Economic upturn and cricketing lessons

Rohantha N.A. Athukorala

Last Saturday when I was watching the World Cup final my mind went back to the last championship way back in 2007 when some of us were grouped together in the lawn of Airport Garden hotel watching the finals between Sri Lanka and Australia staged in Barbados.

We were just into the eighth over and Sanath Jayasuiya was batting when the night sky lit up with fire all around Katunayake. I remember running into the hotel corridor and then made it to the vehicle in the park to pull out from the hotel and so were all my friends following suit but there was firing all over just above us and we were yelled back into the hotel compound by the security guards.

But the scenario was so different this time and in fact the setting was unique in my view as the the country was free from terrorism and game of cricket was uniting the country be it if one of us is a Muslim, Tamil, Sinhalese, ex LTTE cadre, government official or a private sector executive we all wanted only one thing victory for Sri Lanka and we were celebrating freedom at the best.

Even though we lost the finals we as a nation became united in the last six weeks and that was something that no one can take away. In my view, it’s a bigger victory for Sri Lanka than actually lifting the World Cup at cricket.

I drove around the city on April 2 and be it in the plush bars in the five star hotels or in every Singer outlet in a town, Sri Lankans were on their feet shouting for a victory and to me it was not about cricket but celebrating freedom.

However, it must be mentioned that it is very sad that Sri Lanka did not take advantage of this great opportunity and market to the world that we as a nation was celebrating peace and we welcomed the world to Sri Lanka’.

On the other hand we saw how well India orchestrated this event to re-build the lost pride of the people of India that has been dogged in the recent past by alleged corruption scandals from the Commonwealth Games to the Air bus deal and then the 2G scam. The celebrations are yet continuing even as at Sunday night right across India which is led by Sonia Gandhi and Amithab Bachchan that gives us the power of brand India.

GDP upturn

Whie many were focusing on the game of cricket, my pick last week was the report by the Census and Statistics Department on the economy of Sri Lanka in 2010. The country had achieved a 8.6 percent GDP growth in the last quarter of 2010 and ended the year at 8.1 percent tell a performance that every Sri Lankan can be proud of.

The hotel and restaurant segment had grown by 41 percent in Q4, which is reflective of the private sector performance reports of the hotel sector of Sri Lanka. Which means that the macro data mirrors the private sector performance. This means that fundamentals of the country’s growth agenda is surely but slowly settling in. The transport sector has grown by 11.9 percent which once again demonstrates the upturn in logistics of the country given the overall drive on business and trade.

It is fair to state that Sri Lanka is definitely on a growth trajectory to reach a nine percent GDP growth.

Hence the challenge is how each of us can latch on to this cycle of growth so that we can achieve inclusive growth rather than a lop sided performance like today, when the western province carves out almost 53 percent share of GDP which is not very healthy.

Export growth

In the backdrop of this strong economic performance, January 2011 exports have unleashed to a commanding 74 percent growth which demonstrates the resiliency of the Sri Lankan exporter who has adjusted to remain competitive even though there has been a fall out of GSP+ and GSP to the EU and US which account for almost sixty percent of export proceeds.

Apparel and earnings have grown by 21.9 percent to $ 385 million with cutting edge innovation and marketing initiatives whilst the overall industrial sector performance in January has continued to grow which means that overall business strength is positive and is not only the apparel sector that doing well.

Rubber sector has grown by 18.7 percent with solid tyres and tyres and tubes leading this growth but we need to watch the implications are post the Japanese Tsunami that has impacted the out put vehicles from Japan. Agricultural products have continued to perform with a 28.9 percent growth agenda which means that Sri Lanka for sure within the $9.5 billion dollar export earnings mark for 2011.

Some issues

But a worrying indicator is that Sri Lanka’s share of global exports has declined to 0.6 percent from the 0.8 percent which is alarming. This means that we as a nation is falling behind the global trend of exports. Oneway out to arrest this situation is by focusing on the South Asian apitite for consumption where Sri Lanka just accounts for just 4 percent of the overall export performance.

Another key issue is the probable impact of the La Nina phenomenon on the agricultural economy of the North East and well as the tea industry.

The reason why I am highlighting this sector is because food security can be a burning issue not only globally but in Sri Lanka and we need to address this as a nation.

The one million economic units branded as ‘Divi Negauma’ can support this cause but a more fully fledged agricultural sector drive can benefit Sri Lanka provided new technology can be introduced is my view.

Aparently the FDI performance in 2010 is one of the biggest issues the country is up against given the FDI performance of neighbouring countries like Cambodia and Vietnam are on high gear.

The only solution being that on the attribute of ‘Doing Business’ in Sri Lanka we have improve our performance from the current rank of 105 to be within the targeted top 50 countries of the world.

For this to be achieved a careful orchestration of these variables will have to be done as a matter of urgency. So far Sri Lanka is struggling on this front sadly.

Cricketing lessons

Coming from a sports background, my view is that Sri Lanka performed extremely well at World Cup 2011. It’s just that India was a better side. Now it’s a matter of picking up the lessons and focusing on the 2015 championship. Let me highlight some of them and link them to a business situation.

1) Electronic

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said that the accuracy of decision making had improved in WC 2011 due to use of technology. I guess the pick to us is the increased use of the PC and mobile phone in our daily lives. Current research reveals that only 30 percent of the featured are on average used by a modern day business executive.

If we can increase our productivity by just 5 percent as a nation the aggregate can be considerable.

2) 28 years

If we examine the Indian victory it has taken the country 28 years to bring the WC back to the country. Sri Lanka’s attempt was to bring it in 14 years. Meaning half that duration. For this to happen a strategic development of the game must happen as district level so that talent can be identified. If we analyse the age of the Sri Lankan cricket team it is the oldest in the tournament 2011. I guess this needs to be changed in the next four years. This same ethos hold ground in business. Young blood has to be introduced.

3) Next captain

If we really examine Team India we can see that Tendulkar held the team together but it was Yuaraj that had won man of the match four times in the tournament.

Meaning that a new leader has been identified and nurtured to take over India after, Dhoni. Even at the final once the two stalwarts were out it was the youngsters that guided India to victory. This once again

highlights the importance of having youngsters in the corporate hierarchy.

4) Risk

Pepsi Cola took a calculated risk and bought media right across the WC 2011 to announce the ‘Change the Game’ campaign. It worked as from the semi final onwards the ratings improved to 20+ and media was 350% more expensive as

India was into the last four and then in the finals. Latest research reveal that sixty percent of the homes watch the match at 10.22 pm when Dhoni lifted the cup. Life is all about calculated risks I guess.

5) A wild card

After the victory when Dhoni was interviewed a comment made was that he had to prove that his decision to bring in Sreesanth into the final had to be justified. I guess as a leader you must be courageous to pickup a wild card which are some times shunned by the rest of the team members.

6) Take opportunity

While India and Pakistan has been waging war for ages, internally the fight on poverty and home soil terrorism was at its peak in both countries. The two leaders used the opportunity for public diplomacy even though the public was strongly against the ‘Cricketing Diplomacy’ that was planned.

The leadership pursued the bold strategy and the result was that brand India and Pakistan was a top of the mind brand mentioned across all news bulletins of the world. Even though Pakistan was not ready India used the WC 2011 to build the flagging global imagery that has been highlighted for corruption in the recent past. I guess Sri Lanka needs to take a que from such brand building decisions.

What next for SL

Lets accept it. Sri Lanka lost a golden opportunity to market to the world the new economic order that is setting into the country. The lesson is that we must not let this happen again for Brand Sri Lanka given that we are poised to be the tiger cup economy of Asia. The challenge is to make strategise the next steps.

1) Sector specific brand strategies

Given that we have re-created the lost pride of a nation with our team coming into the finals, we must now roll out some strong media in key markets sectorally.

Ceylon Tea brand campaign is set to roll out globally with some very focused work done by the industry on a successful private-public partnership.

We must launch a IT and BPO similar campaign which in fact is one of the most organized sectors in my view with very strong private sector engagement with key state officials.

Ceylon Cinnamon brand strategy is shaping up too and some seed capital must be infused. Apparel industry image building campaign is already working out well.

2) SL Premier league

The stage is set for Sri Lanka to launch an IPL version on home soil. What’s unique is that Pakistanis can also be part of the tournament. But the key is that every facets of the IPL agenda must be mirrored and bettered so that we ensure that the Sri Lankan version brings in the vibrancy to Brand Sri Lanka.

This should include the after parties, the use of viral media across the world and getting Brand Finance to value the championships. IPL is today worth a $4.2 billion with each team valued at 40 to 45 million dollars. We must develop a similar model.

3) Export Bazzar

For the first time Sri Lanka will get exposed to almost all export products that we market to the world from April 8 onwards at Green Path.

Whilst viewing will be interesting I would strongly recommend that new middle men can be created to find new markets just like the Oriflame or the Triumph model of network marketing.

4) New business model

It’s time that Sri Lanka develops a new business model for corporate Sri Lanka by venturing out to sports.

The Ambani’s did the same with Mumbai Indians and so did many other corporate in Sri Lanka. Sports is one of the most thriving business globally and I feel Sri Lanka is now ready for this wave.

5) Competitive ranking

Starting business is a key challenge that needs to be addressed by improving the competitive rankings.

There is an internal plan that from the current 105 rank we can achieve No 65 without taking any hit on the revenue model of the country. But this needs to be implemented as a matter of urgency so that we can attract the FDI’s into the country.

6) Why not Mannar

Just like brand Hambantota I can see that there is a lot of potential for Mannar to be developed on a pure demand model. Be it the Industrial zone or the access to India via the new ferry service the growth potential is very strong. The challenge is focused investment.

Though Sri Lanka lost at cricket, we as a nation became very united in the last eight weeks and that’s the biggest victory for the country.