Tuesday, 29 October 2013 00:40
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Q: Can we launch the global communication campaign for which the private sector contributed Rs. 3 billion during CHOGM?
Janaki Kuruppu: I wish! Rs. 3 billion is a huge amount and there are a number of procedures that have to be ticked off before touching that money. However, we have come up with a number of programs to capture the opportunity of CHOGM. 75% of Ceylon Tea market sales come from Middle East, Russia and CIS region. We have put too many eggs in that basket and we are looking for expansion. Most of the delegates who are coming are from the new market. It is an opportunity for us.
Ceylon Tea is the principal sponsor of the Business Forum and during the program coffee breaks have been replaced by Ceylon Tea break. A Ceylon Tea tasting and sampling area will be created in the area reserved for snacks. We also hope to open the first-ever Ceylon Tea house at the new Racecourse premises during this time. A separate function for the media has also been planned to promote our product globally.
Q: A statement made at the Daily FT pre-budget seminar was the advertising budget required to promote tourism. Countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Maldives spend US$ 10-200 million. How is this in comparison to the promotional budgets of Sri Lanka?
Hiran Cooray: We are nowhere near those destinations that are really into destination marketing. The numbers of tourists that have come are purely on the fact that there is safety and stability in the country – the key ingredients for the country. Now capacity is increasing, more rooms are being built and newer products are being introduced to the market, which must be marketed. There is a need now to project the image of the destination. Any company will not have that kind of money to promote. We do have money coming in through the Promotion Bureau and I think the budget is about US$ 10-12 million a year. Some of the money is not really utilised for marketing and adverting. What is necessary now is to spend that money outside the country so that higher spending customers will come in.
Q: Can you drive the EU GSP+ as a discussion topic at the Business Forum as it supports the Bangladesh issue and the chances are that they are getting miffed by worker living standards there, which we are way above?
Yohan Lawrence: In terms of GSP+ we lost in 2009/2010; apparel exports maintained itself in the US and the EU through that period. We need to accept that our growth must also come from other markets. We are looking as a country to grow 7-8%and therefore must look at markets that are growing at that level. Post GSP Sri Lanka is making more upmarket in terms of the products. We need to focus more on finding new areas.
In terms of the Bangladesh situation, I don’t feel it would be correct we use it as a platform. Sri Lanka apparel is Sri Lanka apparel. We are what we are. We have a history that dates back a long time in terms of how we treat people and we have our own story. Between Sri Lanka Apparel and the Garments without Guilt program we will be able to demonstrate what we can do and not concern ourselves with what’s happening in Bangladesh as each country has its own issue. For us it’s about building that brand and taking it to a newer audience.
Q: The summit slogan is ‘A World Within’. Why not ‘Miracle of Asia’ or ‘Wonder of Asia’?
Neela Marikkar: CHOGM is not only limited to Sri Lanka so they have to incorporate the fact that it is a global event. When it comes to ‘Wonder of Asia’ it is essentially a Sri Lankan line relevant to us as a country. In that context, ‘A World Within’ has its own positioning which is relevant as it is a global conference that encompasses 52 countries. We can’t say we can have a line exclusively for Sri Lanka at CHOGM.
Q: Is there a technical way in which we can counter attack the negative propaganda – not the content but the technicality of managing it?
Kiththi Perera: We have decided to open up everything for delegates visiting CHOGM as we do not want to see any criticism with regard to access. Unlike a few years ago we are much equipped and there are lot of platforms for us to communicate. Every citizen has a responsibility in the entire event to communicate good and positive aspects of the event so that it could mitigate the negative aspects. We can participate in this in a proactive manner. The Government cannot do it alone and needs the help of all citizens as the State is taking measures by doing so in the diplomatic circle and some other channels.
Neomal Perera: We have taken necessary steps to try to address criticism by using search engines such as Google and Facebook to advertise the event. We are also trying to attract the LTTE diaspora who criticise and address those issues. The Government position is to address these issues as much as it can. There will be articles all over the world, positive and negative, we don’t know, but when it is published we will address it. Our diplomats have marketed the event very well overseas. The Foreign Ministry has taken action to use people to cover the event and the whole country during the lead up to the event such as CCTV, Chinese television with Chinese Head of Government in charge of culture, and hosting the most-loved princesses from Thailand and Japan.
Q: In 1990 Sri Lanka was at two billion in exports and so were Vietnam and Bangladesh. Today, Bangladesh is at 47 billion and Vietnam is touching 97 billion while Sri Lanka is yet at 10.5/11 billion. At a previous event you noted that this was totally driven by FTAs. How much are we targeting with China?
Bandula Egodage: It is now time to see our export vacuum in value addition platform. If we export anything at raw material or bulk, I don’t think we can achieve whatever target we have set. 2000 upwards we have recorded 8% export was recorded going from five billion to 10 billion in 2010. The Government has given the vision to achieve 15 billion by 2015, so the expected growth rate is the same. We were depending on so many huge markets and our total exports depend 50-60% on US and UK. They face a recession. Government strategy made us look at other markets which were emerging and therefore we managed to record a positive growth within the past four months from the negative.
The Vietnam success story is that it has six FTAs. We are doing the same thing with China which is at the 17th position in terms of our exports. China is the second biggest exporter in the world and third largest importer. Opening the market is beneficial but must do so while maintaining our core. Our key objective is to achieve the target while keeping the core markets and looking for emerging markets and giving high value added products. This is the right direction.
Q: What have you done to handle the critics, especially the Opposition? Before we look outside, we must put our house in order.
Neomal Perera: The Opposition is unable to market itself. We will let them talk because it is a democratic society as much as possible, because as long as they open their mouths they can’t market themselves. We don’t want them to be part of the Government program to market Sri Lanka. We need a dynamic Opposition because cheques and balances are always maintained if there is a good Opposition, just like a good audit firm for a company. Good governance needs a good Opposition – that is the only thing we are lacking. I hope the Government itself will put them in place. We are doing our best but the only thing we cannot succeed is putting them in place.
Q: As the Tea Board is sponsoring Sri Lanka Cricket, are we going to use any cricketers for CHOGM?
Janaki Kuruppu: To capture the international media we have decided to use the cricketers at the media forum.
Q: Freeport announced in the budget will benefit the apparel industry. What have you done to capture this?
Yohan Lawrence: Freeport combined with the five port strategy presents Sri Lanka with a unique proposition. It is early days but what we have done is through our membership we have gone back to our brands and noted that this opens a world of opportunities. There are a couple of projects in the pipeline which will benefit from this. This is all coming together at the right time. We are very positive about it.
Q: Is this the time to present a controversial agenda like the Casino Bill and the protests that are happening when CHOGM is just a few weeks away?
Hiran Cooray: I have my personal views about casinos, but leave that as it may, even in a country like Singapore these are now being managed as integrated resorts, bringing in all the Chinese and Indians to the country. That will happen. From a development point of view these will happen and whether you bring it tomorrow or two weeks later it won’t make much of a difference.
Yohan Lawrence: At the end of the day it is a huge investment and if we as a country are going to attract that level of investment, we’ll have to change the rules around as well. We have to bring something to the table. And we need this level of huge investment if we are to grow.
