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Emirates offers 'Summer Specials'

Forty star-class hotels and apartments and some 275 retailers in Dubai have joined Emirates to offer special accommodation offers and shopping discounts.

New Summer Special packages unveiled by the airline offer accommodation till September 15 and every passenger who buys one will receive a Vice Versa Card, a premium shopping card that entitles its user to receive up to 20 percent cash-rewards at over 275 partner outlets.

Also included in these packages are free 'Meet and Assist' service at Dubai International Airport by a uniformed Arabian Adventures representative, free return transfers between Dubai International Airport and the hotel and a Welcome Pack containing an information leaflet on Dubai, postcards, a Tours and Safaris brochure, the contact number of a pre-assigned representative and 24 hours emergency number.

Each of the participating hotels and apartments will implement a 24 hour check-in and check-out facility for the convenience of Emirates passengers who buy these packages.

To be eligible for the Dubai Summer Specials, all travel must be on Emirates flights, and accommodation must be utilized before September 15.

From Colombo, Emirates operates 21 services a week to Dubai, offering convenient connections to more than 100 destinations on the airline's rapidly expanding network.

Sampath opens second branch in Batticaloa

Sampath Bank opened the Batticaloa branch in March 2008. Since then the business has been booming in the area, and as such the need for banking services has grown in multitudes. Now this need is even more so with the end of the war, with people looking to start a new life, new business etc. To cater to this increased demand for professional and high tech banking services in the Batticaloa area, Sampath Bank opened their second branch on Trincomalee Road, Batticaloa last week.

The new branch being the 139th of an electronically linked islandwide branch network makes it possible to carry out transactions real time-online.

Daikin appoints Scan Engineering

Scan Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., has been appointed as a dealer in Sri Lanka by Daikin Air-conditioning (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Daikin Air-conditioning (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Daikin Industries, Ltd of Japan, was given this authorization by their regional headquarters Daikin Industries (Thailand) Ltd. at a signing ceremony held in Singapore recently.

Established in March 1995, Scan Engineering has been behind many cooling projects in Sri Lanka which include the Kukuleganga Hydropower Project., etc. In the recent past, they have successfully completed Phase-l of the prestigious Havelock City Project which is the largest mixed development project in South East Asia.

Scan Engineering is also responsible for the introduction of the Daikin VRV-III (patented by Daikin) Air-conditioning System to the Hilton Colombo Residence. This system incorporates new environmentally friendly R410A refrigerant and provides a high COP (Energy Saving), further, this air conditioning system provides outdoor units that extend air-conditioning capacity up to 54 HP.

ETI grows from strength to strength

Opens three new pawning centres:

Having earned an enviable reputation as one of Sri Lanka's most trusted finance companies, ETI has faced increased customer expectations and demand for its products. In order to meet this demand, the company recently opened three new pawning centres in Kaduwela, Embilipitiya, and Galle.

This expansion is part of ETI's strategy of pursuing sustainable, profitable growth, bringing to 44 the total number of pawning centres islandwide.

The company also has five leasing branches that specialize in providing motor finance solutions to its customers.

The three new pawning centres showcase a number of refinements introduced by ETI, including the removal of the unflattering and unfriendly 'cage,' and the use of thumbprint scanners.

Conforming to a unique design template and situated in the busiest sections of their respective towns, the new centres are friendly, modern, and aimed at providing maximum convenience to customers.

Each branch is also connected to ETI's industry-best central IT system, allowing complete transparency and full oversight of all branch operations and transactions.

A month after opening, these three new branches have demonstrated incredible sales, spurring the company to consider opening sub-branches within these areas. All of the company's 44 pawning centres are open year-round, including on Sundays and holidays. Open from 9 am to 7 pm on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 9 am to 2 pm on Sundays, ETI is focused on making the pawning experience as convenient as possible for its valued customers.

The customer-friendly new pawning centres were ceremoniously declared open by Chairperson Dr. Soma Edirisinghe, the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer Mahendra De Silva. During his remarks at the occasion, CEO Mahendra De Silva sounded a very optimistic note, commenting that ETI "is on track to keep going from strength to strength, maintaining profitability while continuing to give its customers the best service possible."

The company's leadership position in the finance industry is built on its investments in the best employees, technology, and physical branch assets. Indeed the strength of ETI's human resources is already the envy of the financial services sector.

The company has a separate training division every employee at the company receives extensive training before being entrusted with responsibilities and continues to undergo regular on-the-job training thereafter. Some finance companies even send their employees to be trained at ETI, a glowing endorsement of ETI's superior employee standards.

The day-to-day functions involved in overseeing ETI's pawning operations are ably handled by GM - Pawning and Gold Sales, Sandun Kumarasiri, who brings a wealth of in-depth pawning business experience to the company.

He and his team, led and advised by CEO Mahendra De Silva and the Board of Directors, which includes Chairperson Dr. Soma Edirisinghe, Managing Director Jeewaka Edirisinghe, Executive Director Ms. Deepa Edirisinghe, Executive Director Nalaka Edirisinghe, and Director Damian Abeyratne, all renowned business people with extensive experience in financial services.

It's no surprise then that ETI, which counts over 40 years of experience in the pawning industry, is widely seen as the most professionally managed company in the sector.

In spite of the company's many accolades and awards, which include a Gold Award at the 2007 National Business Excellence Awards, ETI has never lost focus on the one thing that has driven its successes: customer satisfaction.

Indeed, as CEO Mahendra De Silva noted, unlike other pawn brokers, ETI believes in giving customers their gold back and is happy only when its customers are also happy.

American Business Graduates reach top positions

CEO, Director, Senior Manager, Entrepreneur, Top scholar-these are just a few of many top positions held by the Northwood University graduates in Sri Lanka . Northwood University is the only American Business Degree program in Sri Lanka and the region. Today the business graduates of Northwood University have become the most favourite choice among top employers. This is due to their practical approach to business education, which is backed by local and regional corporate exposure. This was evident by the high employability of the graduates, with many securing top job offers even before completing their degree program.

"Northwood University American Business degree prepared me for the challenges in the corporate world", said Clikon Pvt (Ltd) Director Navinda Weerasinghe a leading electrical appliance manufacturer in Sri Lanka. "We learned all aspects of business including Marketing, Finance, Human Resource Management, Operations Management and International Trade which gave a solid foundation for my corporate successes", said Navinda. The Northwood University Business degree programs are unique for several reasons. "Students can complete the entire degree in Sri Lanka with a combination of international professors and leading Sri Lankan professors educated abroad", said Celeste Event Planning and Management (Pvt) Limited CEO Varun Chandramohan. "The Northwood University degrees are based on the concepts of free enterprise and entrepreneurship, which are ideal for businessmen like me who are interested in creating employment and driving organisational success through practical solutions" said Varun.

According to Azad Ur Rahman - PhD student of SUNY (State University of New York), USA "The local and regional field trips I participated in, gave value to my business education at Northwood University - Sri Lanka. I saw the clear connection between different theories and practices, which gave me valuable insight to global business. Even today I benefit from my international education".

Northwood University offers four industry relevant BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) degrees in Finance, Marketing, International Business and Management in Sri Lanka. There are more than 20 more different Business degree programs available to students who prefer to transfer to US for their final year. There are single and dual major options allowing students to select their education path to match the career choices.

The BBA Degree program with Northwood University is an interesting option for today's Global Economy. These degree programs include both local and international real-life experience through projects, internships, work experience, class activities, and international field trips.

For more information on business careers and how you can plan your future, contact the counsellors at Northwood University or attend one of their free Career Planning seminars, conducted regularly throughout the year. This seminar will give you a very clear picture of how to investigate various careers locally, regionally, and internationally as well as what to look for in an education program. Additional information on topics like university expenses, work opportunities, and scholarships are also provided.