The changing face of brand Sri Lanka

Having being involved actively in the last seven years of Sri Lanka’s economic development agenda, the last two years in particular have been dramatic in nature. Private sector thinking has now come into the public sector which is interesting but needs to be careful managed so that we do not lose the democratic spirit of brand Sri Lanka.

However, we must be mature enough to accept that South Asia is dogged by the political economy at play and the challenge is to work around it with purposeful engagement rather than complaining.

Commonwealth bid

Whilst many can argue that hosting the Commonwealth Games does not make financial health given that the 2012 provisional budget estimate that is coming out is at a gap of over a trillion rupees, I feel that sometimes entrepreneurial ventures must be undertaken, just like what Malaysia did on the same agenda.

What I like in particular was the visionary community that emerged like the SriLankan Airlines crew wearing the ‘Hambantota 2018’ badge in their daily work and how the private sector decided to be part of the campaign bid.

However, a point that we need to keep in mind is that 43 countries in the world decided not to support us in our dream and we must find out why and how it can be corrected so that we can purposefully contribute to the changing face of brand Sri Lanka.

Private sector perspective

From a private sector perspective we see how the change in face of the corporate world is taking form with new players coming to play like Softlogic, LOLC, Access and may be Laugfs, to name a few, making traditional companies look old fashioned and out of fashion, which is very interesting.

Some years back when I was working for a multinational and required frequent travel to India, I saw this same trend emerging, which ultimately led to these traditional companies headhunting for young talent who could bring the contemporary touch into these established companies. This ultimately resulted in a war for talent in India Inc. I guess this will happen in Sri Lanka too in the near future. I already see this in the tourism industry, which I guess is the changing face of brand Sri Lanka.

Government

By way of the bill that was passed last week, we see the gradual inroads of Government into the private sector domain. This is an interesting development given that it was done with protest from the private sector, which commands 70% plus of the GDP of Sri Lanka.

However, a point to note is that the Government has been successful in managing the Lanka Hospital takeover, Shell to Litro and Seylan Bank post the financial fallout of Kotalawela, whilst People’s Bank was voted in by the people of Sri Lanka as their favourite bank at the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing ‘Peoples Awards 2011,’ which is another changing face of brand Sri Lanka.

But, let’s accept that the public sector has not been successful in running private enterprises anywhere in the world given the architecture working. Hence, we need to be careful on this new development and the business chambers have a big role to play to make sure that Sri Lanka does not take this route, especially given that we are planning to attract US$ 1.5 billion as FDIs in 2012.

I guess the world will be watching how Sri Lanka’s change of face takes shape on this criterion, especially if the clause of ‘nationalisation will not be implemented’ has been taken off the BOI website as per last week.

Family

Whilst these macro changes are coming into play in brand Sri Lanka, it’s strange that the 2009/10 household income expenditure survey done by the Department of Census and Statistics reveals some staggering insights.

There are apparently 10.7 million females in Sri Lanka and only 9.7 million males, which means that there are almost a million more females, whilst there are 23% of households that are headed by females. ‘Is this because of the war or was it natural?’ is the million dollar question.

The importance of the data is that the products and services that this 23% of families consume can be different. To be specific, the car they buy, the place they will like to reside as well as the overall culture of the family can have an impact.

I am wondering if the insight has something to do with the migrant community of Sri Lanka that brings in almost four billion dollars into Sri Lanka, but be that as it may, it is a change of face of brand Sri Lanka.

14% savings

The report also goes on to state that the mean household income per month stands at Rs. 36,451 with the urban income at Rs. 47,783 and estate sector at Rs. 24,162 whilst the rural mean income comes out at Rs. 35,228.

The significance of these numbers is that the average expenditure accounts for almost 86% of the income, leaving just 14% for savings, which is quite low given that there are two people bringing in money to a home (two wage earners). A point to note is that this cuts across the urban, rural and estate sector alike, which is another changing face of brand Sri Lanka.

Consumption

Once again, a changing face of brand Sri Lanka we see is that the consumption patterns in a 30-year window have also drastically changed in the country. The consumption of starch like rice, wheat flour and bread has dropped quite substantially, but the consumption of eggs and sugar has increased, which is interesting given that the average family size has come down by one person.

Place to live

The best places to live based on income potential are Colombo, Gampaha and Ratnapura but at fourth place is Vavuniya, which is strange and needs further validation. Could this be due to the increase in INGOs in 2009 and 2010 in this area given the IDPs that existed? But this data sure highlights the changing face of brand Sri Lanka. Incidentally, Hambantota comes in at seventh place with a mean income of Rs. 36,879.

Conclusion

Whilst we see many changes in the landscape of Sri Lanka, may be the census that will be done in 2011/12 will bring out a better understanding of brand Sri Lanka. However, we need to watch the development that will take place due to the large number of tourism projects that will be open for business in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka in 2012 and the opening of the Southern Highway later on this year.

The fact is that the face of brand Sri Lanka is fast appearing and we in business must adjust.

(The author is a corporate personality, sought-after business speaker and respected policy maker in Sri Lanka. The thoughts expressed are his own and do not reflect the offices he holds in Sri Lanka or internationally. He is an alumnus of the University of Harvard, Boston, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.)