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Enzo Vood has been producing electronic dance music and releasing them in worldwide charts. He has brought international artists to Sri Lanka and made them play with Sri Lankan local artists at premium shows. He has made Sri Lankan industry famous worldwide and has been able to integrate local and foreign fans through his events supporting the industry in an economic perspective.
Enzo Vood, born in the ’90s and raised in Colombo, found early influence and refuge in the local electronic rave scene, and today he is a popular electronic music producer / DJ, artist, and an event promoter operating from Sri Lanka.
Cutting his teeth in the industry as a mobile DJ, he steadily made a reputation in the industry due to his innovative approach, fine-tuned selection and as one ahead of time. Having steadily built a f since 2009 and a following, he performed at many well-known nightclubs in Sri Lanka.
He soon understood the potential of having alias projects and thus Enzo Vood was born. He kept his step forward to another level by moving in to start his own productions and he could sign to an international record label for his first single under the progressive house genre. He continued his productions and got into more labels and carved out a niche for himself. Today Enzo Vood boasts an extensive repertoire of gigs, festivals, and tours across the world. With his eclectic selection inspired by electronic dance music genres Progressive House, Melodic Techno, Organic House, and its sub-genres he has emerged as one of Sri Lanka’s most sought-after DJ’s in the music scene.
Having started his debut International tour in GOA, India with a 2 gig tour Enzo Vood was soon found to be a force to reckon with. Many a time opening stage for internationally respected artists and musicians, such as Guy J, Stan Kolev, Emi Galvan, Dj Ruby, The Yellowheads, Praveen Achary, and he has shared the decks with, Cid Inc, Darin Epsilon, Matan Caspi, Weird Sounding Dude, Navar, Ben Coda, and many more.
Enzo Vood has been able to capture a wide audience being a frequent invitee for guest-mixes shows across the world. Mixcloud Podcast “DESTINY” and early support from YES FM Sri Lanka also paved the way for him to engage with many more guest mixes.
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by Sanath Nanayakkare
The Bank of Ceylon (BOC), the leader of inward remittance business in Sri Lanka, is confident that it will be able to regain its past glorious levels of foreign exchange remittances by the end of 2023 or within 2024.
The new General Manager/ Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Ceylon, Russel Fonseka made these comments to The Island Financial Review yesterday after officially assuming duties in the crucial post of the Bank.
“If I remember correctly, BOC recorded its highest foreign remittances of US dollars 4 billion in 2019, and at the rate things are improving currently, we believe that we should be able to reach the same level of inward remittances by the end of 2023 or within 2024,” he said.
Having joined the BOC in 1990, Fonseka has notched up 33 years of service with the banking giant and was serving as the Additional General Manager and the CFO before assuming duties as the 23rd General Manager of the Bank.
Russel Fonseka has successfully steered and given leadership to the various divisions that came under his purview. He has held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Head of Finance and Planning, Head of International, Treasury and Investments, Head of Retail Banking and Head of Corporate and Offshore Banking. The exposure to many areas of banking would be a distinct advantage as he faces the task of steering the premier bank in Sri Lanka during what looks to be the most turbulent period the country and the globe has faced in recent times.
Fonseka said that he took up the challenge not only because of his confidence to steer the Bank through the turbulent times and give crucial support to the national economy, but also due to his confidence in the capabilities and commitment of the senior management and staff that he is supported by.
Responding to a question by the media about the Bank’s ability to provide US dollars to its customers for their international trade transactions, he said,” After the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) effected the relaxation on exchange rate, we have been able to fulfill the dollar requirement of our customers. In addition to that, many other Sri Lankan customers come to BOC for their foreign currency requirement and we oblige them too.”
He pointed out that the exchange rate relaxation helped minimise the gap between the official and the unofficial exchange rate of the US dollar.
“In this backdrop, now a lot of expatriate workers have turned back to remitting their earnings through formal banking channels. This has increased BOC’s inflow of foreign remittances. In the last couple of months, we were able to contribute a huge sum of foreign exchange to the national economy to finance the import of fuel and other essential commodities. We think that we will be able to further increase this capacity and elevate our ability to match the foreign exchange requirement of the country.”
When asked about high lending rates, he said,” While new loans will have to be worked out at current market rates, the business loans we had given some time back are still effective at lower rates. This means still there are business customers who are enjoying 12%-18% rates depending on the rates regime they had chosen at the time. For hardly any customers have we increased our lending rates to 30%.” he said.
“Our non-performing loans (NPLs) compared to the industry are at a very low level because of our unique loan recovery concept. We don’t want to take our non-paying borrowers who are genuinely in trouble to court. Instead we collaborate with them and help them constantly for the recovery of their businesses,” he said.
Giving his thoughts about the trajectory of interest rate movements in the future, he said, “Even though the current interest rate in the market is 30% as influenced by the T-bill and T-Bond rates, we have taken some initiatives to moderate it. We have a small cartel in the banking industry and we have decided not to pay more than 26% for fixed deposits. In the time to come, we are planning to decrease it further. We hope this will help us reduce our lending rates to businesses and entrepreneurs and achieve real growth in the economy through export-oriented manufacturing and providing of services to the key markets of the world.”
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By Hiran H.Senewiratne
CSE trading activities registered a positive trend yesterday following a Bloomberg report that India has formally notified that it would support Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan, clearing a major hurdle for the bankrupt nation to unlock a US $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, stock analysts said.
Debt restructuring talks with India and China are successful, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament as the country tries to get an International Monetary Fund bailout. “I can tell this assembly that the talks are successful, Wickremesinghe told parliament yesterday.
Consequently, share prices appreciated in several selected stocks, mainly, Lanka IOC and Expolanka Holdings PLC. The Lanka IOC share price appreciated by Rs 15 or eight per cent. Its share price shot up to Rs 192.50 from Rs 177.50, while Expolanka Holdings’ share price appreciated by Rs 20.15 or 12 per cent. Its share price shot up to Rs 192.50 from Rs 172.
Meanwhile, selling pressure was noted in Softlogic Capital PLC and Softlogic Life Insurance. Accordingly, those share prices depreciated to a great extent. Amid those developments both indices moved upwards. The All- Share Price Index went up by 113.7 points and S and P SL20 rose by 70 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.24 billion with a single crossing. The crossing was reported in HNB, which crossed 300,000 shares to the tune of Rs 23.4 million and its shares traded at Rs 78.
In the retail market seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, Softlogic Capital PLC Rs 246 million (16.7 million shares traded), Softlogic Life Insurance Rs 168 million (1.65 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 152 million (811,000 shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 119 million (70.7 million shares traded), LOLC Finance Rs 112 million (15.1 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 93.6 million (494,000 shares traded) and ACL Cables Rs 32.3 million (484,000 shares traded). During the day 73 million share volumes changed hands in 17000 transactions.
Yesterday’s market turnover was the lowest for this year. However, the market is picking up because interest rates are likely to come down. Further, Treasury Bill rates are likely to come down in the future too, which possibility also positively impacted the stock market.
Yesterday, the Central Bank- announced US dollar buying rate was Rs 360.41 and the selling rate Rs 371.47.
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A delegation of investors from the United Arab Emirates, led by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, visited Port City Colombo on January 14, during a special visit to Sri Lanka for the purpose. Discussions were held between the members of the delegation, representatives from the Colombo Port City Economic Commission (Commission) and Port City Colombo (PCC) with a view to attracting foreign direct investments to the project.
The delegation was given a comprehensive overview of Port City Colombo’s development and plans for the future which the delegation commended, followed by a tour of PCC Marina. Port City Colombo is a large-scale development project covering an area of 269 hectares of reclaimed land. It aims to serve as a new economic hub for the country, offering a range of commercial and residential opportunities. The project is expected to bring significant economic benefits to Sri Lanka, including job creation and increased foreign investment.
Expressing his views on the visit and the progress of discussions, Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director of CHEC Port City Colombo (Private) Limited said, “We’re very pleased to have had the opportunity to host this delegation, led by His Royal Highness, and showcase the potential of the Port City Colombo development project. This visit is a clear indication of the growing interest in what we have to offer, and we look forward to welcoming more investors and partners in the future. We are also anticipating the PCC Duty-Free Shopping Complex to open on schedule by April 2023.”
The UAE delegation also included Luke Sellwood – Advisor to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Ivan Shkarba – Partner and investor in efiscal. Ivan also invests with His Highness in other business opportunities. Ms. Jekaterina Kamilov – Personal Assistant to Ivan Shkarba, Damir Makhmutov – Vice President International Expansion at efiscal, Rahmy Morcos – Director of Ska Group, Mustafa Usman Aripandhra – Business Development Manager of and Dr. Siddeek Ahamed – Chairman and Managing Director, Eram Group – UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The UAE delegation was received, on behalf of the Commission, Mr. Revan Wickramasuriya – Director Financial Services and Compliance, Ms. Vindhya Weerasekera – Director Legal and Corporate Affairs, Mr. Dimantha Kinigama – Director Commercial and Operations and Ms. Dhanya Gunawardana – Head of Branding & Communications, and on behalf of CHEC Port City Colombo (Private) Limited, by Mr. Thulci Aluwihare – Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Eric Ou – Assistant Managing Director, Dr. Joe Lekplipol – Regional Head of Investment Promotion (Indochina Peninsula), Ms. Radika Obeyesekere – Director Investment Promotion & Marketing, Mr. Shalaka Wijeyaratne, Executive Director – Investment Promotion and Marketing, Mr. Nisal Karunapala – Manager – Strategy & Transaction Services and Mr. Shane Amadoru – Regional Manager Investment Promotion & Marketing (Middle East).
Having added 2.69 square kilometres to Sri Lanka’s sovereign territory, Port City Colombo is Sri Lanka’s biggest FDI-funded development project. With infrastructure development slated for completion in Q3 of 2023, of the USD 1.4 Billion committed by the project company, USD 1.2 Billion has already been invested into Port City Colombo, and a further USD 1.5 billion is expected to be invested during the vertical development phase, which is expected to commence as soon as regulations are finalized. A USD 7-million Duty-Free Shopping Complex, the first of its kind in South Asia and expected to be a magnet for shopping and tourism, will also open its doors at Port City Colombo in April 2023.
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