Nanda Lokuvithana - a truly Sri Lankan Entrepreneur
Ramani Kangaraarachchi
Nandana Lokuvithana |
A truly Sri Lankan entrepreneur by the name of Nandana Lokuvithana who
made a name with Onyx Group in UAE Dubai as a renowned manufacturer of
steel and building material related products. He invested in Ceylon
Steel Corporation in 2009 which led to a turnaround of the company
within less than three years. It was purely to further enhance its
presence in the local and global steel market supporting the economy of
the country.
Although many Sri Lankans living abroad prefer to invest their hard
earned foreign exchange in developed countries patriotic Nandana
Lokuvithana took a bold decision to invest his money in the motherland
despite the ongoing war at that time. That was on the confidence given
to him by President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he visited the UAE and met
him a few years ago.
Lokuvithana was interviewed by Daily News Business as to how he was able
to achieve this target. Following are excerpts of the interview.
Q: Can you briefly explain your
family background and the journey you have come so far?
A: I was born in
Medawachchiya in a village named Kotiyagala.I had my primary education
from the village school. And my father who was the principal at that
time sent me to Anuradhapura for higher education. I was the eldest in a
family of five boys.
Due to the violence that prevailed in the country in the late 1980's,
even though I was selected to follow the NDT course on the first attempt
at the A/L examination, I did not pursue it. After the second attempt, I
left my home town and came to Colombo with the dream of becoming an
engineer.
But from the exposure that I got in Colombo, I moved onto the textile
trade. Later on I was able to join a textile company based in the UAE as
an Assistant Administrative Officer. As time passed by I was able to
make my way through as production manager, factory manager, company
director, and finally I was able to become the General Manager.
Because of my untiring efforts later on I was able to become a proud
owner of my own textile factory in Dubai, while I was still working at
the American based company. Due to that fact I gave my brother, Dhammika
Lokuvithana the responsibilities of my company.
As I felt that there was a risk in continuing my business in the
textile industry in the future, I formed Onyx group a steel fabrication
company. With the vast development which took place in the UAE, I
thought this was the major investment I should concentrate on.
Q: Are you happy about the decision
you made to invest in Sri Lanka?
A: Yes I am very happy
that I have been able to contribute something to my country. Two years
before the war ended, President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the UAE and
met me at a meeting held for the entrepreneurs in the UAE. There he
assured that the war will be ended in two years and invited me to invest
in the Steel Corporation as it was not doing well at that time.
Many people discouraged me at that point but I had lot of confidence
in the President and decided to come to Sri Lanka and invested on the
CSCL.
Our production today has replaced imports and helped to reduce the
country's increasing trade deficit in large amounts annually.
It has also become a vital asset to the economy. The GI Plant with
latest technology it self is the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka with
an investment of a Rs one bn which will benifit the SME sector in the
country. I am sure the government will support this effort as lot of
employment can be generated through this.
Q: What are the challenges you faced
when buying CSCL?
A: It was not an easy task
at all. The Korean company had made arrangements to sell the CSC to an
Indian Company secretly. I had to negotiate with them for one and half
years starting from 2006. The war was going on and the technology was
totally out dated and had been running on the factory system. However, I
was able to overcome all obstacles and finally bought it from the
Koreans.Then I
introduced the latest technology suitable for the 21st century. I
introduced the rolling mill with european technology and set up a new
workshop and a logistics division.
Q: How much did you invest?
A: Rs10 billion spaced out
in three main stages, Placement of the New Rolling mill. The wire mill
and the GI pipe mill.
Steel industry being an industry with large overhead costs correct
theory has to be applied in order to increase profits.
Q: What are the Current products
manufacturied by 'Lanwa'?
A: Lanwa QT Bars having
Tensile strength of 500 Mpa
Production of QT Bars, in range of 8mm -32mm in diameter Production
of Angles, Flat Bars, Square Bars, Rectangle Tubes, GI Pipe, BRC Mesh,
Wire Mesh and castings are some of them.
Q: What is the production capacity of
CSCL?
A: Annual Production is QT
Bars 200,000 m.t and GI Pipes 50,000 m.t
Q: What are your
future plans for the country?
A: In Middle
East countries Sri Lanka is only known as a country which provide cheap
labour as house maids. But I want to change that attitude. I am happy to
say that with my newest venture with the Marriot chain will change the
past and prove our talents as Sri Lankans.
The Marriot hotel consists of 360 rooms,140 apartments,5 restaurants
and a night club. It accommodates over thousand people and the
investment is around 230 million USD.
This will be opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa next year.. There
will be many opportunities to the younger generations, which will
include Special job opportunities for mechanical engineers, civil
engineers, electrical as well as chemical engineers. Our production has
replaced imports and helped to reduce the country's increasing trade
deficit in large amounts annually. It has also become a vital asset to
the economy. The GI Plant with latest technology it self is the only one
of its kind in Sri Lanka with an investment of a Rs one bn which will be
benifitted. The SME sector in the country. I hope the government will
support this effort as a lot of employment can be generated through
this.
Q: Did you find the
right skills in Sri Lanka for the industry?
A: There is a
huge problem with regard to skills. It is very difficult to get a
quality job done when the right skill is not there.
Also the people are not educated and aware of the products, quality
and raw material. Therefore, they get caught in buying substandard
products. This was a major problem.
Q: What are your
future plans?
A: I will be concentrating
only on steel in order to become a global leader in the production of
high quality steel products and provide a ‘one stop shop for inovative
reliable and valuable services for the engineering services and
construction industry at a affair price.
Q: What is the secret behind your
success?
A: It was always keeping
the head down,follow up action,working very hard and the determinnation
to achieve the target. |