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Business Today Top 30
2015 - 2016

The Business Today TOP 30 Awards, for the 19 consecutive time recognized the contribution of Sri Lanka’s corporates to the economy of the country. This year, the Business Today Awards was extended to acknowledge the TOP 30 best performing corporates of the year, to showcase   the diversity of the private sector. The event was held under the patronage of Chief Guest Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and Prof Maithree Wickramasinghe.

The event and media coordination was by Glenda Parthipan of Emphasis.

30 YEARS ON: BT OPTIONS REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO ALL

Udeshi Amarasinghe, BT Options

Garuthara Sangarathnayen Awasarai, Ven Galaboda Gnanissara Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple, Ven Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero, Ven Diyapattugama Revatha Thero and Ven Kirinde Assaji Thero, distinguished ladies and gentlemen we warmly welcome you to the Business Today TOP 30, for the financial year 2015-2016.

We warmly welcome Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. We are honoured to have the  Prime Minister as our chief guest today and we extend our gratitude to him for being here with us on this special occasion. We warmly welcome Prof Maithree Wickramasinghe. Our sincere appreciation to the Professor for being here with us today. We thank Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and  Prof Maithree Wickramasinghe for taking time off their busy schedule to be here with us today.

We warmly welcome former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for being here with us today. We express our gratitude to the former President for his support and guidance over the years. And, we have very much enjoyed working with him.

We are pleased to have here with us today, Minister John Amaratunga, Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Minister Sagala Ratnayaka, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and Minister  Arjuna Ranatunga.

We warmly welcome Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, who was once our chief guest, on a very short notice, when he was the Leader of the House.

We also warmly welcome Members of Parliament, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Udaya Gammanpila and Sunil Handunetti. We warmly welcome former Secretary to the President, 

Mr Lalith Weeratunga, we are pleased to have you here with us today.

Explore Sri Lanka, our pioneering magazine, started in 1987, is celebrating its 30th year. Our journey has been long and hard but through good times and bad we have persevered, always with the drive and passion to promote Sri Lanka to the world.

We as BT Options have always been positive about Sri Lanka. We have supported and worked  with everyone that has the best interest of the country at heart. We continue to do so even today.

We are good with everyone and as such we invite all for this event. Even if they do not come it is our duty to invite them.

Business Today this year made the decision to select the 30 best performing corporates in Sri Lanka to showcase the diversity of the private sector. And,  to provide the opportunity for companies that have not yet entered the Business Today rankings, to do  so, thereby recognising their contribution to the economy. The private sector is no longer confined to a selected few, but is a diverse spectrum of businesses.

There are many corporates that can lead the private sector to maximise its potential as the engine of growth. Great achievements have been made not only by public quoted companies. There are those who  are making a mark internationally and taking the country’s name to the world. For example:  Spa Ceylon, created by Shiwantha Dias and Shalin Balasuriya is a uniquely Sri Lankan Ayurveda and Spa brand that has not only become an established name in Sri Lanka, but has expanded overseas to have stores in India, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, Turkey and Japan.

Dharshan Munidasa too has taken Sri Lankan restaurants and cuisine to the world with his globally renowned restaurants Nihonbashi, Ministry of Crab, Kaema Sutra and the Tuna and the Crab. There are many more, new and exciting things that will be happening in the near future as well. It is with great pleasure that we are publishing his magazine titled Dharshan.

It is with great respect and pride that we speak about Mr Anselm Perera, he has been advertising with us since the first issue of Explore Sri Lanka in May 1987, and continues to support us even today.

In 2015, we ventured into the hospitality sector with Paper Moon Kudils in Whisky Point in the  East Coast. With the success and experience gained we will be opening our second property Arugambay Rocco’s in mid December this year.

Our operating model is that we work with partners who are from the area and are the owners of the properties, which are then leased for the project. We invest in developing the land and managing the resorts.

Perumal Partheepan, (by coincidence he is a Partheepan) is our partner and Executive Director for Paper Moon Kudils in Whisky Point, Urani. Mohamed Naleem, Executive Director and Partner of Arugambay Rocco’s is the owner of Tsunami Hotel in Arugam Bay, which was started in the late 1990s, long years before the country even knew about a tsunami.

We provide unique experiences to visitors who come and stay with us. They are not back packers or budget tourists but are those who will spend, if they know that they are getting value for money. As we work with and employ staff from the area we have been able to create a chill-out destination that truly reflects the culture and lifestyle of our country. While service and operations at Paper Moon Kudils is definitely better than Fawlty Towers, our guests have always had a fulfilling experience where they leave happy always promising to come back again. We do not ask them to write reviews about us, but if you see their feedback, it is truly remarkable.

The building of Arugambay Rocco’s, which included demolition, clearing and construction will  be completed in less than 150 days. From design to construction everything is being done by SMI Engineering. We would specially like to mention Chaminda Wickramarathne and Janaka Nishantha,  of SMI Engineering for their commitment to complete the project within the very tight deadline. This project too has been done without architects, where the design and layout were done by Janaka Nishantha.

While it is mainly visitors from overseas that come and stay in this area, we are happy that through our endeavour many Sri Lankans too have begun to visit the area and learn surfing too.

BT Green, which is based in Kokkaddichcholai is focused on pre-and post-harvest operations. We will soon venture into growing and breeding as well.

Finally, we wish to thank everyone who has stood by us over the 30 years. We extend our gratitude to all our clients who have continued to support us by advertising in our publications.

We wish to express our gratitude to Minister Sagala Ratnayaka for his continuous strength and guidance. We wish to specially thank him for his support in making this event a success.

We wish to thank Minister John Amaratunga for always being with us and supporting us. We extend our gratitude to Minister Ravi Karunanayake for his continued confidence in us.

Ms Sandra Perera, private secretary to the  Prime Minister, we wish to thank you for all your support and kindness.

We thank Mr Harry Jayawardena for his continuous support and confidence in us even before we started Business Today. He has always shown his concern for us and given his support in many ways.

Mr Manilal Fernando, thank you for being with us over the years especially during the difficult times in the 1990s. Mr Niththi Murugesu we thank you for your continuous guidance and advice. We wish to thank Mr Thusitha Wijayasena for his support and concern for us. Mr Charles De Silva and Mr A S Kaleel, for confidently giving their properties to us and for their continuous support.

We would like to thank Mr Dinesh Weerakkoday, for the idea and concept for the Business Today  TOP corporate ranking, and Mr Keith Bernard and  Mr Shiron Gooneratne who were team members of the Business Today TOP corporate ranking. They all stepped aside from the process after they become part of public listed companies. But they have continued to support us and be a great source of strength to us.

We thank Mr Suren Rajakarier of KPMG for his assistance and support in selecting the Business Today TOP 30.

The concept and design of the Business Today TOP 30 award ceremony were by Glenda Parthipan, with the support of the staff of BT Options.

The Business Today TOP 30 is held without any sponsorships or funding from the winners. All costs are borne by BT Options. Our revenue is only through advertising sales in our publications.

Business Today will continue to work with everyone as we have never sought personal gain.  For the country to move forward we all need to work together.

We congratulate the winners of the Business Today TOP 30, 2015–2016 for their excellent performance and we express our gratitude to everyone present here today for making this event a success.

PODI HAMUDURUWO: A CONSTANT SUPPORT

Ven Galaboda Gnanissara Thero, the Chief Incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple has always been the strength that guided us and has been with us during our times of need. Words cannot express our appreciation towards the Venerable Thero.

 ‘Podi Hamuduruwo’, has long been known to uphold Gangaramaya Temple as one that transcends divisive boundaries of society and faiths. While providing spiritual guidance the Thero greatly focuses on social welfare and cultural upliftment. A major aim of his work is to provide underprivileged children and youth opportunities through education and vocational training, which continues to date.

 Assisting families in rural areas through the provision of seeds, agricultural input and equipment have been some of the many activities, through which the Thero has provided support to farmers. The provision of 3,000 bicycles that were fitted with luggage racks and dynamos to farmers that would provide both a mode of transport as well as an alternative form of income was done so with the contribution of the Business Today TOP ranking corporates.

 With many of the paddy farmers being affected by the droughts recently, the Venerable Thero aims to donate hand tractors to farmers, which will enable them to use this vehicle for various agricultural activities as well as to generate electricity and provide alternative forms of income.

 The Gangaramaya Temple has always been a place of worship to all religions, a place of hope irrespective of area, race, religion, caste or creed. In an age where reconciliation and harmony are of great importance, Podi Hamuduruwo teaches by example. On November 14, 2016, Podi Hamuduruwo opened a Kovil dedicated to God Ganesh, which was built on a temple property in Slave Island. It was built according to Indian tradition. This area reflects religious harmony as there is a Church, Mosque, Kovil and Temple. It is while renovating the enclosure of the Bodhi tree that the Kovil was built on the adjoining space.

 Ven Galaboda Gnanissara Thero always thinks of the country first. His actions speak more than words.

SPEECH BY VEN GALABODA GNANISSARA THERO,
THE CHIEF INCUMBENT OF THE GANGARAMAYA TEMPLE

We Must Develop the Country Together

Ven Galaboda Gnanissara thero, Chief Incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple

The Venerable Maha Sangha, distinguished invitees;

As a monk who has been part of this endeavour from its commencement, I am happy to speak on this occasion representing the clergy of all religions. It is a marvel that Mr Mathi Parthipan, his wife and their staff have been organising this event for 19 years, maintaining cordial ties with members of the country’s distinguished corporate community and with no breach in goodwill with anyone. It is a cause of pride for our country that Mr Parthipan, his wife and their close staff have been continuing this event in harmony with people of all races and religions and with no political friction. The magazines they are publishing have been on a par with the best standards of the developed world; they are also a cause of pride for us.

We are thankful for the efforts of Mr Mathi, which elevated the magazines to such a level that these are perused by a learned, esteemed, distinguished readership worldwide.

The event began with ten awards and has now evolved into thirty. Our blessings have always been bestowed on the winners so that they will prosper more and do a greater service to the country, and we are glad that our wishes in this regard have come to pass. As Sri Lankans we should all be proud of the service done by these publications in spreading information on our religious places, our culture, religion, literature and many other topics.

I recall how at one time, during the time when Hon Ranil Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister, there was a severe drought in Hambantota. At that time this award ceremony was limited to ten awards. The ten awardees contributed to support the PM, and our initial plan of renovating 16 reservoirs in the afflicted area was increased to 18. Then, during the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, running water was provided from those reservoirs and bicycles were also provided to the poor.

The illustrious Ray Wijewardene, son of D Wijewardene, was Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s uncle. It was Ray Wijewardene who introduced the tractor, which is called Land Master, 40-50 years ago. This tractor was utilised to harvest and process paddy, generate electricity and pump water. It then became indispensable to agriculture worldwide. Sadly, it has not been made use of in recent times in Sri Lanka and as a result our agriculture has suffered.

I recalled to Mr Mathi how we, together with corporate leaders, made donations of bicycles, plants and seeds to the poor for the betterment of the country. I suggested to him that we donate a Land Master each to a village to resuscitate abandoned paddy fields. I mention that need here as a plea to all you distinguished corporate leaders.

I am happy to mention the names of Mr Rienzie Wijetilleke, formerly of the Hatton National Bank, Mr Harry Jayawardene and Mr. Hari Selvanathan among the many people who sustained us. Due to time constraints, it is not possible to mention everyone here.

Expressing my happiness at the presence of the Prime Minister in this gathering, I urge you all to come together to develop our country. I remind you to give attention to the development of this country, religion and language while developing your businesses. 

PRIME MINISTER RANIL WICKREMESINGHE: STRONG AND STABLE LEADERSHIP

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has always stood firm on his beliefs. He is a politician that has always respected the other. He has maintained a merit-based approach in his party as well as the Government that has meant that everyone has to perform. It is in recognition of his strength as a statesman that we invited him as our Guest of Honor since 2011 for the Business Today awards while he was the Leader of the Opposition and later as our honored Chief Guest. Everyone looks forward to his speech.

 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is a strong leader, with a depth of experience. As a statesman and politician of a caliber that is rare today, we have always respected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and we will continue to do so. It is expected that with the Government’s new economic policy and direction the country will take-off in the near future.

SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER RANIL WICKREMESINGHE

Sri Lanka Must Become a Highly Competitive Economy

Venerable members of the Sangha, honourable ministers, Mr and Mrs Parthipan, winners of the awards, distinguished guests and friends.

My good friend Harry Jayawardena, I call him a friend because he used to speak to me during the dark days, he forgot one thing.  J R Jayewardene’s favourite song was the  Frank Sinatra number “I did it my way”. 

One person whose advice I valued was Narasimha Rao, the Indian Prime Minister whom I knew when both of us were handling education. He told me, “If I asked the private sector, I could not have done the reforms. My back was against the wall but I did it and India prospered”. 

So sometimes you have to act on your own and your convictions. I don’t know whether I am doing my way, it is now our way. Many people have said recently that the Government is in trouble, I must say that the President and I are determined that we will be back for five years. We first ensured political stability. That will carry on. What is the advantage? By next election maybe we will go our separate ways, but we will be a developed country where despite who wins the basic policy will not change because we are working together. We have no intention of parting ways, but they say that your opponents are on the other side and your enemies are on this side. Now we have got into bed with our opponents, which is sometimes much easier. And I say again that it is “our way” because economic policies are no longer my sole decision. We have what is called the CCEM, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management, every Wednesday and spend hours, my good friend Nimal Siripala De Silva leads the SLFP side on that. It is a free discussion of views and they do represent the different voices of the Government and the private sector. But this is important. This is on political stability. We are working on macroeconomic stability with the IMF and with the others because we want to make a change in our economy as far reaching or as more than J R Jayewardene did.

The market economy must make us a highly competitive economy. We should not measure ourselves by South Asian standards. We will never succeed because we are leading. We must measure ourselves by ASEAN standards and that is going to be our benchmark in the coming few years. 

Our market will no longer be just 22 million, by mid next year we will give you three billion, when four FTAs are signed and the GSP plus is brought in. That is what we assure you. Just as much as we get access to other markets gradually, we have to give access to our markets but gradually in order for us to be competitive. Be competitive, go out and expand. And one of these days the TOP 30 will be judged not on what they did in the Sri Lankan market, but what they have done outside. Both will have to be taken in. This is the economy that we want to create, to go out there and that is why we encourage private enterprise, big and small to take part in it. We are raising 12 billion rupees to make money available for the small and medium enterprises. A fair number of incentives (will be given) for private investors and foreign investors. But above all this there is one big venture that the Government is going to launch, a joint venture that will be with Government, it will be a public – private partnership, it will be with the Government, the private sector, big and small, the workers, the farmers and the service employees. 

Let’s go down the road that we all become stakeholders, let us succeed. We want you to join with us and create new markets. Because, this market of three billion people, we will expand it to another billion. We will make us the hub of the Indian Ocean. It will be very competitive, which means logistics will become a big business. I have seen a number of Sri Lankan firms alongwith foreign firms applying for the East Terminals. That is good, you have confidence. We cannot forget our manufacturing sector, but we cannot pay wages of a Low-Income economy in a Middle-Income economy. We have to change and our industrial levels must also increase as we industrialise. Our service sectors, especially tourism, there are many more opportunities that you see but I don’t see. Digital economy, all that is waiting for you, waiting for us. Let us work together. What are we giving you? The infrastructure that we give you will be, one is the South-West corridor, because that is becoming the fashion. You get the Delhi-Mumbai corridor. So, we have this corridor with two harbours and two airports. Starting from Kandy, which should be expanded with the assistance of the Japanese, coming down into Wayamba (North Western) not merely the Central Expressway, which will later on go to Dambulla. There are some good tourist projects. When Iranawila is handed back by VOA we will call for an expression of interest for a golf course and the largest property development, just within 45 minutes from the Katunayake Airport. You heard so much of the megapolis, I will not go over it again except to say that we are working on the financial city as an off-shore financial centre, which some of you I hope will take part in. 600 acres, a separate jurisdiction.

There will be development of infrastructure in the industrial estates in Wayamba, Divulapitiya, Kalutara, Avissawella, Eheliyagoda. 

The highway will also be extended to Ratnapura to Pelmedulla and the Southern Development where you will find Galle and passing Matara for service industries, for high value tourism and Hambantota, which will be again industrialised.

On the other side, the second stage would be the North-East corridor around the Trincomalee harbour and the economic area. The potential for tourism is limitless. Develop the Higurakgoda airport as a regional airport, Malwathu Oya reservoirs, development of agriculture and the President’s own programme ‘Pibidenu Polonnaruwa’. That is just the beginning. This is what we are aiming for.

… Firstly, no one is selling the Port. I cannot sell the port; the land is there and we are leasing it out to a PPP (Public–Private Partnership). What have we got? A harbour for which we have to start paying the interest and servicing the debt of 1.3 billion US dollars and the airport, as the honourable minister will say. Well, one way we can do is increase taxes. We can double the taxes on alcohol, we can increase the corporate taxes and income tax. We have a white elephant, that’s what it is.  We are now turning it into productive use. The Minister of Shipping, the Minister of Aviation and Minister of Southern Development; what are we doing? We are giving a majority of shares to China Merchants in return for 1.1 billion dollars. Now, rather than make to a balance of payment, when the fund managers are taking the money out, as interest rates will go in US. And why because you need volume in a harbour. Why should anyone come? We are negotiating on the airport. Already there are offers on a Chinese refinery and another one from Arabia and America. The Chinese one they say will cost us two billion. Am I to reject it? A dockyard to repair at least a minimum of 60 ships a year going on to 100; an LNG plant that will provide power, cement plants; basically, over three billion dollars. Today we heard that there may be a second cement plant and whether we can accommodate it. And 15,000 acres where the Chinese require industrial estates in the Thai style, not talking about what we are going to do. We need eight billion dollars’ worth of investment that brings in something. Am I to give it up? People are asking today where I am going to find the 15,000 acres. I say we have over five million acres in the area that we are talking about, excluding Yala not only Bundala. The land has been identified by the Ministry of Southern Development. The surveyor general is surveying the Hambantota land because the Chinese team will come in early December and then the Monaragala lands, Matara and even Embilipitiya are on stand-by. So let’s use it to industrialise the South to a large extent and then we will be signing the agreement with the Singaporeans, Surbana Jurong for the planning out of Trincomalee. India and Japan are also quite interested. We do not have money to develop either Hambantota or Trincomalee. 

If we get foreign investors and do it, am I to take it or reject it. That is when you find development of also the beaches, agriculture and IT. … I first introduced computers to the Ministry of Education. We had a rough curriculum and we developed it. Are we going to have computers, tablets, and laptops only for the rich? Or are we giving it so that everyone has IT knowledge and you have an IT skilled labour force… We have kept aside addition to the monies we are giving for technical training. There is four billion rupees kept aside in a separate fund to fund training with the private sector to pay for allowances, two of your members of the private sector are working on some of the programmes, one is Mr Ken Balendra who is heading a team looking at Public Private training programmes, other is Dinesh Weerakkody who has got us assistance from abroad to identify areas. So we want you to come in, we will provide the money, the buildings and we will work together to provide jobs for young people. A future for them. 

We start with four billion rupees, if we can spend more we will spend more. We are about to start a very large technical training institute in the Hambantota and Matara area with one to just cater to the industrialization in Hambantota. We need much more. We have to start training. That is why we are providing, a package of incentives for some of you who are worried what will happen to us when the market liberalises gradually. We are giving a trade adjustment package, which will include capital allowances. For others, a low tax regime for direct investment, foreign or local and capital allowances. Unfortunately, some members of the private sector who are talking today have confused depreciation and capital allowances.  I would like to remind you again depreciation is what you would write-off against your profits, under section 25 of the Act. Capital allowances are what you pay against your taxes under assessable and taxable income under section 33 and 34, if I am not mistaken. So that is the difference. But we have talked with you and we have decided that the Minister of Finance and Minister of Development Strategy will produce a comprehensive note on all the tax incentives available. Areas like Jaffna, we are giving double the allowances to get in quickly. We decided today that we will prohibit the transfer of approvals, permits whether it is BOI, Tourist Board or UDA approvals, because we have a good business of selling our approvals. We give it in your name about six months start work and you will not be able to transfer it. You come ready and work and we are setting up a single window for appearances working on two weeks. We are setting up the committee now and the legislation will follow after the development of the Investments (Special Provisions) Law. We are working on the incentives we have to give.

But what else are we aiming at? Certainly, we want to expand employment and give the people higher incomes, improve productivity, increase competitiveness and go for growth. The Central Bank says six per cent next year, but I want to push for seven per cent because then by 2025 we can double the GDP and double the income. Then again in another eight years we can double it again. We will become a high-income country and that is what we are doing.

At the same time, we will keep our attention on the rural economy to stabilise it and modernise it. This is what we are planning. And I plan to work together with you all so I will be calling up, starting from tomorrow, the private sector. But I also have a policy, nothing for nothing. You invest the money and I will work with you. Correct? We have to create jobs and as you invest, I have to ask you, ease of doing business some of you will take part in those committees and report to us, how to promote investment, how promote the different sectors, all that is there. And I will talk to you all and decide what we have to do and go ahead. The work has started and this is a golden opportunity for our country to expand in this political stability, which you will not get after the end of these five years. That is the one that will make us go forward. It is a make-or-break time for us and I hope to see the TOP 30 who have not already invested to start investing. We will call you up and by the end of next year we will report to Parliament who has invested. Let the people judge. We will also get foreign investment but we want all of you. We want Sri Lankan players and there may be new people who will come that we do not see here, just as much that some of you were not there 10-15 years ago. That is competition and that is how you have to go ahead. And at the end of the day, you will have a drink and Harry will benefit. Thank you.

BUSINESS TODAY TOP 30
SPEECHES

The Top Ten companies of the Business Today TOP 30 and the new entrants to the rankings expressed
their thoughts on their performance during the year under review.

1. JOHN KEELLS HOLDINGS

Ronnie Peiris, Director

Susantha Ratnayake, Chairman receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

I’m privileged to accept this award on behalf of John Keells Holdings. We are grateful to our stakeholders for all the support that they have shown us during the subject year.

In particular, I wish to recognise and acknowledge the contribution made by our 13,500+ employees who have contributed and supported us immensely in our effectiveness. We are extremely proud of the importance that we place on sustainable development. 

In particular, we take great pride in the measures that we take in ensuring the protection of our environment and in ensuring that our actions are society-centric. We have invested and we continue to invest immensely in this great company of ours. As you know we have an ongoing massive development, The Waterfront. We recently announced more investments in an ice cream plant, a bottling plant, we have a big rollout out of our supermarkets. I’m sure I echo the sentiments of the private sector when I say that the private sector does not look for anything from the Government other than clear policy direction and an enabling environment. Thank you once again Business Today for this evening.

2. Commercial Bank of Ceylon

Dharma Deerasinghe, Chairman

Dharma Dheerasinghe, Chairman and Jegan Durairatnam, Managing Director/CEO receive award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

I’m extremely pleased to accept this award on behalf of Commercial Bank for being ranked second in the Business Today TOP 30 public listed corporates in Sri Lanka. Commercial Bank takes pride in its dedication to maintaining good governance, transparency and ethical business practices, which are of paramount importance for a financial institution. Sustainable and ethical business practices are a way of life for us and we believe it to be the main reason for our success. The success of the bank is also due to the passion, commitment and hard work of employees at all levels and due to the unwavering loyalty of our customers and all other stakeholders. I wish to thank them for their hard work and the trust they have placed in us. I also wish to thank Business Today for organising this awards ceremony for the last several years.

The proud legacy of Commercial Bank has been shining for many years and we are confident that it will continue to shine in many more years with the help of your esteemed magazine.

3. Hatton National Bank

Dilshan Rodrigo, COO

Rienzie Arseculeratne, Chairman, receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of the 4,000+ family of HNB whose contribution and teamwork made this possible. We are pleased and humbled by retaining third place ranking for the second year in a row. We believe that the two companies ahead of us are true role models for all corporates and the banking industry. We will continue  our game changer journey of digital transformation that we commenced three years back driving customer centricity in our branches and operational excellence at the centre. With people and technology at the heart of everything we do, I have no doubt our bold transformational vision we have for 2020 will propel us to become the Number One institution in the near future.

I would like to thank all our stakeholders, in particular, our customers, many of the corporate customers are here today if you’re not already banking with us I’m sure we can strike up a conversation later on today, the two million plus depositors who place their faith in our institution day after day, and the hundreds and thousands of micro finance and SME customers spread across the country who are our true partners in progress. The HNB Team for their support, continuous improvement and changed journey and of course the board ably led by our chairman who has provided inspirational leadership to raise the bar every year.

Our goals are closely aligned with the nation, partnering infrastructure development, driving entrepreneurship and financial inclusion, reducing the informal economy through digital channels, flag bearer for green business, are key mutual strategic drivers. 

We are extremely optimistic of a prosperous future for Sri Lanka and we will continue to partner sustainable and inclusive growth.

4. Ceylon Tobacco Company

Emma Ridley, Finance Director

Emma Ridley, Finance Directo receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

I would like to thank the organisers of this prestigious awards ceremony for once again recognising CTC as one of the TOP 30 corporates in Sri Lanka. I consider it an honour to humbly accept this award and acknowledge the achievement on behalf of the company. We are extremely happy to be here, positioned at number four where we have succeeded in being placed in the Top Ten for 11 consecutive years. CTC has performed commendably to achieve this recognition despite the challenging operating environment, which has hampered the growth of a legal business entity manufacturing a legal product. Most recently we were hit with unprecedented increases in excise and taxes, which has led to 20 per cent decline in our volumes.  This unfortunately however, our loss seems to be a win for the less regulated and minimally taxed beedi. We are concerned that while this increasing tax on legal manufactured cigarettes has resulted in increasing Government revenues in the short term, the inevitable declining volumes will erode the share in the medium to long term. Working together is the only way we can see to ensure the sustainable future for Government revenues from the tobacco industry.

5. Dialog Axiata

Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, Group Chief Executive

Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, Group Chief Executive receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

It’s an honour and privilege to stand here today and accept this award on behalf of our 11 million customers and also the 3,000 strong Dialog family. In celebrating the success of Dialog, you are celebrating the success of an entire industry, an exciting industry and one which has placed Sri Lanka ahead of all of its regional peers. Mobile telecommunications and digital infrastructure are exciting topics. But what is unique in Sri Lanka is that these technologies and facilities and the empowerment that they provide has been made affordable and available to nearly every single citizen of this country. How this has been made possible is not due to any single company or any single person, but due to the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka, the progressive policies of digital inclusion and the overall efforts of consumers, partners, distributors, agents, customers from all over our beautiful country. I would like to thank you all for this honour for inspiring corporate Sri Lanka and continuing to do this year on year.

6. Sampath Bank

Nanda Fernando, Managing Director

Nanda Fernando, Managing Director receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

It is a privilege for me to be here today and to be recognised from the Business Today as one of the top corporates. Over the years we have been stepping up in our rankings, especially due to the loyal customers who have been contributing towards the betterment of the bank. I must also take this opportunity to thank our current Chairman, Mr Channa Palansooriya and the Board of Directors for the excellent guidance they have been providing us to maintain and run the bank. I will be failing in my duties if I also do not thank our former Chairman Mr Dhammika Perera who has been a tower of strength, together with our former Managing Director Mr Aravinda Perera who has been guiding the Sampath Bank and retired a couple of months ago. The Sampath team had humble beginnings 30 years ago and we have been climbing gradually serving all parts of the country and expanding especially to the unbanked and the under banked as well. 

So over the years, collectively all stakeholders have been contributing to the bank and we do understand our responsibilities as a national bank. Once again, we thank Business Today  for recognising and having this event, which is a great encouragement to the corporate sector. While we thank Business Today and all stakeholders for their contribution, we would continue to discharge our responsibilities towards making a better Sri Lanka tomorrow.

7. Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka

Harry Jayawardena, Chairman/Managing Director

Harry Jayawardena, Chairman/Managing Director receives award from Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe

All the 30 winners should be congratulated for their efforts to have come to this position.  I am humbled today to continue to see you from top 10 to 20 now to 30, continuously we have had a position in the list of winners.  We must thank Business Today who have over the years singlehandedly organised this event. I think the architect of this event was no other than Mr Dinesh Weerakody. The private sector needed this kind of injection, and you were able to rally round and gather all the winners and have this competition fairly and truly and say that “You have done well” for that respective year. I can tell the honorable Prime Minister one time you were here as the Leader of the Opposition. You made a brilliant speech… Today, it is a tribute, not only have you come here, you have come here as the head of the Government, as the leader of this country. People should not talk ill of other people, whether politicians or otherwise. This is very common in our culture. It is high time we refrain from such bad habits. It is a good lesson for all of us. Unpredictable things happen like what happened in USA.

Now Mr Prime Minister, I must tell you one thing. You have the 30 most top-notch private sector people. Take them in to your confidence. Unfortunately, its not happening. They have at least one bit of knowledge otherwise they would have not come amongst these 30 odd people. We have the former secretary of the President I’m sure he will agree with me. 

We are people to reckon with. So at least whenever you go overseas or leading the country in a delegation tell and get advice from these people saying “I am going here. What have you to say? What can you suggest?”. This will help you to broaden your vision and broaden things that are happening day to day. Unfortunately, you’re too busy for that. But I appeal to you to at least make an effort to meet these people. All the 30 people who are here. They have done extremely well in their various fields. So, I do not wish to elaborate and talk about our company. Everybody knows our company especially the Minister of Finance. Every year he looks after us very well. Of course, he has to do that. I am not against what you are doing. You need funds. So, you must take the funds from the people who have the funds. You can’t go and ask people who don’t have the funds.

Having said that I thank and congratulate all of you. Thank you, honorable Prime Minister, for your patient hearing. This I thought was the appropriate time to tell you. And also, the Finance Minister next time please spare us. Don’t try to tax us too much and kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Once again thank you Business Today for this wonderful event. Please continue to organise this and don’t go above 30 it is too much. After some time, you can think and see if you can go to 40. Thank you once again and I wish all of you greater success in the next year.

8. Lanka Orix Leasing Company

Kapila Jayawardena, Managing Director/CEO

Kapila Jayawardena, Managing Director/CEO receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be here among Sri Lanka’s TOP 30 companies and we are at Number Eight. LOLC completed a year of robust growth in 2015 and will continuing to do so in 2016. I would like to thank my team members – 6,200 people, my customers – a million customers and a whole lot of stakeholders who made this possible. We complete our 36th year in Sri Lanka. And within the last 36 years we have enriched the lives of the rural masses. In terms of financial inclusion in the rural areas we have always been in the forefront. We are the largest non-banking financial institution in the country and we have helped businesses, SMEs and micro finance has always been in our genes and that is the way that we have come into this position.

9. Nestle Lanka

Shivani Hedge, Managing Director

Shivani Hedge, Managing Director receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

It is our honor to be ranked at Number Nine in the Business Today rankings for the year 2015/16 and to be in the Top 10 for the first time. We are proud of this recognition because we at Nestle believe that our mission in not just to deliver high quality food and beverage products to our consumers, but to offer them nutrition, health and wellness. Our purpose is to enhance the quality of the life of the people of Sri Lanka. Our purpose is to contribute towards the local communities and to fuel economic development. And this recognition really helps us to strengthen our belief, that we can make a difference.

This year we are celebrating 110 years of our operations in Sri Lanka and 150 years globally. We began operations in this country over 30 years ago, manufacturing 30 years ago. We are proud to be a local multinational producing our products locally using largely local raw materials. In fact, our factory here in Pannala is manufacturing more than 90 per cent of the products that we sell in the country, driving both import substitutions as well as exports. We strongly believe in the growth potential of Sri Lanka. We are here for the long term; we are committed to make investments.  In fact, we have been investing significantly in the rural economy. As the largest private sector collector of fresh milk, collecting approximately a third of the total commercially available milk in the country and also being one of the largest exporters of coconut milk powder we have been investing in the rural economy particularly in the dairy and coconut sector. Our efforts in developing these two sectors contributing towards a livelihood of about 25,000 faming families. And in the year 2015 we contributed about six billion rupees to these farming families.

We will strengthen the foundations for the future, invest in the future in capacity expansion, and also in man power development as we expose our people to best practices across the globe. We are also going to invest in bringing in new technologies to drive innovation to make our products tastier and healthier everyday drawing from our global expertise in nutrition and also from our R&D network. We look forward to the next 150 years in this country with passion and determination. With passion to offer our consumers and deliver our promise of good food, good life and the determination that we will be able to help generation after generation of Sri Lankans to live a happier and healthier life.

10. Bukit Darah

Chandima Gunawardena, Director

Chandima Gunawardena, Director receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Let me begin in saying with humility how pleased I am to receive this award this year, which reflects an enormous amount of dedicated work done by our work force, management teams, directorates at multiple geographical locations around the Asian region. We have been fighting many battles to sustain our business objectives in the recent past, particularly in the last year and a half. This year on the review and the current year, the group has had to battle up unprecedented challenges to sustain business plans for reasons beyond the management’s control. Bukit Darah Group, for those who may not know, encompasses the business initiatives of Carson Cumberbatch, Lion Breweries, Good Hope Asia, Guardian Equity and Pegasus Reef Sub Groups, operating in Sri Lanka and in the Asian region.

Looking back at the last few years of financial reporting the core business of the group underwent a tremendous amount of commercially challenging events and impediments and its business plans had to undergo fair amounts of challenges to overcome them. Particularly in the flood related environment, commodity market collapses and particularly in overseas operations we were faced with a tremendous amount of negatives. However, on a fortunate note I’m pleased to say that the worst is over, and the future looks pretty bright it is visibly seen to us we are in the correct path for progress. 

The reason for our group to come to this state of stability is a fundamentally strong character in our businesses, coupled with cutting edge smartness of our human resource that we have in our management teams along with a strong commitment from our stakeholders, shareholders and clientele. On a very positive note, we have positioned ourselves on a fresh leaf of courage and strength.

We do look forward to a bright and sustainable ‘business as usual’ in all our ventures. Being a group that operates across several cross boarders, multicultural political trajectories we see the commercial world having bigger challenges than in the past. Particularly in the last 24 months and we’ll see that happening as we go on in the future as well. Changes in political ideologies, changes in market dynamics, and more importantly the complexities of commercial power basses and power-based sensualities has made doing business more challenging than in the past. However, the smartness as I said before of our people have made us achieve the target that we have set forth to achieve.

We believe that Sri Lanka is now positioned to be an influence to reckon with and if we act with smartness coupled with hard work, we will achieve the goals that we have set forth to achieve. It is in this backdrop I would like to commend the organisers of this magnificent event for recognizing Bukit Darah this year, which compliments and encourages all what  the Group has achieved during the year on the review. This forum for many years has served as a unique platform to bring together the dynamics of political and business visions.

I am thankful to the honorable Prime Minister, Ministers of the Government in patronising this occasion signifying their endorsement of this event.

11. VALLIBEL ONE

Dinusha Bhaskaran, CEO receives award from Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

12. SRI LANKA TELECOM

P G Kumarasinghe Sirisena, Chairman receives award from Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance

13. HAYLEYS

Sarath Ganegoda, Director receives award from Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance

14. PEOPLE'S LEASING AND FINANCE

Pradeep Amirthanayagam, Deputy Chairman and D P Kumarage, CEO receive award from Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

15. CEYLINCO INSURANCE

Ajith Gunawardena, Managing Director/CEO receives award from Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

16. HEMAS HOLDINGS

Steven Enderby, CEO receives award from Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance

17. SEYLAN BANK

Tilan Wijesekera receives award from Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

18. CHEVRON LUBRICANTS LANKA

Dr Kishu Gomes, Managing Director/CEO receives award from Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister
of Transport and Civil Aviation and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

19. NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT BANK

Ananda Athukorala, Chairman and Buwaneka Perera, Vice President, Corporate Banking receive award from Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance

20. CENTRAL FINANCE COMPANY

Ravi Rambukwella, Director receives award from Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

21. DFCC BANK

Arjun Fernando, CEO receives award from Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

22. AITKEN SPENCE

J M S Britto, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director receives award from Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance

23. CT Holdings

Sanjay Niles, Director, Group Corporate Affairs

Sanjay Niles, Director, Group Corporate Affairs receives award from Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe

It indeed a great honour for me to receive this award on behalf of CT Holdings PLC. 

CT holdings traces its origins back to the brink of National Independence entering the cinema business as a pioneer in the entertainment industry in Sri Lanka. The makers of films such as Asoka Mala, Golu Hadawatha and Nidanaya, CT Holdings, then known as Ceylon theatres, invested in many trailblazing enterprises in the sectors of food and beverage, retailing, property, food services and it continues its romance with the cinema industry leading the technology transformation in the arena.

The vision of our founders to build strong and progressive industries that creates sustainable value for Sri Lanka is embodied in the success of enterprises such as Cargills, Cargills Food City, Magic, Kotmale, Kist, KFC, Ceylon Theatres, Empire, Majestic City and Cargills Bank. It is the value created by these enduring enterprises, powered by a over 9,000 strong young team and the entrepreneurial vision of our investors that positions CT Holdings in the Business Today TOP 30. As one of Sri Lanka’s oldest corporates we remain committed to our silent but meaningful role consistently investing in our countries core growth sectors and supporting the development potential of our growing economy.

24. ACCESS ENGINEERING

Sumal Perera, Chairman receives award from Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

25. NATIONS TRUST BANK

Renuka Fernando, CEO receives award from Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development

26. LANKA IOC

Shyam Bohra, Managing Director receives award from Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation and Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance

27. TEXTURED JERSEY

Sriyal De Silva Wijeyeratne, Managing Director/CEO

Sriyan De Silva Wijeyeratne, Managing Director/CEO and Ashroff Omar, Director recieve award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

It is indeed our pleasure and honour as Textured Jersey to be named amongst the glitterati of the industry and indeed the country.  A few years ago, we set ourselves some bold aspirations and I was fortunate that we had a team of very dynamic and ambitious people who felt that the sky is the limit to what they could dream. This resulted in a high-speed kind of journey where we from a rank of 50, within three years, became one the 20 most valuable companies in the country.

We felt that we could put a brand from the apparel and fabric industry in Sri Lanka on the global map. With that in mind we recently re-launched our company under the brand TeeJay. And we are optimistic that over the next few years we can make this something that Sri Lankans all across could be proud of. We thank BT Options for this recognition because, hot on the heels of being recognised by Forbes as one of the Top 200 companies in Asia under a billion dollars, this award only serves to inspire the team further and to create a fantastic fabric, which supports the amazing apparel industry that we are privileged to have.

Thank you to all our customers and partners for the support. And of course, my thanks to a fantastic team who are the bedrock on which we do this day in and day out.

28. RICHARD PEIRIES AND COMPANIES

Viville Perera, Director

Viville Perera, Director receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

I am truly honored to represent the company and to say a few words on this special occasion today. We are pleased that Richard Peiries and Company has reentered Business Today Top 30 amongst the best performing corporates for the financial year 2015 – 2016 after a lapse of few years. During the year under review the company has focused on core sectors of the business namely retail, plastic, tyer and rubber we continue to drive the group’s financial performance. Whilst the plantation sector was affected by global economic constraint, our company recorded a revenue of 43 billion rupees, which is a 14 per cent increase on the previous year. Profit After Tax grew by 23 per cent and the asset base of the group totaled at 43.6 billion rupees.

This enabled the group to continue to expand its business portfolio. Richard Peiris has always evolved with time and is continuously looking for strategic investment opportunities with plans to expand into different market segments. Plastic sector is already looking into penetrating into South Asian markets and strategic initiatives are in the pipeline to try more exposed through USA and great energy will be pumped into the plantation sector by looking at new market segments.

We are confident that with the vision and direction given by our group chairman Dr Sena Yaddehige, our company will be able to secure a better ranking on the Business Today TOP 30 for the financial year 2016/2017. Today Sri Lanka’s outward looking skill population is a major economic asset and a competitive advantage. The geography and human capital combined with growing peace has given the island tremendous potential as a regional and even as a global hub for trade. 

In this respect the Hon Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe has already taken action to widen up trade and other business relationships with neighbouring and other developing and developed countries, to open up opportunities to enhance trade exports in to new markets. I think now it is the responsibility of the private sector to take advantage of this position and contribute effectively using new technologies and innovations in entering into these new markets in elevating the Sri Lankan economy to the next level.

29. SOFTLOGIC

Roshan Rasool, Executive Director

Roshan Rassool, Executive Director receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

I’m extremely privileged and humbled to accept this award on behalf of 9000 people who constitutes our family at Softlogic. Thank you, BT Options and the team, for selecting us to be amongst the TOP 30 business enterprises in Sri Lanka. Our journey started 25 years ago as an ICT company with a staff strength of a dozen people and an investment of a few million rupees. Today we are a conglomerate with an annual turnover of 50 billion that is future ready and well-positioned in high growth areas of the services and trade sectors of our country.

Our relatively short journey has been remarkable with bold, ambitious and even audacious strides. Our success today is undoubtedly contributed to our team of highly competent and inspired professionals who are the architects of our business strategies. Their energy, enthusiasm and professional conduct have played a key role in our growth as the market leader, not just in one, but several sectors that we are present in. Our business was founded on value creation. Thank you to our millions of customers who have patronised us and finally to our principals on the fruitful collaborations that have helped us throughout the years. As we consider the growth aspirations of our country, increasing sophistication of consumers, increasing purchasing power, increasing tourist arrivals and an increased awareness in healthcare and a digitally inclusive Sri Lanka, we see ourselves in a unique position to continue our double-digit growth both in top line and bottom line.

Once again let me thank the BT Options team for all the recognitions and their efforts to inspire the corporate entities in Sri Lanka to reach greater heights.

30. SINGER (SRI LANKA)

Asoka Peiris, CEO

Asoka Peiris, CEO receives award from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Singer is very happy to be a recipient of the Business Today TOP 30. And we are privileged to open probably a long list of speakers. As you know Singer Sri Lanka is at the forefront of marketing, retail, manufacturing and finance. We are a company spread throughout Sri Lanka. We are there in city malls and we are there in the most remote villagers, having a small outlet. We sell agricultural pumps to the farmers, a bicycle to the fisherman and we sell smart phones to businessmen. We sell across the strata. Therefore, we are quite representative of a wide section of Sri Lanka. Many of my friends who are in politics ask me, ‘How is Singer performing?”, when they want to judge whether the people of the country have the purchasing power’. Because we are a reflection of that.

We are very optimistic of the future of the country, about the present situation of the country and we believe that Sri Lanka has very good opportunities going forward. Geographically we are well placed. We now have good relationships with everyone and we believe that we are in a cross road, but are in a situation where we have a great future. This award is an inspiration to all of us, to do even better, to serve our consumers, to serve our community and all other stakeholders.

Business Today Top 25
2010 - 2011 Gallery

(L – R) D P Kumarage, CEO/General Manager, People’s Leasing and Finance; Asoka Peiris, CEO, Singer (Sri Lanka); J M S Britto, Deputy Chairman, Managing Director, Aitken Spence; Emma Ridley, Finance Director, Ceylon Tobacco Corporation; Shivani Hedge, Managing Director, Nestlé Sri Lanka; Viville Perera, Director, Richard Peiris & Company; Sarath Ganegoda, Director, Hayleys; Dr Kishu Gomes, Managing Director/CEO, Chevron Lubricants Lanka; Ajith Gunawardena, Managing Director/CEO, Ceylinco Insurance; Dharma Dheerasinghe, Chairman, Commercial Bank; P G Kumarasinghe Sirisena, Chairman, Sri Lanka Telecom; Sriyan De Silva Wijeyeratne, Managing Director/CEO, Textured Jersey; Roshan Rassool, Executive Director, Softlogic; Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development; Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation; Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka; Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance; Sanjay Niles, Director, CT Holdings; Harry Jayawardena, Chairman/Managing Director, Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka and Chairman Aitken Spence; Arjun Fernando, CEO, DFCC Bank; Shyam Bohra, Managing Director, Lanka IOC; Pradeep Amirthanayagam, Deputy Chairman, People’s Leasing and Finance; Steven Enderby, CEO, Hemas Holdings; Ravi Rambukwella, Director, Central Finance Company; Chandima Gunawardena, Director, Bukit Darah; Jegan Durairatnam, Managing Director/CEO, Commercial Bank; Kapila Jayawardena, Managing Director/CEO, Lanka Orix Leasing Company; Ashroff Omar, Director, Textured Jersey; Rienzie Arseculeratne, Chairman, Hatton National Bank; Dilshan Rodrigo, COO, Hatton National Bank; Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata; Dinusha Bhaskaran, CEO, Vallibel One; Ananda Athukorala, Chairman, NDB; Sumal Perera, Chairman, Access Engineering; Tilan Wijesekera, Seylan Bank and Renuka Fernando, CEO, Nations Trust Bank

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prof Maithree Wickramasinghe with Mathi and Glenda Parthipan

Ven Galaboda Gnanissara Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple and Ven Kirinde Assaji Thero

Ven Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero

Ven Diyapttugama Revatha Thero

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa with Mathi and Glenda Parthipan

Minister Sagala Ratnayaka

Minister John Amaratunga

Minister Ravi Karunanayake

Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka

Minister Arjuna Ranatunga

State Minister A H M Fowzie

Pavithra Wanniarachchi, MP

Udaya Gammanpila, MP

Sunil Handunetti, MP

Kanchana Jayaratne

Ven Galaboda Gnanissara thero, Chief Incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple; Mathi K Parthipan, Chairman/Managing Director, BT Options; Glenda Parthipan;
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe; Prof Maithree Wickramasinghe; Ravi Karunanayake, Minister of Finance; Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Transport
and Civil Aviation; Sagala Ratnayaka, Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development; John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development, Christian
Religious Affairs and Lands and Ronald Perera PC, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon

Azath Salley; Kanchana Jayaratne, Chairman of the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council; Sunil Handunetti, MP; Udaya Gammanpila, MP; State Minister AHM Fowzie; Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Mathi and Glenda Parthipan

Pavithra Wanniarachchi, MP; Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa; Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prof Maithree Wickramasinghe and Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva

The blue and white themed stage

The multi-cultural opening act performed by BT Options staff

A unique concept of the Blessing dance

Performed to the Gajaga Vannama

Performed to the Kandasuraduni song

BT Options staff with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister Ravi Karunanayake and Minister Sagala Ratnayaka