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At International Insurance Conference:

Ceylinco Insurance Director Technical presents paper

Ceylinco Insurance PLC Director-Technical Jagath Alwis, presented a paper on Sri Lanka - Case study on Terrorism Insurance Pools, at the FAIR International Insurance Conference on Political Violence held recently in Pakistan. The Conference was organized by Pakistan Insurance Institute and the Afro-Asian Insurers and Reinsurers Federation jointly, making it the first ever International Insurance Conference to be hosted by the Pakistani Insurance Industry.

Held at the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, the conference was well attended by Insurance Professionals from countries such as India, Singapore, Bangladesh, UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Tunisia, Kenya etc. Key Note address was delivered by the Guest of Honour Chairman of the Pakistan Security and Exchange Commission Salman Ali Sheikh, which is also the Regulatory body of the insurance industry in Pakistan.

Alwis’s Presentation highlighted the history and traced the development of the industry through Government strikes, riots, civil commotion and terrorism fund which commenced as far back in 1984, making it the first such fund. At present, 17 countries are following a similar model to set up national funds to underwrite political risks such as terrorism. The audience appreciated how the fund was developed over the years as a public private partnership.

In addition to Alwis, several other industry experts such as Lloyds Underwriters who have specialized in underwriting terrorism risks, representatives from reinsurance companies/reinsurance brokers and international independent security assessors also presented papers at the Conference.

The organizers of the International Risk Management Conference 2010 which will be held in Langkawi Island, Malaysia in July 2010 has invited Alwis to present a paper on Asian earthquake and tsunami - insurance perspective.

Organized jointly by the Malaysian Association of Risk and Insurance Management (MARIM) and Federation of Asia Pacific and African Risk Management Organizations, this conference will highlight Sri Lankan experiences Alwis will share in his paper.

Dankotuwa focusing on HOCARE sector

With the resurgence of tourism and the increase in the “dining out” culture, Dankotuwa Porcelain products are being much sought after in the Hotel Catering and Restaurant (HOCARE) sector.

Dankotuwa Porcelain PLC is now strategically focusing more on this sector in the domestic market after signing a supplementary agreement with the BOI which allows them to exceed 20 percent of domestic sales in any year provided that the five year average remains at 20 percent.

Even during last year when many industries reported lower sales because of the recession, and Dankotuwa itself reported a 30 percent drop in exports, its domestic sales maintained the same turnover.

“With the current low value of the Euro most of our European orders are at a loss, and therefore we have decided to focus more on domestic sales,’ said Dankotuwa Chairman Sunil G Wijesinha.

‘When the Euro came down from Rs 170 we had to drop some low margin customers who refused to give price increases, and struggled hard to get better prices from new designs, and now it is not possible to get further price increases, because Bangladesh which is now producing a similar quality of porcelain has much lower prices, benefiting from low labour and energy costs,’ he said. Currently the Euro buying rate is Rs 138 and Dankotuwa claims it is like giving a huge discount which has completely wiped out its margins. European exports amount to about 60 percent of its total exports.

“There is a huge interest from hotels, hospitals and restaurants in Sri Lanka,” said Senior Manager (Business Development - Domestic) Mangala Dissanayaka adding that they have been able to supply to many hotels which hitherto did not source from Dankotuwa. Many Maldivian hotels are also sourced directly from Dankotuwa’s Colombo showrooms.

“It is the variety of shapes that we have and the special hotelware shapes with rolled edges which are chip resistant that has attracted customers to Dankotuwa,”said Asst Manager (Corporate Sales) Wenusha De Silva. Wenusha said that many hotels are very sophisticated now and want new modern shapes, with customized decorations that will complement the decor and ambience of the particular restaurant.

Dankotuwa has a very flexible manufacturing process which can undertake even small orders.

He has found that the PLUS shape used in the Echo restaurant of Cinnamon Grand has been a hit. The specialty large pasta plates and the other typically Italian style shapes have been admired by many patrons who have come to meet him after seeing the items at this restaurant. Dankotuwa also has a special hotelware shape called OPUS designed by famous English designer Robin Levien, which too is very popular among hoteliers.

About 75 percent of the tableware used at the recent Culinary Art 2010 organized by the Chef’s Guild of Sri Lanka, was made by Dankotuwa.

“This showed that Dankotuwa was the preferred choice of Chefs,” said Wenusha. Similarly Dankotuwa has supplied customized tableware to many new hospitals such as Durdans, Central and Hemas, and supplied a new range for the newly introduced Business Class personalized meal service on SriLankan long haul flights.

SLT assists Blind School, Ratmalana

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) with several employees embarked on a philanthropic initiative to facilitate those less fortunate segments of society who are quite often overlooked - the differently abled. The company and its staff came together to donate several items to The Blind School at Ratmalana.

Recently, SLT staff from the Corporate Division handed over the items to the School.

Items donated included 10 beds, 10 mattresses, bed sheets and pillow cases.

Ulagalla Resort holds medical camp

Ulagalla Resort Anuradhapura, a fully owned subsidiary of International Construction Consortium (ICC) with the local authorities recently held a medical camp for the villages of Thirappane and Athungama at Ethungama College.

It was attended by well over 500 villagers and all prescribed drugs were provided by Ulagalla Resort.

This event was organized for the well-being of the families who would otherwise have had to travel to Anuradhapura for medical attention. A spokesperson of the resort mentioned their primary objective is to uplift the living standards and develop the surrounding remote villages.

Arpico launches ‘Supermarket Sweep’

Arpico Supercentre has launched its Supercentre Sweep. This promotion gives customers the chance to fill up their shopping carts with the high quality products and take them home - for free.

The Arpico Supercentre Sweep is the store’s way of rewarding its customers and adding a jolt of excitement to their shopping experience.

The promotion, running from May 14 to June 30, gives each selected shopper 15 minutes to fill up their shopping carts. In order to stand the chance to win this exhilarating shopping experience, all Arpico Supercentre shoppers have to do is to purchase Rs 3,000 worth of products at the store.

Lucky winners will be selected every week to shop for fifteen minutes and pack their shopping carts full of products worth upto Rs 15,000.

Arpico Supercentre Sweep winners will have a wide variety of goods to select from.

All shoppers at Arpico Supercentre will find a staggering array of the highest quality products available anywhere in Sri Lanka.

Arpico Supercentre is always offering special deals; during this promotional period, for example, there will be discounts of upto 30 percent on over 2,000 products, including essential items, fruits and vegetables, meat and seafood, household products, toys, giftware, and much more.

Epic Lanka celebrates anniversary

Epic Lanka will be celebrating their 12th anniversary during this week. Having started the operations in 1998 with four members on the Board Epic Lanka has now become a regional technology leader in their highly specialized domains of Secure Electronic Payments and Information Systems Security.

Epic Lanka won over 30 national and international accolades during 2008 and 2009.

This includes the National Business Excellence Award in ICT for two consecutive years, highest number of awards at the National Best Quality Software Awards for the past three consecutive years and the first ever Gold Award for Sri Lanka for a locally designed and developed commercial software at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards. The company maintains close relationships with several leading universities in promoting innovations and collaborative research.

They also have technology partnerships with leading global brands in computer hardware.

The company caters to major local and international banks, telco firms and several State authorities.

For three wheelers:

Abans launch free taxi meter project

Abans recently launched a major CSR project to provide free digital taxi meters to three wheeler taxis in the Colombo area.

This multi million rupee project has been sponsored by Sanyo Co. of Japan whom Abans represent as sole agents for their products in Sri Lanka. Sanyo is one of the leading brands of electronics and home appliances in Japan and globally recognized as a market leader.

The first stage of the project is aimed to provide 1000 three wheelers in the Colombo area with taxi meters absolutely free of charge and subsequently extend the service to three wheelers in other towns and cities in Sri Lanka.

The project will provide mutual benefits to both commuters as well as three wheeler operators. Commuters can look forward to a hassle-free three wheeler taxi service without the embarrassment of having to negotiate and bargain before embarking on a journey.

It will also create professional dignity and respect of three wheeler drivers and ensure more hires through enhanced commuter confidence. It would also ensure that they will be paid for waiting time. A spokesperson for Abans advised commuters to check that the meter is switched on with the correct fare indicated when the journey commences.

He also stressed that Abans is providing a free service to three-wheelers in return for branding “SANYO” and that they do not own the vehicles. As such they do not hold themselves liable to commuters in any way. The taxi meters will indicate Rs.50/- for the first km when switched on and Rs.30/- per km thereafter, and will indicate the amount due at any time as the journey proceeds.

The meters will indicate an overtime surcharge of one and a half times the normal fare during 10.00 pm and 5.00 am.

Abans have been engaged in many noteworthy CSR Projects lending assistance to schools, homes for elders and children and providing houses to many families who were rendered homeless by the Tsunami.

Abans have always endeavoured to play a major role in helping local authorities to keep the city clean and maintaining and beautifying centre islands and roundabouts in Colombo and suburbs.

Singer to distribute Lumala cycles

Singer and Lumala, recently announced that Lumala bicycles will now be available through all Singer outlets, including Singer Mega, Singer Plus, and Sisil stores, as well as dealers islandwide.

With the addition of Lumala bicycles to the product range sold at its retail outlets, Singer aims to make the shopping experience as rich as possible for its customers. Offering a variety of branded consumer products at over 360 retail outlets islandwide, Singer’s customers have access to the lifestyle of their dreams anywhere in the country. From Singer Sisil, Unic, Hitachi, Whirlpool, Philips, Kinetic, Farmmaster and many more branded products including newly introduced lap top computers to Lumala bicycles, Sri Lankans can easily step into a Singer outlet and purchase exactly what they want.

After making a purchase, Singer customers can relax in the knowledge that they can rely on the company’s world-class service network. This network, which spans across the entire island and includes seven regional service centres and more than 100 service franchise agents, ensures that customers get the very best after-sales service possible at a location convenient to them. With the company’s Sanasuma extended warranty scheme, customers are guaranteed of total peace of mind after making a purchase.

The partnership between Singer and Lumala bicycles is aimed at giving Singer’s customers a more complete range of products. Customers can now walk into any Singer retail outlet and cycle away with the bike of their dreams.