Business Today Sri Lanka Magazine - October 2004

In this issue

It is difficult for Sri Lanka's elite to grasp that an accomplished lawyer heading the multi-million dollar local operations of a transnational corporation and the prominent figure in the international football arena is in fact from rural Kalutara. To this day, people assume he is from Colombo. Manilal Fernando is outspoken about his views of the detrimental political games, the government's shortcomings with respect to investment, and the country's legal system.

Dilemma Wijesundera was appointed Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Wijesundera, a civil engineer by profession, brings a wealth of experience from as many as 15 different countries in organizational management, and project management, and financing, having been involved in some of the world's major infrastructure projects.

Jetwing, a Sri Lankan company with interests in hotels, destination management, holidays, airline representation, event management, and freight forwarding, is determined to be world-class. Hiran Cooray, Managing Director, Jetwing Hotels, discusses various issues relating to the company, its new ventures, and tourism in Sri Lanka.

Most of the global advertising giants in Sri Lanka are providing solutions to the local industry, and their multinational clients are increasingly relying on expatriate creative directors, largely from India. Bates Asia announced its re-launch recently as a regional agency network, unveiling a new corporate identity that clearly communicates its evolution into a specialist Asian network.