LESSONS IN CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Q: What lessons have we – the business community – learnt from this crisis?
A: The main lesson is contingency planning. Organisations with a high level of contingency preparation will be able to easily ride the storm and continue to be operational. Functionalities such as work from home (WFH) and others were tested and tried in some organisations, and they’re now the winners. Meanwhile, some supermarket chains are still struggling to implement a proper online ordering system!
Secondly, the benefit and increase in efficiencies through digitalisation and automation have been clearly highlighted to everybody during this pandemic.
Q: How do you view Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 response so far? What are the pros and cons?
A: I feel that Sri Lanka’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been exceptional. It’s been a well-planned strategy mainly focussing on identifying infected people, and quarantining and isolating their contacts. We are the only country that has been able to successfully continue to implement this strategy for so long.
This is the main reason for Sri Lanka’s low infection rate and deaths. This early warning system is important in an emerging market country where healthcare services aren’t fully equipped to handle a pandemic of this magnitude.
Q: How do you see the ‘new normal’ for business panning out?
A: There can be paradigm shifts in a number of spheres.
Social distancing within the workplace may gradually undermine teamwork and focus among some employee groups. In addition, major retrenchments and job losses – due digitalisation and automation being fast tracked by organisations to face future pandemics of this nature – could come into play. Online services and home delivery systems, which were not popular in Sri Lanka in the past, will change the face of consumer marketing and behaviour going forward. Meanwhile, salary cuts introduced formally by many large organisations in Sri Lanka may see the beginning of a new trend. This action was thought to be impossible earlier.
The restrictions on imports and depreciation of the Sri Lankan Rupee will result in the emergence of the need to concentrate on new domestic industries focussing on import substitution. Digital payment methods – rather than physical cash – will become popular from now on; this is an area that Sri Lanka was lagging behind others.
And finally, government organisations will need to be truly decentralised. For example, ID and passport applications can be easily processed by the provincial councils, which will eliminate the need for everyone to congregate in one office in Colombo.
ABOUT LMD’S A LISTERS
BOOST TO REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
Q: What are your expectations of the business environment in the next 12 months or so? A: With the reduction in interest rates and increase in money circulation, people have a greater tendency to invest in real estate over the money market amidst the pandemic. We have seen similar patterns even in developed markets such…
EMERGENCE OF A NEW ECONOMY
Q: How did the pandemic necessitate a digital economy? A: Countries were not prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the economy and people, but it has resulted in the emergence of a new economy and way of life. It is technology, and the spirit of humans to survive and push past boundaries that have…
PRIORITISING CRUCIAL SECTORS
Q: What are your expectations of the business environment in the next 12 months or so? A: I believe that business is not likely to pick up until at least mid-next year for the hospitality sector. Business was nonexistent and as a measure to prevent exorbitant losses, we converted our hotel into a quarantine centre…
A POSITIVE AND FLEXIBLE PATHWAY
Q: Do you expect the national economy to pick up this year? A: If the third wave of the pandemic is brought under control as soon as possible, then we can expect the national economy to pick up towards the second half of the year. To ensure this happens, the vaccine must be sourced in…
RELIABLE PARTNERS IN A CRISIS
Q: In brief, what are the main challenges confronting corporates at this time? A: I think corporates today are besieged with a plethora of problems caused by the prevailing situation. First and foremost is the challenge in keeping their workers safe from COVID-19, and flowing from that is the inability to keep production cycles running…
IN A STATE OF DELEVERAGING
Q: How do you perceive the economic climate at present? A: I would like to really think about the state that the country’s economy is in. Our debt repayments are much higher than our income and this puts Sri Lanka in a state of deleveraging. This recently manifested itself in a 14.2 percent increase in…
EVER EVOLVING EXPECTATIONS
Q: What modern-day challenges do businesses face? A: Information overload – in the new world we live in, there’s never a lack of information. About 2.5 quintillion data bytes are added every day; more data is created in a single day than the combined amount generated over 99 percent of human history. Previous generations of…
EXPANDING CREDIT FACILITIES
Q: What is the bank’s corporate strategy for 2021/22? A: DFCC Bank’s 2021/22 plan is based on our five year strategy for 2020-2025 with the aim of making it one of the most customer centric and digitally enabled banks by 2025. Our lending plans will align with the government’s budget proposals to facilitate the growth…
REMAINING IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Q: What are Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority’s (SLTDA) priorities for 2021/22? A: The global tourism industry will continue to experience a huge shift in the way of doing business. Our innovative bio-bubble concept launch in January was recognised at ITB Berlin. We hope this will boost traveller confidence. Therapeutic destinations and experiential travelling are…
