefit of the cumulative reduction of 250 basis points in policy interest rates thus far during the year without delay. LCBs are also expected to release to the private sector borrowers the enhanced levels of liquidity effected by the reduction of the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) by 300 basis points thus far during the year, which has also reduced the cost of funds of banks. Such additional liquidity must be used to lend to productive sectors of the economy, along with concessionary credit schemes already announced by the Central Bank to help needy sectors of the economy. The Central Bank will continue to monitor domestic and global macroeconomic and financial market developments and take further measures to ensure that the intended outcomes of already implemented policies are realised.

Monetary Policy Decision: Policy rates reduced and SRR unchanged

Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR)	4.50%
Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR)	5.50%
Bank Rate (automatically adjusted with SLFR)	8.50%
Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR)	2.00%

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Sri Lanka Tourism is working closely with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to include Sri Lanka in developing travel corridors for travel with no quarantine overseas, for returning tourists or visiting Sri Lankans. “We are working closely with our Ambassador in the UK and other Ambassadors who are talking to the relevant governments, we are also in regular contact with the UK Ambassador Sarah Hulton. Since the date of Colombo airport opening isn’t known, that can be a constraint to getting on safe travel lists which also factor in reciprocity” said Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson -Sri Lanka Tourism. Sri Lanka Tourism is also working closely with the Ministry of Health on a detailed protocol on resuming international tourism in Sri Lanka in a Covid-19 safe environment. “This is an all-encompassing protocol, going beyond just the certification of accommodation sector” stated Mrs Fernando, saying that it is in the final stages. Once approved, it would provide further comfort to other governments as it covers all touch points of international visitors to the country. She also stated that Sri Lanka Tourism is in discussion to provide insurance policies specifically to cover international guests for COVID-19 related risks.

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Geneva (Reuters): Global leaders called for a comprehensive approach to counter the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which International Labour Organization chief Guy Ryder said on Wednesday had plunged the world of work into “unprecedented crisis”. “Let’s be clear: it’s not a choice between health or jobs and the economy. They are interlinked: we will either win on all fronts or fail on all fronts,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an ILO summit that will be addressed by dozens of heads of state and government via recorded messages. World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the summit the world had a special duty to protect the millions of healthcare workers at the front line of the crisis and suffering increasing cases of infection and death. “Together we have a duty to protect those who protect us,” he said. The outlook for the global labour market in the second half of 2020 is “highly uncertain” and the forecast recovery will not be enough for employment to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, the ILO said last week. The UN agency said the fall in global working hours was “significantly worse than previously estimated” in the first half of the year.

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~ Addresses data sovereignty, security, and performance concerns that prevent some enterprise workloads from moving to the public cloud ~ Samsung SDS and NTT DoCoMo, welcome Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. — Building on the success of Oracle’s Exadata Cloud@Customer service over the last three years, Oracle announced the availability of Oracle Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer. This new offering combines the latest Oracle Database with the fastest Oracle Database platform—Exadata—delivered as a cloud service in customer datacenters. It eliminates database management and capital expenditures while enabling pay-per-use and elastic consumption of database cloud resources. Now, Autonomous Database is available to run in customer data centers both as a standalone offering and as part of Oracle Dedicated Region Cloud@Customer, the industry’s first on-premises cloud region, which was also announced today. Oracle Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer is the simplest and fastest transition to a cloud model with typical deployments taking less than a week. Existing applications in a datacenter can simply connect and run without requiring any application changes — while data never leaves the customer’s datacenter. This is ideal for enterprises that find it challenging to move their mission-critical database workloads to the public cloud due to data sovereignty and regulatory requirements, security and performance concerns, or because their on-premises applications and databases are tightly coupled. “Exadata Cloud@Customer has been successfully deployed at hundreds of customers, including large financial services companies, telecoms, healthcare providers, insurers, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to modernize their infrastructure and lower costs by up to 50 percent,” said Juan Loaiza, executive vice president, mission-critical database technologies, Oracle. “We are now bringing Oracle Autonomous Database to customer datacenters—freeing DBAs and developers from mundane maintenance tasks and enabling them to innovate and create more business value.” Oracle Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer enables organizations to move to an environment where everything is automated and managed by Oracle. Autonomous operations include: database provisioning, tuning, clustering, disaster protection, elastic scaling, securing and patching, which eliminates manual processes and human error while reducing costs and increasing performance, security and availability. The serverless architecture automatically scales to match changing workloads, providing true pay-per-use. “Oracle Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer combines the game changing capabilities of the revolutionary Exadata X8M platform with Oracle’s most advanced machine-learning-powered database and its second-generation cloud control plane for a true enterprise-grade database cloud experience on-premises,” said Carl Olofson, Research Vice President, Data Management Software, IDC. “Every business has a set of ISV and home grown applications that they depend on to run all aspects of their business from finance to manufacturing, HR, orders, procurement, and operations. For companies serious about running these types of critical Oracle-based applications in an on-premises enterprise database cloud, Oracle Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer is currently the most advanced offering in the market today.” Asia’s Organizations Welcome New Cloud@Customer Offerings Samsung SDS is the largest enterprise cloud solutions provider in Korea, delivering data-driven digital innovations to customers in 41 countries worldwide. “Back in 2010, we adopted the first Exadata platform to improve a display manufacturing system,” said Dr. WP Hong, CEO, Samsung SDS. “Now 10 years later, we have implemented nearly 300 Exadata systems for our customers in manufacturing, financial services, construction and engineering, and public and private sector services. Aligning with our digital innovation strategy and our journey to enterprise cloud, we have now adopted the first Exadata Cloud@Customer in one of our datacenters and look forward to deploying Autonomous Database.” NTT DoCoMo is the number one mobile carrier in Japan with the largest customer base. “Oracle Exadata is implemented as our core engine to process the call, communication, and billing information of 80M users in real-time,” said Taku Hasegawa, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Information Systems Department, NTT DoCoMo. “Thanks to Exadata, we could cut operation and maintenance costs in half, while realizing 10x performance. As the core infrastructure for DoCoMo’s digital transformation and further business growth, I look forward to the continuous evolution of Oracle Exadata and the novel technology innovation driven by Autonomous Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer.” About Oracle: The Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Supply Chain and Manufacturing, plus Highly Automated and Secure Generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the Oracle Autonomous Database. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com

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Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank HNB PLC announced the beginning of an exclusive partnership with the first and only local education payment platform, myfees.lk. Powered by HNB, the payment platform offers parents and educational institutes alike a seamless collection and reconciliation process for payments at the click of a button. Specifically targeting the education sector, this new partnership offers a secure, convenient and easy payment facility for all. “The COVID-19 pandemic saw the education sector shift to digital platforms to ensure its uninterrupted continuation during the lockdown period. As a private sector bank continuously making headway in the digital spectrum we are happy to power this innovative and convenient payment platform to facilitate parents and educational institutes,” HNB Deputy General Manager- Retail and SME Banking, Sanjay Wijemanne said. Users simply need to log in to myfees.lk, fill in the relevant information and pay with the click of a button, saving time and the hassle of travelling. With payments accepted via all major credit and debit cards, the platform requires zero paperwork and has a record of all past payments. “The significant number of educational institutes which have onboarded the MyFees platform is very encouraging in terms of the shift to digital platforms in Sri Lanka. Our partnership with HNB further cements the trust placed on us and offers us the flexibility to add new value-added services for students and institutions. We are excited about the growth of MyFees and we are evaluating the regional expansion of the platform which we feel has tremendous potential,” MyFees Director Faiq Faaiz said. Launched in 2017, myfees.lk provides a secure and easy way to address the stress of fee payments with a seamless collection and reconciliation process for parents and schools alike. Additionally, the platform offers an unparalleled settlement process to institutes. With 251 customer centres across the country, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most technologically innovative banks having won local and global recognition for its efforts to drive forward a new paradigm in digital banking. Over the recent past, the bank has continuously won prestigious accolades including being declared Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka by the Asian Banker Magazine, in addition to ranking among the Banker Magazine Global Top 1,000. Locally, HNB leads the Business Today Top 10 rankings and also claimed seven awards at the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards 2019. The first Sri Lankan bank to obtain an international credit rating, HNB was assigned a rating of B1 by Moody’s Investors Service, and a national long term rating of AA+ (lka) by Fitch Ratings (Lanka) Ltd. Photo caption: (From Left) MyFees Director – Jith Seneviratne, HNB Lead – Merchant Services & Digital Pay Products, Nawaf Munaver, HNB Deputy General Manager- Retail and SME Banking, Sanjay Wijemanne, MyFees Director – Malka Mutaliph, MyFees Director – Habeera Saleem and MyFees Director – Faiq Faaiz

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~ Pathbreaking CBSL project set to transform country’s financial services landscape and promote financial inclusion Sampath Bank PLC joined hands with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on a national initiative that seeks to develop a Blockchain technology based shared Know-Your-Customer (KYC) platform together with the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC). The initial plan is to conduct a Proof of Concept (POC) project in order to evaluate the feasibility of the concept which would be a voluntary effort of the selected service providers. The CBSL appraised proposals from over 40 companies, including 17 foreign companies, before selecting joint applicants Sampath Bank and the UCSC as one of three entities chosen for this pioneering project. Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Deshamanya Prof. W. D. Lakshman handed over the formal agreement to Nanda Fernando, Managing Director, Sampath Bank PLC and Prof. K. P. Hewagamage, Director, University of Colombo School of Computing in the presence of representatives from the CBSL and selected applicants, recently. This long-awaited initiative is set to promote financial inclusion in Sri Lanka by addressing the difficulties faced by banks and customers in the current KYC data gathering and verification process. The POC would demonstrate how such a solution would facilitate the sharing of KYC information within Sri Lanka’s bank network in a secure and convenient manner by effectively leveraging the unique advantages of Blockchain technology. “It is a great privilege for us at Sampath Bank to have the opportunity to work on such a significant national project, envisioned by the CBSL. We are uniquely poised to deliver a comprehensive, Blockchain based shared KYC solution thanks to our teams’ extensive experience in both banking and technology, especially in developing Blockchain based financial solutions,” said Nanda Fernando, Managing Director, Sampath Bank. “We look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders from across the country’s banking industry on developing this POC together with the UCSC and seeing how it goes on to transform the sector and thereby empower all Sri Lankans.” “At Sampath Bank we have always taken pride in being at the forefront of introducing new banking technology to Sri Lanka’s financial services industry, providing customers with better solutions and greater convenience. Using Blockchain to share confidential KYC data will bring about increased opportunities for businesses to access financial services while making significant strides to improve digital financial inclusion,” said Ajith Salgado, Group Chief Information Officer, Sampath Bank. Being cognizant of the potential of technology to transform the country’s financial services landscape, the CBSL has declared 2020 as the “Year of Digital Transactions” and is rolling out several initiatives such as the shared KYC project under this. Established in 1987, Sampath Bank has become a state-of-the-art financial institution that continues to be a market leader today thanks to its constant innovation and customer focused approach to business. Its unique tailor-made solutions, superior service and convenience to access have allowed Sampath Bank to further differentiate itself from the competition and stand out as the bank of choice for many in Sri Lanka. Photo caption: Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Deshamanya Prof. W.D. Lakshman, exchanging the agreement with Mr. Nanda Fernando, Managing Director of Sampath Bank PLC and Prof. K. P. Hewagamage, Director, University of Colombo School of Computing. (From left) Ms. K. Ambagahawita, Senior Assistant Director, Payments and Settlements Department, CBSL; Dr. Kasun De Soysa, UCSC; Prof. K.P. Hewagamage, Director, UCSC; Mr. Ajith Salgado, Group Chief Information Officer, Sampath Bank; Mr. H.A. Karunaratne, Deputy Governor, CBSL; Deshamanya Prof. W.D. Lakshman, Governor, CBSL; Mr. Nanda Fernando, Managing Director, Sampath Bank, Mr. R.A.A. Jayalath, Assistant Governor, CBSL; Mr. D. Kumaratunge, Director, Payments and Settlements, CBSL; Mr. Nuwan Wickramanayake, Senior Manager, Sampath Bank and Mr. Pasan Manukith, Assistant General Manager – IT, Sampath Bank)

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Sri Lanka is expecting a contraction of gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2020 and a sharp rebound in the second half of the year, Chandranath Amarasekara, Director of Economic Research at the Central Bank said. “We expect the economy to contract in the second quarter of the year and a sharp rebound in the second half of the year. In the first quarter, we are still expecting the GDP figures from the Department of Census and statistics,” Amarasekera told reporters today (09). “We may revise the forecast after we observe the first-quarter data,” he added. The central bank projected a 1.5% GDP growth for 2020 after the Coronavirus epidemic started in 2020 down from around 4.0% at the beginning of the year.

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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka today (09) stated that they are pressurizing banks to pass on the rate cuts to borrowers without any further delay. The CBSL’s monetary board at its meeting held on 08 July 2020, decided to further reduce the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank by 100 basis points each, to 4.50% and 5.50%, respectively. But the CBSL expressed its “disappointment” that market rates had not followed the Central Bank rates down. “ We are looking at how to address this issue. Currently, there is a committee appointed within the Central Bank officials to find out what is happening. What prevents them from extending loans as determined by the Central Bank. Why they’re not responding adequately to interest rate cuts and why they’re not giving loans as permitted by the improved liquidity conditions. This committee is daily looking into it and I think in the time to come with our pressure taking effect there will be some improvement in the conditions,” Central Bank Governor Prof. W. D. Lakshman told media whilst addressing the monetary policy meeting in Colombo. Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandlal Weerasinghe also expressed the following. “If you look at the rate reduction, so far the prime lending rate has come down almost by the same margin of our rate reduction of 150 basis points (BPS). So, the prime lending rates, Treasury bill rates all have come down more than what we have reduced. What is not coming down basically is the normal SME lending rates. It has not come down and also new lending rates to other border categories. I think one of the reasons for this is that the credits given to those sectors were very low compared to what was given earlier. So, the volumes are also very low. That is one reason. The second reason is that the banks are saying that their committed deposit rates at higher rates or the cost of funds; basically the new pricing of the cost of funds will take some time. So, that adjustment will take time for a larger category of borrowers. Those are the two reasons and currently, we are pushing banks to pass the benefits as soon as possible. Specially in this kind of circumstance, I think people will borrow at lower rates,” he said.

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Sri Lanka telecom has announced their latest addition, intelligent cloud to the SLT Akaza cloud family with the introduction of Microsoft Azure stack hub recently. Now SLT has added many server less cloud modules such as Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) and Event Hubs to help enterprise and government organizations to run modern application much more efficiently. This is the very first cloud introduction by SLT to Sri Lankan enterprises to experience server less architecture. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a managed container orchestration service based on the open source Kubernetes system, which is currently available on the Microsoft Azure Stack Hub. An organization can use AKS to deploy, scale and manage Docker containers and container-based applications across a cluster of container hosts. AKS on Azure Stack Hub provides an integrated continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) experience, and enterprise-grade security and governance. Another addition to intelligent cloud is Azure Event Hubs. This is a big data streaming platform and event ingestion service. It can receive and process millions of events per second. Data sent to an event hub can be transformed and stored by using any real-time analytics provider or batching/storage adapters. Event Hubs is a fully managed Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) with little configuration or management overhead, so you focus on your business solutions. Event hub scenarios are analytics pipelines, live dash boarding, archiving data, transaction processing and User telemetry processing. Enterprise Business customers of SLT will be able to access intelligent cloud services via the Azure Stack hub platform implemented at Tier III Data Center in Pitipana. When it comes to addressing the modern needs of enterprises it is essential to provide consistent public cloud services on private cloud to meet the regulatory or technical requirement and run virtualized applications. Stack is built on hyper converged infrastructure where the facility is certified to run Azure stack Hub and PCI / DSS compliance.

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People’s Bank has tied up with the Industrial Development Board (IDB) to initiate a programme to develop Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. A special event to announce the partnership was organised at the People’s Bank Staff Training College recently. The event was graced by the presence of Hon. Wimal Weerawansa – Minister of Small & Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply Chain Management, M.A. Ranjith – Secretary, Ministry of Industries and Supply Chain Management, N.G. Panditharathna – Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industries and Supply Chain Management, Upasena Dissanayake – Chairman of IDB, P.L.U. Rathnamalala – Director General of IDB, K.M.S.G. Bandara – Director Regional Development of IDB, together with Sujeewa Rajapakse – Chairman, Ranjith Kodituwakku – Chief Executive Officer / General Manager and Krishani Narangoda – Deputy General Manager (Enterprise Banking) together staff of People’s Bank. Based on the agreement, People’s Bank and the IDB have decided to empower around 5,000 MSMEs with technical and managerial support together with proper financial facilities to ensure sustainability of their businesses. The main objective of the project is to develop the industries with greater potential for export, import substitution, domestic value addition and employment generation. The project is to be financed by the customized credit facilities offered by People’s Bank. MSMEs recognized and strengthened managerially, technologically and via market accessibility by the IDB are directed to the Bank for financial support. The respective loan amount will be decided based on the requirement and the financial feasibility and viability of the project. The loans are to be considered subject to the conditions which are stipulated in the relevant SME loan products. Follow up and review of the loans and the scaling of the businesses will be carried out by the People’s Bank in collaboration with IDB. This is a historical movement in the banking industry where two government institutions join hands together to address a much needed requirement of developing entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. Now the customers can register with IDB and undergo a comprehensive training and finally develop a pragmatic business plan before they meet the bank manager. Then the bank manager would be comfortable in evaluating the requirement of the customer and offering tailor-made and most suitable credit package required. IDB has the strength of sourcing most potential customers through their regional centers across the country and developing them with their experienced staff. People’s Bank has the largest outreach with specialized regional credit units to evaluate the proposals and develop customer relationships through its largest branch network. Photo caption: People’s Bank and Industrial Development Board (IDB) exchanging the MOU

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