17th June 2010, www.lankabusinessonline.com
Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa has backed a plan to liberalize university education and set up a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the quality of foreign and local higher education, an official said.
A proposal for a 'National policy framework on higher education and technical and vocational education' to revamp higher education, has been drawn up by Sri Lanka's policy-making National Education Commission (NEC).
"The commission wants to establish non-state degree awarding institutions," Dayantha Wijeyesekera, chairman of Sri Lanka Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission and member of the apex National Education Commission told reporters.
"The President has also given his consent, the President was happy with our proposals"
Since 1978, Sri Lanka's president has sweeping powers, which are controversial and there have been calls to trim them. The president won a second term in a landslide victory in January and the ruling coalition was returned to power in parliamentary polls in April.
Sri Lanka has had a state monopoly in degree awarding and attempts to break it grip have been resisted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Marxist-National party which has a strong grip in the state university system.
At present Sri Lanka's higher education system is limited to 15 state controlled universities and a handful of cross-border institutes which award foreign degrees and national vocational qualification institutions, Wijeyesekera said.
"I don't think that it (opening high education to private universities) can be limited to one discipline," Wijeyesekera said.
"It will be open to all disciplines."
Liberalizing higher education would allow more opportunities for Sri Lankan students to gain a university degree.
At present Sri Lankan universities can only accommodate less than 10 percent of students who sit for advance level high
school exams.
The crisis in the universities which are 'free' and funded by people's money reached a peak in 2004 when tens of thousands of
graduates had to be given state jobs with lifetime pensions at tax payer expense.
He said the NEC has proposed to the government to set up a new body which will monitor and evaluate the quality of academia
and syllabi in state and private higher education institutions.
"We have proposed to establish a national quality assurance centre (NQAC) to cover all areas of higher education and
technical and vocational education in Sri Lanka," Wijeyesekera said.
"The president has agreed to this proposal as well."
Education in Sri Lanka now comes under three separate ministries, who will have to take the proposals forward.
"We don't have any authority to implement this, it's up to the respective ministries to do that," Wijeyesekera said.
"We want to implement this as soon as possible."
Showing posts with label private. Show all posts
Showing posts with label private. Show all posts
18 June 2010
12 May 2010
Sri Lanka’s First Private Equity Fund to be Set up by Calamander Group with a Targeted Internal Rate of Return of 30pct
08th May 2010, www.e-bizsrilanka.com
Calamander Group Pte, a Singapore-based investment company, has plans to create the first private equity fund in Sri Lanka. The private equity fund is designed to achieve high capital growth (with a targeted internal rate of return of 30%) by buying companies that ride the commodity boom, Calamander posted in its website.
Calamander plans to invest US $50 million which would comprise a major 40 percent in tea, 25 percent in rubber, 20 percent in ceramic and the balance 15 percent in coconut businesses.
‘An export-oriented commodity based private fund is the most risk averse play on the Sri Lanka growth story. The group believes that although the security political risks remain, the macroeconomic backbone of the Sri Lankan economy remains fundamentally attractive for the next five to ten years,’ the company said.
In the tea and rubber industries, Calamander plans to buy a number of tea/rubber factories in a specific district to gain economies of scale and also buy a tea trading house to distribute production. In the ceramic and coconut sector Calamander will develop new strategies for growth and operate as a medium sized player, the company outlined in its website.
‘Calamander selects investments by applying well tested investment models. We focus on companies that have strong growth prospects, with a special emphasis on sectors where Sri Lanka has a global competitive advantage,’ the website added.
Calamander Group Pte, a Singapore-based investment company, has plans to create the first private equity fund in Sri Lanka. The private equity fund is designed to achieve high capital growth (with a targeted internal rate of return of 30%) by buying companies that ride the commodity boom, Calamander posted in its website.
Calamander plans to invest US $50 million which would comprise a major 40 percent in tea, 25 percent in rubber, 20 percent in ceramic and the balance 15 percent in coconut businesses.
‘An export-oriented commodity based private fund is the most risk averse play on the Sri Lanka growth story. The group believes that although the security political risks remain, the macroeconomic backbone of the Sri Lankan economy remains fundamentally attractive for the next five to ten years,’ the company said.
In the tea and rubber industries, Calamander plans to buy a number of tea/rubber factories in a specific district to gain economies of scale and also buy a tea trading house to distribute production. In the ceramic and coconut sector Calamander will develop new strategies for growth and operate as a medium sized player, the company outlined in its website.
‘Calamander selects investments by applying well tested investment models. We focus on companies that have strong growth prospects, with a special emphasis on sectors where Sri Lanka has a global competitive advantage,’ the website added.
09 December 2009
Sri Lanka Should Open Up Inland Lakes for High-End Tourism. Auctioning Exclusive Rights to Private Beaches and Lakes Mooted
09th December 2009, www.lankabusinessonline.com
Sri Lankan policy makers should follow the Maldivian example by opening a few dozen of the thousands inland lakes in the country to attract high end tourists willing to pay high premiums for 'privacy', a top architect said.
"People are willing to pay 200 - 300 dollars on a holiday, but if you have a privacy factor included, the premium is really high and that's how Maldives is selling," Murad Ismail, partner at MICD Associates, a
chartered architectural firm said.
"For a long time I hear that we are going to be the next Maldives. We can't be because we don't have private beaches."
Ismail has designed hotels in several Asian countries for Sri Lankan and international firms including luxury resort operator Four Seasons.
He is an associate of Asian architecture guru Geoffrey Bawa, who designed Kandalama Hotel, an international award winning hotel in Dambulla, central Sri Lanka, near a man-made reservoir of the same name.
Ismail says resorts in the Maldives charge as much 1,000 US dollars a night. Other low-end destinations like Indonesia that compete with Sri Lanka also have high-end private resorts inland, away from public beaches.
"If you take Four Seasons Siam, Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, of course it's by the sea, but since it's a bay there is a privacy factor included and they are all 1,500 US dollars upwards," Ismail said.
Going Inland
He says Sri Lanka's state stance of not having private beaches is a good policy.
But with a large number of fresh water lakes as an alternative to private beaches, Sri Lanka could do the same thing inland.
Sri Lanka is dotted with thousands of man made irrigation reservoirs called 'tanks' due to a heritage of an agriculture based civilization spanning over two thousand years.
Ismail says Sri Lanka has over 1,200 sizeable lakes throughout the country, and many more smaller ones. Some of them like Kandalama dry up partly for a few months.
Researchers attempting to assess Sri Lanka's wetland resources have estimated that there are 6,000 to 8,000 tanks and about 30,000 water bodies of different types in the island.
In the Kurunegala district alone, it is estimated that there around 3,000 tanks of various sizes, built during the time of Sri Lanka's ancient kings to keep the water table in the are high.
"Water has always been a big selling point and Sri Lanka with its many lakes and waterfalls has much to offer tourists," says Ismail.
"If you take the Maldives they have 1,200 islands, of which 200 are inhabited village Islands and 111 are resort islands. The entire Maldivian economy, other than Tuna depends on those 111 islands.
"But because of certain laws, there are very high yields from those operators to the government.”
He says high end travelers are not looking for water sports or activities or 'animators' which is a feature of the mass end of the market.
"Boutique hotels don't need activities such as water sports as seen on most large scale mid end tourist hotels which are popular in Sri Lanka," points out Ismail.
"People come to boutique hotels to relax."
Exclusive Rights
In 2004, Ismail said, a boutique hotel operator was interested in building a hotel by a lake in Sri Lanka, but authorities had rejected his proposal claiming pollution as a result of the project.
He said authorities had to only look at the Maldives example for answers on how to protect the environment and also earn high revenues for the government.
To ensure privacy, and charge a premium resort operators have to given some exclusive rights and an assurance that their resort will be the only one allowed to be developed around a tank. In a large tank more than one operator could be accommodated.
If rules can assure privacy, there is an opportunity to charge premiums. Sri Lanka has been giving a tax holidays for business, which has eroded the revenue base of the island and is now drawing criticism from economists.
"We have another misconception that when a businessman comes here for investment we think he's here fort charity," says Ismail.
"He's here to make money he see's the potential, we have to make money with him as a country."
Auction
Sri Lanka could re-create a Maldives sized premium industry by auctioning exclusive rights to about 100 lakes.
In the Maldives hotel developers have to pay high rents and taxes to secure rights for resort islands. These costs are passed on to holiday makers.
The government calls for tenders to build hotels with a specified number of rooms based on the size of the island.
Prospective developers bid on a 'bed-rent', which is a minimum charge based on the number of beds a resort has or hopes to build, regardless of occupancy.
The going rate is about 20,000 dollars a year in the Maldives now, which Ismail says is high, though the numbers were much smaller when the process started. Sri Lanka he says, could perhaps attract about 1,000 to 1,500 US dollars at the start.
In addition to the bed rent, hoteliers have to pay a certain fixed fee for every night a room is occupied. In effect, only high-end tourists could support the business model, which seems to have worked well for the Maldives. However the country does not have income tax.
Ismail says many international brands are actively promoting Maldives reducing the burden on the government to promote the destination.
Regulations
Resort designers are also ordered to observe strict environmental and ecological rules when building and operating the resort.
If a tree was uprooted for example while building the resort, it had to be replaced at some other location on the island. Coral reefs could not be harmed and special boats had to be used to bring in supplies.
The Maldivian resorts even have their own waste water treatment plants.
These controls have helped maintain high standards, attracting tourists willing to pay a premium for the exclusivity offered.
Sri Lanka already has a series of regulations, which would help preserve the environment. But there were other rules like restrictions on building on stilts which could be re-examined.
He says lake resort owners would find it in their own interest to preserve the lake.
"If you are given a lake or part of a lake for 25 years without any other neighbors except the villagers and you had to get your return in those 25 years would you spoil the lake?" asks Ismail.
"You will enhance the place whatever way you could as the government tells you to because that's your biggest selling point."
Unique Flavour
Kandalama for example has won international awards and certification standards.
Ismail says some of Sri Lanka's traditional construction materials and help exceed international standards such as the US LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) green building system.
The movement of local villagers or their activities would not be restricted in any way and would be part of the experience.
"I don't think fisher folk is an issue, I don't think the village is an issue," says Ismail. "It's another holidaymaker that's the issue."
He says boutique resort norm around world is the Balinese architecture.
As Sri Lanka tourism recovers with the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, new and unique travel experiences could build the momentum the industry needs.
When the architecture is the same everywhere in the world you think you are in Bali or you don't know where it is because it's all similar," says Ismail
"We have an opportunity now to give what we think is contemporary to the world."
Image courtesy of lakdora.com
Sri Lankan policy makers should follow the Maldivian example by opening a few dozen of the thousands inland lakes in the country to attract high end tourists willing to pay high premiums for 'privacy', a top architect said.
"People are willing to pay 200 - 300 dollars on a holiday, but if you have a privacy factor included, the premium is really high and that's how Maldives is selling," Murad Ismail, partner at MICD Associates, a
chartered architectural firm said."For a long time I hear that we are going to be the next Maldives. We can't be because we don't have private beaches."
Ismail has designed hotels in several Asian countries for Sri Lankan and international firms including luxury resort operator Four Seasons.
He is an associate of Asian architecture guru Geoffrey Bawa, who designed Kandalama Hotel, an international award winning hotel in Dambulla, central Sri Lanka, near a man-made reservoir of the same name.
Ismail says resorts in the Maldives charge as much 1,000 US dollars a night. Other low-end destinations like Indonesia that compete with Sri Lanka also have high-end private resorts inland, away from public beaches.
"If you take Four Seasons Siam, Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, of course it's by the sea, but since it's a bay there is a privacy factor included and they are all 1,500 US dollars upwards," Ismail said.
Going Inland
He says Sri Lanka's state stance of not having private beaches is a good policy.
But with a large number of fresh water lakes as an alternative to private beaches, Sri Lanka could do the same thing inland.
Sri Lanka is dotted with thousands of man made irrigation reservoirs called 'tanks' due to a heritage of an agriculture based civilization spanning over two thousand years.
Ismail says Sri Lanka has over 1,200 sizeable lakes throughout the country, and many more smaller ones. Some of them like Kandalama dry up partly for a few months.
Researchers attempting to assess Sri Lanka's wetland resources have estimated that there are 6,000 to 8,000 tanks and about 30,000 water bodies of different types in the island.
In the Kurunegala district alone, it is estimated that there around 3,000 tanks of various sizes, built during the time of Sri Lanka's ancient kings to keep the water table in the are high.
"Water has always been a big selling point and Sri Lanka with its many lakes and waterfalls has much to offer tourists," says Ismail.
"If you take the Maldives they have 1,200 islands, of which 200 are inhabited village Islands and 111 are resort islands. The entire Maldivian economy, other than Tuna depends on those 111 islands.
"But because of certain laws, there are very high yields from those operators to the government.”
He says high end travelers are not looking for water sports or activities or 'animators' which is a feature of the mass end of the market.
"Boutique hotels don't need activities such as water sports as seen on most large scale mid end tourist hotels which are popular in Sri Lanka," points out Ismail.
"People come to boutique hotels to relax."
Exclusive Rights
In 2004, Ismail said, a boutique hotel operator was interested in building a hotel by a lake in Sri Lanka, but authorities had rejected his proposal claiming pollution as a result of the project.
He said authorities had to only look at the Maldives example for answers on how to protect the environment and also earn high revenues for the government.
To ensure privacy, and charge a premium resort operators have to given some exclusive rights and an assurance that their resort will be the only one allowed to be developed around a tank. In a large tank more than one operator could be accommodated.
If rules can assure privacy, there is an opportunity to charge premiums. Sri Lanka has been giving a tax holidays for business, which has eroded the revenue base of the island and is now drawing criticism from economists.
"We have another misconception that when a businessman comes here for investment we think he's here fort charity," says Ismail.
"He's here to make money he see's the potential, we have to make money with him as a country."
Auction
Sri Lanka could re-create a Maldives sized premium industry by auctioning exclusive rights to about 100 lakes.
In the Maldives hotel developers have to pay high rents and taxes to secure rights for resort islands. These costs are passed on to holiday makers.
The government calls for tenders to build hotels with a specified number of rooms based on the size of the island.
Prospective developers bid on a 'bed-rent', which is a minimum charge based on the number of beds a resort has or hopes to build, regardless of occupancy.
The going rate is about 20,000 dollars a year in the Maldives now, which Ismail says is high, though the numbers were much smaller when the process started. Sri Lanka he says, could perhaps attract about 1,000 to 1,500 US dollars at the start.
In addition to the bed rent, hoteliers have to pay a certain fixed fee for every night a room is occupied. In effect, only high-end tourists could support the business model, which seems to have worked well for the Maldives. However the country does not have income tax.
Ismail says many international brands are actively promoting Maldives reducing the burden on the government to promote the destination.
Regulations
Resort designers are also ordered to observe strict environmental and ecological rules when building and operating the resort.
If a tree was uprooted for example while building the resort, it had to be replaced at some other location on the island. Coral reefs could not be harmed and special boats had to be used to bring in supplies.
The Maldivian resorts even have their own waste water treatment plants.
These controls have helped maintain high standards, attracting tourists willing to pay a premium for the exclusivity offered.
Sri Lanka already has a series of regulations, which would help preserve the environment. But there were other rules like restrictions on building on stilts which could be re-examined.
He says lake resort owners would find it in their own interest to preserve the lake.
"If you are given a lake or part of a lake for 25 years without any other neighbors except the villagers and you had to get your return in those 25 years would you spoil the lake?" asks Ismail.
"You will enhance the place whatever way you could as the government tells you to because that's your biggest selling point."
Unique Flavour
Kandalama for example has won international awards and certification standards.
Ismail says some of Sri Lanka's traditional construction materials and help exceed international standards such as the US LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) green building system.
The movement of local villagers or their activities would not be restricted in any way and would be part of the experience.
"I don't think fisher folk is an issue, I don't think the village is an issue," says Ismail. "It's another holidaymaker that's the issue."
He says boutique resort norm around world is the Balinese architecture.
As Sri Lanka tourism recovers with the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, new and unique travel experiences could build the momentum the industry needs.
When the architecture is the same everywhere in the world you think you are in Bali or you don't know where it is because it's all similar," says Ismail
"We have an opportunity now to give what we think is contemporary to the world."
Image courtesy of lakdora.com
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