Nepal’s Forbes-list billionaire bullish on Sri Lanka

By Nisthar Cassim

Nepal’s Forbes-list billionaire and multinational business magnate Binod K. Chaudhary yesterday expressed strong confidence in post-war Sri Lanka’s future potential and he is walking the talk with a range of new investments, with a desire for speedy facilitation.

The landlocked tiny South Asian nation’s first US Dollar billionaire and ranked 1,342nd in the prestigious Forbes Rich List, Binod already has considerable investments in Sri Lanka, including a major equity stake in owning company of Taj Samudra, Taj Exotica and Vivanta hotels in Sri Lanka (as well as Maldives) and two Jetwing resorts (Vil Uyana and Jetwing Sea).

He has already acquired three bungalows in Hatton and identified several tourist sites and assets around the country as part of launching his Chaudhary Group’s (CG) upmarket experiential holidays (Zinc Hospitality, Zinc Boutique Journeys and &Beyond) in Sri Lanka among rich Western tourists. This is in addition to working with Jetwing to put up an 85-room luxurious hotel in Kandy with an investment of $ 15 million.

Additionally, CG has recently set up Sri Lanka office (Cinnovation Group) to fast track a proposed one million ton capacity cement mill in Jaffna with an envisaged investment of $ 75 to 100 million.

Given the investment, employment potential, foreign exchange savings (50% of Sri Lanka’s cement requirement is imported) and socioeconomic benefits, Binod described the Jaffna cement venture as “nationally important”.

The project has received preliminary approval from the Board of Investment as well as an exploratory licence from the Geological Survey and Mining Bureau. He said once final approval is given, the project could be started immediately as they have the funds and technology in place. CG is building a one million ton cement mill in Nepal as well.

Binod is also exploring prospects to enter Sri Lanka’s financial services industry and the Fast Moving Consumer Goods market.

“My heart is for Sri Lanka and I treat this country as my second home. When I first visited Sri Lanka, I took an instant liking and felt so much at home. I invested in Sri Lanka 17 years ago, irrespective of political situations or the conflict because I saw the immense potential. With the dawn of peace, Sri Lanka should do better and can do better,” a passionate Binod told a group of journalists at the Taj Samudra yesterday over lunch, along with Chairman of his Sri Lankan operation and close friend Tilak de Zoysa.

“My group comprises of 79 companies operating in 19 countries but Sri Lanka is one of the most important destinations for me and my family,” said Binod, who was accompanied by one of his three sons, Rahul, an Executive Director who also overseas business in the Indian Subcontinent.

“I look to Sri Lanka’s future and unfolding opportunities with excitement and confidence. Sri Lanka should do a lot better and can do much more as interest in post-war Sri Lanka is growing globally. I feel Sri Lanka needs to take its global marketing and promotion pitch to the next level and draw more investments and tourists as every nation is competing for same,” Binod emphasised.

Noting that capital is very mobile and looking for early opportunities, he also said that Sri Lanka was most positive, welcoming and open to dialogue. “As much as one desires to invest in a country, on its part the country must enhance the capacity to absorb and facilitate such investments efficiently,” the billionaire added.

Binod, a former member of the Constituent Assembly and Parliament of Nepal, was also full of praise for President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whom he admires most and knows personally. He said that under Rajapaksa’s leadership, Sri Lanka has progressed well and can further expand socioeconomic prosperity and engage with the rest of the world for greater good.

CG has dominant interests in Nepal, India and elsewhere in all relevant sectors in which investments have been committed or planned and opportunities being explored in Sri Lanka.

The Group’s $ 1 billion turnover comes largely from financial services (it is linked to Nepal’s biggest bank), hospitality and FMCG, in addition to education. CG has real estate, hotel properties and investments in New York (including Double Tree hotel), India, Dubai, Singapore, Thailand and China apart from Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. In the FMCG arena CG sells one billion packs of noodles (under the brand “Waiwai”) to 30 markets globally with five plants in India.

Binod’s son Rahul said that during the past three days he visited prospective tourist assets in Kandy, Sigiriya, Weligama, Unawatuna, Galle, Pasikudah, Vilpattu and Wadduwa as part of building a portfolio of boutique resorts around the country to serve high-end tourists to be brought under Zinc Boutique Journeys and &Beyond.

A decade ago, in a joint venture also involving Taj Group, CG unveiled its &Beyond nature tourism in Madya Pradesh, providing high-end tourists the famous tiger trail with four wildlife lodges, and it has been expanded into Africa with a partner network of 33 lodges.

Binod said they hoped to bring the loyal customer base in the West to Sri Lanka to enjoy authentic local experiences in a well-planned itinerary covering several tourist hot spots. 

“We sell experiences, not beds. In that context, Sri Lanka has lot to offer than any other tourist destination and we are confident of success in bringing in high-end tourists,” he said, adding that their operations as well as overall trends have revealed that the US is a major source market for India’s tourism industry, hence they could be convinced to either extend their trip to Sri Lanka or visit direct.

Given his recent achievement as Nepal’s first billionaire in the Forbes Rich List, Binod has been included in a select group of 200 billionaires out 1,500 globally to attend a philanthropic conference in New York, where he will be joining the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to further the sustainable growth agenda globally.

In Nepal in partnership with the Prof. Yunus of Bangladesh Grameen fame, Binod has set up a Social Business Fund with a seed capital of $ 1 million to help entrepreneurial youth and he hopes to use the upcoming meeting in New York to promote the fund and expand it to South Asia as well, including Sri Lanka.