INVEST IN TALENT: KEY TO THE FUTURE!!!

Invest in talent key to the future

By Deepal V. Perera

Mr. Ranjith Page (centre) , Dilith Jayaweera (left) and Dr. Sunil Nawaratne being escorted to the ceremony.
pic by Daminda Harsha Perera

One of the country’s most highly respected business leaders, the Chairman of the Cargill’s Ceylon Limited, Ranjith Page said that “everyday over two million people of this country go to sleep without food in their stomach,” unnoticed.

Mr. Page made these comments at the launch of the new website called Sri Lanka leaders and e-book by the MBA Group 2007/9 of the University of Colombo.

Addressing the gathering Mr. Page pointed out that it is the prime duty of every Sri Lankan to invest in generating employment opportunities.

“Can we blame the government over this? It is our duty to invest in generating employment opportunities to build Sri Lankan youth. Each one of them has immense talent and if you give them the right opportunity they will bloom. Take the example of Sanath Jayasuriya, our cricketing hero,” he said.

“In 1999 we at Cargill’s had only ten outlets and our share holders were not happy on the company’s performance. Therefore we decided to enter into the Sinhalese film industry in a proper way. But one day I met a politician at a function where he told me that he came from an electorate that produce vegetables 365 days of the year and wanted to me to come and explore it. So I went to this electorate and met the Government Agent and participated at a meeting organized by them to meet the farmers,” he said.

Mr. Page said that after meeting the farmers he realised how difficult the life style of the farmers of this country faced on a daily basis.

“It was on this day that I learned the actual suffer of the farmers and their emotions. As a result of the meeting we managed to bring together farmers and their produce to one place. Today we have over 10,000 farmers turned into entrepreneurs supplying their produce to the market for sale. The process has given immense benefits to the farmers, a sustainable growth thereby giving them high hopes. Our success in getting sustainable development had attracted international organizations like the Bill Gates Foundation and the World Bank for their case studies as well. I also see a bright future for Sri Lanka and continue to invest in bringing up the talents of people,” he concluded.

Joint Managing Director of Triad Limited, Dilith Jayaweera who was the guest of honour said that in today’s world

“The concepts of profit maximization have to be seriously redefined. In today’s world, going after profits is not the key issue. It’s all sustainable development via profits sharing. For that we have to revise the famous economic theories of Adam Smith and Karl Marx’s ‘Das Capital’.” He said.

The Dean of the Faculty of Management and Finance of the University of Colombo, Dr. P.S.M. Gunaratne said that the MBA program of the Colombo University has become one of the most sought and demanding post graduate training programs in the country.

“Every year we get over 1000 applications for our MBA program but I still believe that opportunities are still not properly tapped in this country.” Dr. Gunaratne said that, “In most countries today, education has become the first or second income generating sector attracting a lot of foreign exchange. We want to take our MBA program and different business modules to this international level,” he concluded.

The web site that the MBA students launched is www.srilankaleaders.com,and all are welcome to visit
courtesy:dailymirror.lk