Business Rendezvous

Lanka must be converted to value addition hub

Chairman Capitol AEI Pvt Ltd and exclusive representative for DHL Global Forwarding in Sri Lanka Faiz-ur-Rahman

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The Sri Lankan telco industry is the leader in the South Asian region and it is considered in high esteem even in the Asia Pacific region. Sri Lanka also boasts of many firsts in the industry by being the first to introduce GSM, 3G and 3.5 G in the region.

However three decades ago no one would have dreamt that Sri Lanka would go this far in the telco industry.

Sri Lanka was lagging far behind with a fax message taking hours to reach from point to point, telex being a luxury for a handful, international telephone call coming through a tedious process via an operator, a telegram taking many days to receive and ‘communication centres’ nowhere to be found.

Looking back many say that the entry of the then Celtell, Mobitel, MTN Networks with Dialog and the Japanese NTT taking over Sri Lanka telecom changed the way of the telecom industry.

While these entities had a major positive impact on the industry a soft spoken man from Kotahena too played a major silent role to develop the industry.

Faiz-ur-Rahman never had a dream to score many firsts to Sri Lanka in the telecommunication industry.

After his education at Royal College, Colombo and was sent to England and he returned with a Masters in Engineering. Later he completed the SLAS examination and was the first Sri Lankan engineer to do so.

His first job was at the Bio Medical engineering Unit and later he was appointed as Assistant Commissioner Imports. This was another first.

He was then invited by the Iranian government as consultant and after successfully completing the project he came back to Sri Lanka in 1975.

He was then just working for his father who ran a small time shipping business and his duty was to send telexes from the Overseas Telecommunications office (OTS). sending a telex was a very tedious job and he had to waste hours for it.

“Then I thought that if I could avail this facility, I could be a help to the country as only the multinationals had access to telex,” he recalled.

Q: How much did you invest?

After waiting for nearly a year to receive the license, I invested Rs.150,000 to purchase a machine and a further Rs. 2,250 (Three months rent) to hire a smallroom in the Boys Scout Headquarters in Fort for the office to open Sri Lanka’s first private telex bureau.

My father was the first customer and slowly the business picked up and I recovered my investment in next to no time.

The recruitment telexes to the Middle-East were also a good source of income.

Q: How did you expand?

I opened more offices in Colombo and then one in Kandy as well and people were surprised since there was no telex services in Kandy and people thought I was cheating.

Then I also found out that fax was a more convenient method and installed one in Colombo and Kandy thus becoming the first private commercial fax machine owner.

Q: How did you get into the communicating business?

When I went to India I saw that there were IDD and SDD booths almost every 100 meters and decided to introduce it in Sri Lanka.

Since there was no proper billing system in place I used a stop watch for billing.

To provide customers a service under one roof I installed both fax and international direct dialling telephones under to introduce the ‘ communication’ system to Sri Lanka.

It was my employees who spread this concept as they left me and started on their own with my blessings. With more communications booths being set up the window of opportunity for this was narrowing and then I started to look for other investments and diversifications.

Q: Which area did you select?

I set up Capitol Communications and paper companies to supply all fax, telex, carbon papers and all other equipments needed for these communications booths. This business too did not have a longer life and I sold the companies and looked for other opportunities.

My father ran a small export business and it was a pack of documentation which I had to courier to USA that changed my life in 1979.When I went to the courier office in Fort minutes before 5 p.m. which was the closing time they did not accept my parcel and made a joke out of me.I was so disappointed that I broke the trust my father had for me and deprived him of a business opportunity for a project in USA.

Q: Was this why you decided to open a courier company?

Yes, However many people including my brother advised me not to go ahead with this business. I was determined and managed to convince Japan’s oldest courier company to set up a joint venture with me in Colombo.

Due to the success of this I tied-up with Air Express international of USA as well and today I am one of the leading companies dealing in this area with over Rs. one billion annual turnover in volume.

The parent company based in US went through management changes and now its under the DHL group. I have also set up collecting points in other neighbouring countries as well.

Q: How do you see the tax structure in Sri Lanka?

It’s increasing in every budget. The authorities should try to widen the tax net. By taxing the same people who pay taxes all the time the money we have for re-investments reduce which will create a negative impact for the economy.

Q: What do you think of the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka?

It should be called a peoples problem. If one follows the Sri Lankan constitution this is not a problem as it clearly states that Sri Lanka is a sovereign country which cannot be divided.

Q: How do look at politicians?

I think most of them delay things. The 13th Amendment is a classic example as it’s being delayed for over 20 years. I also see that they get advantage in the society and this is not fair since President Mahinda Rajapaksa too has only one vote. All should be equal citizens and I think while Singapore followed Sri Lanka four decades ago its now time for Sri Lanka to follow Singapore vision to take this country forward.

Q: How would Sri Lanka be positioned economically?

Sri Lanka should be converted to a global hub for value addition. IT should be an open place for any overseas investor to come and do value addition. I think Trincomalee and Galle should be focused for this.

Q: How do you look at CSR?

This is something all companies must do. However I do not see providing donations to Deaf and Blind School or similar initiatives as CSR. They should be long term.As far as I am concerned I run a training school within my institution and I deliver lectures in supply chain management both at the Moratuwa and Peradeniya universities to share my knowledge using my time and money.

Q: Where would you like to spend your holiday?

The recipe for me for a perfect holiday is my friends. I have many of them in Kandy whom I meet for the Bradby and in India.