chairperson’s message - women's chamber of industry ... rural women and men who depend on us...

Women in Business is published tri-annually by the Sri Lanka Women’s Chamber of industry and Commerce as WCIC’s of-ficial publication.This magazine contains authorized articles re-garding the organization’s programs and activities.No respon-sibility is assumed for opinions of other authors

WCIC Stamp

Chairperson’s Message

I am honoured to accept the position of Chairperson of this prestigious Women’s Chamber. I have been a member of the WCIC from the year 1997 and a member of the board and its Vice Chairperson from the year 2008 to 2011.

During my tenure in the Board I have had the privilege of work-ing along side some very enterprising and committed Board Members.

It has been an education to me as to the heights that can be achieved when you are working with a group of entrepreneurs and professionals. The Women Entrepreneur Award Cere-mony which recognized and rewarded women entrepreneurs from micro to large was one such effort which was conducted very successfully on the 15th of July.The Chief Guest for the event was the First Lady Madam Shiranthi Rajapakse and Guest of Honour was Ms. Rita O’Sullivan, Country Director for Asian Development Bank.

Our AGM was held on the 24th of August 2012 and a new board of management took the helm.

Guest speaker on this occasion was His Excellency Mr. Ashok Kantha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka. The Ambas-sador has always helped us and we look forward to the same kind of support this year too.

The South Asian Women’s network or SWAN will hold their 5th Annual Conference in Sir Lanka, during my tenure that is in August 2013. The project is co-chaired by Mrs. Mano Alles and Mrs. Renuka Fernando.

The conference will be organized by the WCIC with the help of Prof. Veena Sikri, Convener of SWAN.

Dear Members and Friends

The SWAN network covers nine countries, namely Afghani-stan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Ne-pal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. SWAN brings together women from these nine countries in areas of shared interest through individual sector networks (also called SWANs) covering edu-cation; environment; crafts and textiles; health, nutrition and food security; microcredit and livelihood development; women in media; arts and literature; and women in peacemaking. They share best practices, exchange experiences and learn from each other. SWAN has held four Annual Conferences so far, each of which have been productive and successful.

We will continue our drive to increase the WCIC membership , thereby adding more strength to the chamber. This will enable us to come together as an organization of business and pro-fessional women to help urban and rural women develop their entrepreneurial skills and thus empowering them to better their living standards. WCIC will become a powerful voice for improving the business environment for women in Sri Lanka.

The final celebration for this year is a Dinner at the Mt. Lavinia Hotel on the 1st of December 2012.

There will be entertainment, prizes and surprises. I hope to see all member’s, spouses and friends at this scintillating event.

Saroshi Dubash Chairperson

WCIC Board of Management 2012 – 2013

Seated : Left to Right Ms.Indrani Fernando(Asst.Treasurer) ,Ms.Chaturi Ranasinghe (Jt.Secretary), Ms.Rifa Musthapha (1st Vice President) Dr.Ms.Saroshi Dubash (Chairperson),Ms.Shanthi Fernando (2nd Vice President) ,Ms.Sarrah Sammoon (Jt.Secretary), Ms.Illanga Karunaratne (Treasurer). Standing : Left to Right (Board Members) Ms.Yamuna Ganeshalingam , Ms.Shanthi Balasubramanium, Ms.Mumtaz Siriwardene ,Ms.Vidyani Hettigoda Ms.Devika Gunasekara and Ms.Samitha Perera.

Absent : (Board Members) Ms. Mano Alles & Ms. Tania Polonnowita

WCIC NEWS IN PHOTOS

27th Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce Sri Lanka (WCIC), was held on August 24, 2012. High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Ashok Kantha, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Dr. (Ms.) Saroshi Dubash, a di-rector of the Abans Group of Companies, was unanimously elect-ed the new Chairperson of WCIC. She succeeds Ms. Vidyani Het-tigoda, who raised the WCIC to great heights during her tenure .

Dr. (Ms.) Dubash has plans to initiate programs to uplift and enhance the standards of women entrepreneurs and their busi-nesses by developing and strengthening relationships with other women’s chambers in the country. She also intends to liaise with Women’s Chambers in other countries to facilitate and promote the export of products of women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. During her tenure, she will extend invitations to guest speakers from the International community to help impart their knowledge and expertise to the members of WCIC with special emphasis on how business processes could be enhanced by technology.

Launching of WCIC stamp: Ms Vidyani Hettigoda handing over the stamp to First Lady Madam Shi-ranthi Rajapaksa at the Woman Entrepreneur Award Ceremony 2011 held on 15th July 2012 at Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo.

WCIC Newsletter | Issue No. 13 - October 2012 Like us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/WCICSL 01

Special Seasonal Celebration

For Members and their GuestsDecember 1, 2012

AtMount Lavinia Hotel from 07.00 p.m onwards

With four course Gala DinnerLimited number of seats. Make your

Reservation early to avoid disappointment.

Call: WCIC Secretariat on 2671762 today!

VISIT TO NUFFIELD SCHOOL WCIC funded the training of three deaf and dumb students and a teacher from the Nuffield School for the deaf and blind Kaitha- dy, Jaffna in Hair Dressing and Beauty Culture.

Projects & Services

CHICK FARMING PROJECT - MANNAR

In August 2012, 20 widows in the Northern Province were selected and underwent training in chick farming. They were supplied with chicks and cages and also given training in en-trepreneurial skills. This project is the second project initiated with the collaboration of the Mannar Women’s Development Federation. The project is funded by German Embassy.

This one year training programme was given by Technique In-ternational. The students and trainer are now teaching students of their own at the Nuffield School whose Vocational Training Centre was also funded by the WCIC.Visits are done by the WCIC Board Members to evaluate the progress.

AWARENESS PROGRAM ON CLEANER PRO-DUCTION POLICIES & REGULATORY MEAS-URES


Women’s Chamber of Industry & Commerce (WCIC) in part-nership with National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC ) Sri Lanka organized an awareness program on 3rd August 2012 at the Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL).NCPC is involved in introducing and popularizing the concept of cleaner production throughout the Island. Cleaner Produc-tion (CP) is a ground –breaking method by which industries can improve their production efficiency while continuously improv-ing product quality. CP helps reduce resource and raw material costs, energy costs as well as waste disposal and treatment costs.

Speakers at the Event

WCIC Newsletter | Issue No. 13 - October 2012 Like us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/WCICSL

03

Ms. Vidyani Hettigoda Justice Shiranee Thilakawardena

Country Director ADBMs.Rita O'Sullivan

Woman Entrepreneur Awards Committee

Welcoming the Chief Guest First Lady Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa

Madam Shiranthi Rakapaksa lighting the Oil Lamp

WCIC Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2011Cinnamon Grand Hotel 15th July 2012

WCIC Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2011Cinnamon Grand Hotel 15th July 2012

Co- chairperson Awards Committee Ms. Rifa Musthapha presenting the Certificate of Merit to Sumana Dissanayake t under the Micro Category

Mrs. Chole de Soysa (Founder Member WCIC) presenting the Silver Award to Gnanawathi Zoysa under the Micro Cat-egory

Representative from Macksons Paints In-dustries presenting the Bronze Award to Mannar Women Development Federation under the Micro Category

Abans Group Chairperson Mrs. Aban Pestonjee presenting the Gold Award to Ms. Subadra Samansiri under the Micro Category

DFCC Bank Managing Director Mr. Lak-shman Silva presenting the Bronze Award to Dr. Champa Nelson under the Small Category

Co-chairperson Awards Committee Ms. Renuka Fernando presenting the Certifi-cate of Merit to Ms. Manel Gamage under the Small category

Hellmann Worldwide (Pvt) Ltd., Manag-ing Director Ms. Tania Polonnowita &Chairperson WCIC with Silver Award winner Ms. Shyamalee Deepthika under Small Category

Lanka Hospitals, CEO Mr. Lakitha Peiris presenting the Gold Award to Ms.Subathra Ramamoorthy under the Small Category


04

Colombo Dockyard CEO Mr. Mangala Yapa presenting the Bronze Award to thewinner Ms. Fathima Razak , under the Medium Category

ITN Chairman Mr. Rosmond Senaratne presenting the Silver Award to thewinner Ms. Dilrukshi Dharmasena under the Medium Category

Royal Ceramics Lanka Ltd., Head of Hu-man Resources Mr. Neil Bogahalandepresenting the Gold Award to the winner Ms. Yasomanike Wijewardena under theMedium Category

ANCL DGM Marketing Mr. Waruna Mallawarachchi presenting the Bronze Award toMs. Shanasz Hakeem under the Large Category

Country Director ADB Ms. Rita O'Sullivan presenting the Silver Award to Ms.Chandani Bandara under the Large Category

Dialog Exiata PLC, Head of Human Re-sources Ms. Amali Nanayakkarapresenting the Gold Award to Ms. Sandra Wanduragala under the Large Category

First Lady Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa presenting the Award to the winner ofWoman Entrepreneur of the Year 2011, Ms. Sandra Wanduragala


International Women’s Day

Coloured back full page Rs. 10,000 Coloured inner back cover 1/4 page Rs. 3000

WCIC Website We will be updating our website in the coming quater. To advertise on our website and linking your business profile:

WCIC Members Rs.3500 Non-members Rs.4500

UPCOMING EVENTS TO DIARIZE IN 2012/ 2013

MEMBERSHIP ANDBENIFITS

CONGRATULATIONS SANDRA WANDURAGALA

Woman Entrepreneur Winner 2011

Sandra Wanduragala started "Selyn" 20 years ago in the village of Wanduragala near Kurunegala with just 15 women.She began manufacturing handloom fabrics, followed by the production of other fabric-based prod-ucts adding a great value addition to handloom fabrics.Today, Selyn , has a large range of textile based prod-ucts including household linen for the local retail and hotel markets and children’s accessories and toys for the export market.Selyn also manufactures active han-dloom clothing and their 'Wear Sri Lankan' brand pro-motes locally produced handloom garments such as sarees,shirts,sarongs and blouses.

Selyn is a WFTO Fair Trade certified company which has bestowed on them the Presidencial Export Award Outstanding Performance in Handloom & household Textile 2006,Presidential Exports for best Small & Me-dium Scale Enterprise 2005 and the Presidential Ex-port Awards for outstanding performance in handloom & household textile 2005.Sandra won the NCE export award the Best Woman Exporter from 2000 to 2006 and the Indira Gandhi Priyadharshini Award presented by the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs in 2003.

Sandra through Selyn supports Royal International School , a local & private educational initiative to provide English-medium education from pre-school to secondary level in Kurunegala.

Sandra says that ,'Selyn is more than a company and our utmost aim is to provide sustainable livelihoods to the many rural women and men who depend on us for their sustenance.We believe that everyone who contributes to Selyn ,from the weavers to those who buy our products, is responsible for success of our story.I must stress that we as Sri Lankans should give greater preference to Sri Lankan products as the livelihoods of many families de-pend of the success of these local productions,which in turn also contributes to the growth of our economy.I wish to extend my gratitude to all those who have supported and believed in the Selyn concept,specially to my brother and fellow director Hilary Wanduragala and all at Selyn for being so selflessly committed and motivated to make the vision of Selyn a realiy'.

Congratulations, Sandra Wanduragala, WCIC Women Enterpreneur of the Year 2011!!


06

chairperson’s message - women's chamber of industry ... rural women and men who depend on us...

Documents