The Management Club continuing with the series of their presentations on the theme "The Way Forward", recently had a another very successful event titled Beyond Diverse Challenges with Mr W K H Wegapitiya, Executive Chairman of Laugfs Holdings as their guest speaker.

Mr Wegapitiya drew the attention of the packed audience that evening right from the start, when he greeted the participants in all 3 languages and was quick to get on to describing what a momentous phase in the history of our country we are now going through having quashed a 3 decade old terrorist problem.

He indicated that as Managers we should plan for the end result we want to achieve when we start on any new project and that we Sri Lankans have made the mistake of relying on politicians during the last 60 years since independence.

Mr Wegapitiya pointed out that millions of years ago there was only one landmass – one continent on this planet earth – called Pangaea – which later broke in to two parts – Laurasia in the North and Gondwana in the south and that this continental drift which continued for a long period of time did not allow us a choice of skin colour, climatic conditions or natural resources that each section of the world and different countries were later bestowed with.

He indicated that all economists from Adam Smith onwards teach us the theory of a free market condition and the use of competitive advantage by nations and countries.

Mr Wegapitiya described that factor endowments would most importantly decide on the economic condition of a nation and that cost leadership, differentiation and better labour orientation are some things that Sri Lanka can resort to in this aspect while also reminding us that we are strategically placed, in the centre of the shipping routes, a distinct advantage the country has over many others in the region

He drew the attention of the participants to the fact that we have an abundance of natural resources, a manageable population of capable and intelligent people, good climatic conditions sans natural disasters, barring one isolate misfortune by way of the Tsunami, and a strong culture and a history.

Reflecting on his younger days when he grew up in a village environment in the Balangoda area, Mr Wegapitiya said that he remembered how ashamed people were when they were in debt to the village boutique, thus it was nothing to be proud when we get a big chunk of money as a loan from the IMF.

He said that it was our inward directed attitude – the "Island mentality" that is pegging us back and that it is shameful when we have to import canned fish from Chile while being surrounded by a beautiful ocean from all sides.

Mr Wegaptitiya was also critical of any one who would highlight the negative factors of Sri Lanka without concentrating and promoting the good side of things which we have aplenty.

The Executive Chairman of Laugfs Holdings who is well known for the challenge he undertook to compete in an industry dominated by multinationals, was of the view that the impetus given to local companies to grow and develop their businesses is far from the satisfactory levels.

He also pointed out that the time required for a new business venture to start up operations in Sri Lanka was much more than in some other countries in the region and that this is something that the authorities should look into and improve upon.

Mr Wegapitiya was of the view that now is the time for all Sri Lankans put back their lazy attitudes and come together as one nation irrespective of cast creed race, religion or political party and that nothing will be impossible to achieve if we all work towards a common set of goals for Sri Lanka as a country

He said that any one should live their lives to the fullest, spread the message of love during their lifetimes and be able to leave behind a legacy when the time comes to depart from this world.

Before he ended his interesting and thought provoking presentation, in all probability, in an unprecedented move at such a gathering, Mr Wegapitiya requested all participants to rise from their seats in honour of the valiant soldiers who fought and won a decisive battle for Sri Lanka, and said that they were the people who deserved the bouquets for what we can achieve as a nation in the future, if we shed our differences.

The number of questions that he had to answer after he finished the presentation was ample testimony that the participants that evening really gained from the proceedings at what some of them commented as one of the best events that the TMC had conducted.