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Oracle launches first hardware product

Oracle Chief Executive Officer, Larry Ellison unveiled the HP Oracle Database Machine, a system designed for extreme performance data warehouses.

The HP Oracle Database Machine consists of a grid of Oracle Database Servers and a grid of new Oracle(r) Exadata Storage Servers packaged in a single rack ordered as a complete system from Oracle.

“For the first time, customers can get smart performance storage designed for Oracle data warehouses, that is ten times faster,” said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

The latest offering resulting from Oracle’s and HP’s long-time engineering relationship, Oracle Exadata Storage Servers break the performance bottleneck between database servers and conventional storage by shipping less data through larger pipes.

No changes are required to existing queries or business intelligence applications to deliver extreme performance for large Oracle data warehouses.

Bell ties up with Singer to enhance bill settlement network

The extensive islandwide branch network of Singer Sri Lanka has joined the bill payment network of telecommunications giant Lanka Bell, further strengthening the partnership between the two companies. Cash or Credit Card payments made to any of 350 Singer outlets will now be credited to Lanka Bell subscribers’ accounts, the company announced this week. The new arrangement will result in Lanka Bell’s bill settlement network growing to more than 2200 outlets.

Commenting, Lanka Bell Managing Director Prasad Samarasinghe said: “We are happy to tie up with Singer Sri Lanka to offer greater convenience to our fast growing customer base island-wide. We are confident that this will help many of them to save time by providing a bill settlement location close to their homes or offices.

Singer Sri Lanka already retails Lanka Bell connections and offers easy payment schemes to purchase them.

Lanka Bell also offers bill settlement through the branch networks of 11 banks, the Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Sampath Bank, Bank of Ceylon, Hatton National Bank, Peoples Bank, HSBC, Nations Trust Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Seylan Bank, National Savings Bank and NDB Bank.

The only wholly Sri Lankan owned company in the telecommunications sector, Lanka Bell is the second largest ‘fixed line’ provider in the country with more than a million subscribers.

Asian Paints’ top dealers tour Dubai

Asian Paints has paid tribute to the company’s top dealers in Sri Lanka by taking them on a delightful tour to Dubai under its “The Spirit of Togetherness” annual trip scheme, executed for the fourth consecutive year.

Among the highlights of the four-day tour were an evening spent in the magical deserts of Dubai, a Dhow Cruise dinner, exciting visits to Snow World, Jumeirah mosque, Burj Dubai and the Sheikh’s Palace. The participants were also provided an opportunity to shop extensively at Gold Souq and at the Mall of the Emirates. The group comprised of 101 people.

Asian Paints Lanka Managing Director Joseph Pulikottil said: “Dealers contribute immensely to company’s growth as well as to the development of the market and this tour was an appropriate expression of our appreciation of our top dealers in Sri Lanka.”

The tour began on a high note when all the participants were welcomed to a gala awards night on the first day of the tour and rewarded for branch level and islandwide performances on the sales of new product categories.

The best sales of Royale Luxury Emulsion in the all-island category was clinched by Mohamed Silas of City Corporation while the Weathertuff Ultima all-island award went to Tissa Mahanama of Mahanama Paint Centre.

Asian paints’ top dealers have in previous years toured India, Thailand and Malaysia as a reward for their support to the company.

Asian Paints Lanka entered the Sri Lankan market in 1999 and was the first ever overseas acquisition of Asian Paints, one of India’s most respected multinationals with international operations in 27 countries. Asian Paints India is among the top ten decorative coatings companies in the world and the only paint company to be listed in The Forbes Global ‘200 Best under a Billion dollar’ companies.

The company has to date installed more than 250 of its sophisticated ColourWorld automatic tinting and dispensing units in the country.

NDB signs MoU with SLIIT for education loans

NDB Bank recently entered into an agreement with Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) to partner its degree programmes by providing “Dream Maker Education Loans” for its students.

Under the agreement the students of SLIIT, which is the largest, and the only IT Degree awarding institute in Sri Lanka can obtain Educational loan facilities by NDB Bank.

In line with ongoing government proposals to declare the coming year as the year of “English & Information Technology” - NDB Bank believes that this new partnership will help in encouraging students in the IT sector in achieving their goals and finding jobs in the industry.

NDB Bank’s “Dream Maker Educational Loan” is designed to cater to the growing need for a quality education. Introduced in 2006 - it assists not only parents who wish to finance their children’s development through a better education, but also salaried employees and professionals who wish to further their educational dreams. Under the scheme the students who wish to register for undergraduate and postgraduate schemes are eligible to apply for the NDB Bank Dream Maker Educational loans. Those between the ages of 18 - 55 years are eligible to apply for a “Dream Maker Educational Loan”

Bank of Ceylon lends a helping hand

Two new Extension offices opened in Katuwana, Sooriyawewa:

The Bank of Ceylon is the market leader in deposits and advances, in treasury operations,

in the foreign exchange market, in trade finance and in offshore banking.

The Bank of Ceylon opens two new Extension Offices in Katuwana, Hambantota and Sooriyawewa today. Aligned with Mahinda Chinthana objectives; the Extension Offices were located in these two areas in order to ensure more delivery points at grassroot level and increase BOC's accessibility.

The new extension offices will be a boon to agricultural activities in the areas as well as assist infrastructure development. The Bank's credit schemes will facilitate household businesses and rural growth as well.

The Bank of Ceylon is not just Sri Lanka's number one bank, but is also the true banker of the nation. The Bank is heavily committed towards rural finance-led development and the initiatives taken by them are many.

BOC has been and remains the largest and the best-known bank in Sri Lanka. It has the largest asset base valued at Rs. 438 billion; the widest customer base of almost 7 million accounts and the largest on-line network with over 500 service points across the country. It continues to retain the AA(lka) rating coupled to a stable outlook awarded by Fitch.

The Bank of Ceylon is the market leader in deposits and advances, in treasury operations, in the foreign exchange market, in trade finance and in offshore banking. It has branches in London, Chennai and Male and works with a network of over six hundred correspondent banks in almost every country in the world. Last year, it contributed Rs.4 billion to its only shareholder - the government of Sri Lanka - by way of income tax, value added tax and dividends. In addition, while maintaining social equilibrium, its national development activities benefited the country to the tune of Rs.2.4 billion by way of low cost funding in 2007.

With state-of-the-art technology, experienced and tested human resources, BOC is well positioned to compete with the best in banking and finance. Having dominated the domestic market for years, it is poised to embark on a global banking strategy well beyond its current overseas locations.

"At the Bank of Ceylon, we are empathic towards the needs of the villagers. Our wide network helps us to know the realities of suburban and rural life. Our staff has long stopped thinking of villages as just peaceful havens where people live simple lives and where the air is pure," says Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon. They perform a unique role in the financial industry of Sri Lanka and provide a wide range of services to a range of customers spanning diverse social segments.

Building a prosperous nation through community development at village level is the main theme of the Mahinda Chinthana, and 'GaminGamata' has been designed to achieve this objective. Likewise, BOC also aims to uplift the standards of the rural people and have designed many innovative credit schemes as well as training initiatives for this cause. Based on the Development Decade declared by the United Nations, the Mahinda Chinthana too has tied up its ten-year vision in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The 'Mahinda Chinthana' ten-year development vision also includes continuous qualitative upgrading of education and health programs in all areas, livelihood initiatives for low income groups, and broad social welfare programs covering poor and disadvantaged of the society, and those specially aimed at children and women.

Therefore, the country's rural development programme is essentially an initiative to empower the community itself in the planning and development process at grassroot level. This will also facilitate and promote public accountability, transparency and local ownership in development.

Most of the BOC's development work is very much in line with the Mahinda Chinthana's pro-poor and pro-growth policy framework. The Mahinda Chinthana highlights that banking and financial sectors should be strengthened and encourages such institutions to direct funds towards rural development.

While being a catalyst for equitable development covering urban and especially rural areas, BOC plays multiple roles in achieving its set objectives. Functioning as a development bank as well as a commercial bank, Bank of Ceylon stands tall with its plethora of development schemes including the Krushi Navodaya Credit Programme, Govi Shakthi Credit Programme, Sookshma (Micro) Credit Scheme and Gamata Naya Credit Scheme.

Such work is of great importance to the development of the country as nearly 80% of Sri Lanka's population is considered rural. Six million people live below the poverty line and over 1.2 million live below the ultra poverty line.

Given its range of products and services available across the country via its wide network covering all customer segments, BOC continues to maintain and expand its presence in areas under-served across the island. It has set new standards for banking professionalism in this country and continues to be a trailblazer with new ideas.

While serving all financial need as premier national financial institution, BOC greatly supports SME development in the country. Such work is also greatly supported by the Regional Development Division of the Central Bank.

Presently, the savings ratio is low in the country and ranges between 18-19% and this has resulted in low investments. For this very reason, inculcating a savings habit will in turn help increase investments.

Rural development initiatives

A targeted savings mechanism to attract idle money to the financial system by cultivating the savings habit among people in the rural areas was launched by BOC. The Gam Udana program ensures that all Sri Lankans have a bank account.

A popular complaint in rural areas is that they have to travel many miles to reach a bank. Therefore, to solve this problem, BOC has set up over 300 extension offices in rural areas, providing easy accessibility at even the grass root levels.

In addition to such extension offices, BOC mobile units are operational to provide an efficient service to the customers of the bank. In addition, BOC staff carries out voluntary services to educate rural folk on savings and its benefits. This initiative commenced in July last year.

Social mobilisation

For migrant workers, the bank has appointed agents in Europe, Canada, Singapore, Middle East and Korea to encourage workers to send their earnings back home. This project is also supported by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) which educates people leaving for jobs overseas and if they open an NRFC account with the BoC the bank adds US$5 to their account.

In a bid to encourage the habit of saving, the Bank of Ceylon uses social mobilisation. By engaging people's participation at the village level through self-reliant efforts, BOC has managed to inculcate savings mechanism amongst villagers. Focusing on people below the poverty line, each village has a group of people who encourage the rest to save Rs.25 weekly. Research into the initiative shows a 90% participation rate. Members of the group are also offered loans with interest rates at 12% per annum.

Credit Scheme

One of the popular credit schemes launched by the BOC for rural areas is the Agro Livestock Development Loan. This initiative aids small scale dairy farmers to build shelter for livestock in order to maintain highest yield levels.

These loans are given up to a maximum of Rs. 400,000. The Bank has a target to finance of 5,000 such units by December 2008.

Bank of Ceylon at present implements approximately 35 different special credit schemes to meet the financial needs of the varied rural communities. These schemes embrace social and economic quality, gender empowerment and productivity.

Krushi Navodaya

With the assistance of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, this credit programme aims to empower small-time farmers by providing access to agricultural inputs at an affordable cost. Over 10,000 projects have been financed under this programme so far, and close to 50,000 farmer families are expected to benefit from this annually.

The quantum of the loan is from Rs.10,000 to Rs. 100,000 with interest at 12% per annum.

Cultivation loans

Increasing productivity of agriculture and promoting agro-processing enterprises is critical for rural upliftment and eradication of poverty.

The common criteria for credit are the economic short term loans, viability of the loan proposal and the repayment capacity of the farmer.

The Bank spread its wings to rural areas initially targeting poor farmers and others engaged in non-farm activities. 392 sub branches of the BOC were opened islandwide at Agricultural Service Centres, established under the Agricultural Productivity Law No.2 of 1972. Loan facilities are granted for mainly crop production and non-farm enterprises.

One such short term loan is the Cultivation Loan, which has been in operation for 35 years. Commenced in 1973, the loan offers repayment in 270 days and facilitates small farmer working capital needs.

Training

The Bank of Ceylon supports and facilitates capacity building in rural villages in order to accelerate development.

The Bank of Ceylon conducts training workshops for small entrepreneurs. These interactive workshops ensure that entrepreneurs obtain the basic training in key areas relevant to them.

Fitch maintains rating watch on regional dev. banks

Ratings Lanka has announced that it is maintaining the Rating Watch on the National Long-term ratings of six Sri Lankan Regional Development Banks (RDBs), as follows: Rajarata Development Bank (RaDB), ‘BBB+(lka)’, Rating Watch Evolving (RWE), Ruhuna Development Bank (RuDB), ‘BBB+(lka)’, RWE, Wayamba Development Bank (WDB): ‘BBB+(lka)’, RWE, Kandurata Development Bank (KDB): ‘BBB(lka)’, RWE, Uva Development Bank (UDB): ‘BBB (lka)’, RWE and Sabaragamuwa Development Bank (SDB): ‘BBB-(lka)’ (BBB minus (lka)), Rating Watch Positive.

The rating watches were assigned originally at end-2006, following the announcement by the Government that it would merge the six RDBs to form one combined entity. Since then, more clarity on the final merged structure has emerged and trade union support obtained. The required amendments to the RDB Act to facilitate the merger have been approved by the Cabinet sub-committee, and expected to be submitted to Parliament in late 2008.

The merger will create an entity with nationwide presence and exposure, as well as mitigate the regional specific risks faced by individual RDBs, whilst consolidating and centralising administrative functions. Although challenges exist, such as the rationalisation of products and services, Fitch believes that the merger would help make the combined entity a more sustainable and competitive enterprise.