Changing face of brand Sri Lanka...
Rohantha Athukorala
Having being involved actively for the past seven years in the Sri
Lanka's economic development agenda, the last two years in particular
has been dramatic in nature. The private sector thinking has now come
into the public sector which is interesting but needs to be carefully
managed so that we will not lose the democratic spirit of brand Sri
Lanka. We must be mature to accept that South Asia is dogged by the
political economy and the challenge is work around it with purposeful
engagement, than complaining is my view.
Commonwealth Bid
While many argue that hosting the Commonwealth Games does not make
financial health the 2012 budget estimate that is coming out is at a gap
of over a trillion rupees, I feel that sometimes entrepreneurial
ventures must be taken just like what Malaysia did on the same agenda.
What I liked in particular was the visionary community that emerged
like the SriLankan airlines crew wearing the "Hambantota 2018" badge in
their daily work and how the private sector decided to be part of the
campaign bid. But a point that we need to keep in mind is that 43
countries in the world decided not to support us in our dream and we
must find out why and how it can be corrected so that we can
purposefully contribute to the changing face of Brand Sri Lanka.
Government
Some years back when I was working for a multinational company and
required frequent travel to India I saw this same emerging that
ultimately led to these traditional companies head hunting for young
talent that could bring the contemporary touch into these established
companies that ultimately resulted in a war for talent in India Inc.
I guess this will happen in Sri Lanka too in the near future. I
already see this in the tourism industry which I guess is the changing
face of Brand Sri Lanka.
The bill that was passed last week in Parliamment we see the gradual
inroads of the government into the private sector domain. This is an
interesting development but it was done with protest from the private
sector that commands 70% of the GDP of Sri Lanka. A point to note is
that the government has been successful in managing the Lanka Hospital
take over, Shell to Litro, Seylan Bank post the financial fallout of
Kotalawela whilst People's Bank was voted in by the people of Sri Lanka
as their favourite bank at the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing People's
Awards 2011 which is another changing face of Brand Sri Lanka.
But, let's accept that the public sector has not been successful in
running private enterprise anywhere in the world given the architecture
working.
Hence, we need to be careful on this new development and the business
Chambers have a big role to play to make sure that Sri Lanka does not
take this route especially given that we are planning to attract a 1.5
billion dollars as FDI's in 2012.
I guess the world will be watching how Sri Lanka's change of face
takes shape on this criteria especially if the clause of
'Nationalization' will not be implemented.
Family
Whilst these macro changes are coming into play in brand Sri Lanka,
it's strange but the 2009/10 Household income expenditure survey done by
the Department of Census and Statistics reveal some staggering insights.
There are apparently 10.7 million females in Sri Lanka and only 9.7
million males which mean that almost a million more females. There are
23% of households that are headed by females. Is this because of the war
or was it natural is the million dollar question.
The importance of the data is that the products and services that
this 23% of families consume can be different.
To be specific the car they buy, the place they will like to reside
as well as the overall culture of the family can have an impact. I am
wondering if the insight has something to do with the migrant community
of Sri Lanka that brings in almost four billion dollars into Sri Lanka
but be that it may it is a change of face of brand Sri Lanka.
The report also goes on to state that the mean household income per
month stands at Rs.36,451 with the Urban income at 47,783 rupees, Estate
sector at 24,162 rupees whilst the rural mean income coming out at
rupees 35,228. The significance of these numbers are that the average
expenditure accounts for almost 86% of the income leaving just 14% for
savings which is quite low. A point to note is that this cuts across the
urban, rural and estate sector alike which to my mind is another
changing face of brand Sri Lanka.
Place to live
The best places to live based on the income potential are Colombo,
Gampaha, Ratnapura but at 4th place is Vavuniya which is strange and
needs a further validation. Could this be due to the increase INGOs in
2009 and 2010 in this area given the IDPs that existed. But this data
sure talk of the changing face of brand Sri Lanka. Incidentally
Hambantota comes in at 7th place with a mean income of rupees 36,879.
Conclusion
Whilst we see many changes on the landscape of Sri Lanka, may be the
census done in 2011/12 will bring out a better understanding of brand
Sri Lanka. But we need to watch the development that will take place due
to the large amount of tourism projects that will be opened for business
in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka in 2012 and the opening of the
Southern Highway. But the fact is that the face of Brand Sri Lanka is
fast appearing and we in business must adjust. |