Port City in Presidential spotlight

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspecting the model structure of the Colombo Port City project at the official commissioning ceremony yesterday. The China-financed project will cost $ 1.4 billion – Pic by Sudath Silva     

Otara Gunewardena exits Odel to enjoy Embark

Odel founder Otara Gunewardena in a statement yesterday said her exit was to enable the organisation to be taken to the next level by the dynamic and fast growing Softlogic Holdings Plc and for her to focus more on another passion – Embark.

Following is the full text of Otara’s statement:
I wish to inform the public that I, along with my family members Ajit Gunewardene and Ruchi Gunewardene, have disposed all of our shares in Odel Plc this morning to the Softlogic Group.
I believe that the sale of our shares to the Softlogic Group is in the best interest of Odel Plc, and a natural progression to its continued growth. Having being nurtured from a simple retail operation from a car boot into one of the largest retail businesses in Sri Lanka during the last 25 years, Odel Plc now needs to move to the next level of retailing in order to be competitive, locally and globally.
This requires the entry of a larger player with a deep commitment to retailing, which I believe can best be provided by the Softlogic Group, which has a proven history of dynamism and perhaps an unrivalled track record of such operations in Sri Lanka.

Apart from the overall interests of the growth of Odel Plc, my decision to sell out of the company is also based on my personal desire to focus on another passion I dearly treasure in life: the pursuit of a mission to ensure the welfare of animals and the development of the Embark brand which funds such programs. The sale of my shares in Odel Plc will hopefully provide me with more time and energy to devote to these activities in the future.

I wish to state that I will continue my association with Odel Plc over the foreseeable future, and will provide all assistance and cooperation during the period of transition.
In conclusion, I wish to express my sincere thanks to all my shareholders, customers, stakeholders and all well-wishers who have made this a truly wonderful journey. I hope that you will continue to support Odel Plc in the future.

Apple unveils watch, larger iPhones in bid to retake innovation crown

CUPERTINO Calif. (Reuters): Apple Inc unveiled a watch, two larger iPhones and a mobile payments service on Tuesday as Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook seeks to revive the technology company’s reputation as a wellspring of innovation.
The first new product to be developed and introduced under Cook’s reign is a timepiece tethered to the iPhone that will combine health and fitness tracking with communications. It will price at $ 349 and go on sale in early 2015.
First impressions were mixed. Some expected Apple to blow away the current competition but others warned the fact that it requires a paired iPhone may limit its sales.

Starting at $349 – $50 more than the cheapest version of the iPhone 6 with a contract, the lofty price tag may also keep some consumers on the sidelines. It could go up to more than $1,000 for higher-end editions, IDC analyst Danielle Levitas said.
The Apple Watch can receive phone calls and messages, play music, serve as a digital wallet to pay for goods and monitor heart rates via special sensors. The watches will come in three collections, including a sport edition and an upscale line coated in 18-karat gold.
“People are kind of scratching their heads on this watch, especially the fact that to successfully use the watch and to take advantage of its capabilities, you also have to have an iPhone,” said Daniel Morgan, vice president at Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta. “I don’t know if they’re in the right direction with this iWatch.”
Still, rival watch and wearable device makers will keep a wary eye on Apple, which upended the music industry and drove once-dominant phone makers like Blackberry to the brink of extinction.
Sony Corp, Samsung, LG Electronics Inc and Qualcomm Inc have already launched smartwatches, albeit without much success.
“Not the knockout some were anticipating. A bit gimmicky also on the health end of the wearable bands market,” said Jon Cox, an analyst of Swiss watch companies at brokerage Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich.
“Not as cool as I feared. Nick Hayek is probably sleeping a little easier tonight,” Cox said, referring to the chief executive of Swatch Group.
Shares of the company closed just a tad higher after having risen almost 5 percent before executives trotted out the watch. The stock tends to rise in the run-up to a major product launch, and come under selling pressure afterward as investors cash out.
The watch is unlikely to increase Apple’s top-line. Estimates vary but IDC expects total global demand of 42 million smartwatches in 2015. Apple sells that many or more iPhones in a good quarter.
But the pressure was on for the world’s largest tech company to wow on Tuesday, after a years-long drought of products beyond new iPhones and iPads. The prospect of a new gadget attracted a broader swathe of attendees than usual, with celebrities, fashion industry editors and even healthcare executives rounding out the mostly tech-industry crowd.

Lankan-born Rajan Anandan is India’s top MNC CEO

Sri Lankan-born Rajan Anandan, the Head of Google India, has been ranked as India’s Top Multi National Corporation (MNC) Chief Executive Officer. 
Rajan is the son of endurance swimmer and multi-Guinness record holder, the late Kumar Anandan, and Manel Anandan (nee Samaraweera). He is an MIT and Stanford alumni, and previously worked for McKinsey, Microsoft & Dell, and is a Founding Partner of Blue Ocean Ventures.
Rajan has beaten some of the top and senior names in India whilst Google at brands level had superseded some of the more established global brands as well as per the ranking done by Economic Times of India.

Here is the impressive power list of Top 10 MNC CEOs in India:
1. Rajan Anandan, Head, Google India
2. D. Shivakumar, CEO Pepsico India
3 Sunil Kaushal, CEO Standard Chartered India
4. Sanjiv Mehta, CEO Hindustan Unilever
5. Martin Pieters, MD and CEO Vodafone India
6 Shinzo Nakanishi, CEO Maruti Suzuki
7. Kalpana Morparia, CEO JP Morgan India
8 Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head HSBC India
9. Parmit Jhaveri, CEO Citi India
10. B.D. Park, President Samsung India

Bloomberg to add Sri Lanka to its international release of Economic Forecasts

Sri Lanka’s profile for business and investment will get a big boost shortly when the world famous and influential premier source for business and financial market news, Bloomberg includes the country into its global service providing economic forecast. 

The Bloomberg’s Economic Forecasts (ECFC) tracks eight macro-economic indicators including GDP, inflation, unemployment, current account, budget deficit and interest rates. At present Bloomberg ECFC coverage has over 80 countries and territories.

“Very soon we will be including Sri Lanka in our ECFC service which is available in our Bloomberg Terminal subscribed by over 300,000 worldwide,” Bloomberg’s FX Application Specialist Stephen Jonathan told the Daily FT on the sidelines of the Invest Sri Lanka Forum in New York, which he moderated. ECFC is also available via www.bloombergbriefs.com.

Plans to include Sri Lanka were shared by Jonathan during his opening remarks at the New York Forum attended by over 150 US based fund managers and investors.
He said that data on Sri Lanka will be updated as and when required especially when new information is released.

The New York Forum last week as well the series of Investor Foras held in several parts of the world – London, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Mumbai were in partnership with Bloomberg.