Business

Lakpahana – From our hands to yours for over 48 years

Published

6 years ago

2021/02/21

‘Lakpahana’ is a store located in Colombo 07, across from the Colombo Race Course that owes its identity to the ambition of its founder Deshamanya Mrs. Siva Obeyesekere. Starting out as a store depicting rich cultural arts and crafts, it preserves skillfully and elegantly designed handicrafts. Lakpahana has a wide variety of hand made products that are 100% Sri Lankan. It gives the rural Sri Lankan craftsman the opportunity to market their products locally and abroad.

Today with the change in social, trends, handicrafts have taken on a new dimension, they are now not only artifacts of beauty but are utilitarian objects absorbed into modern day living. Most handicrafts use traditional motifs, colours and designs for decoration. The demands for new designs for the existing range of handicrafts and complete new innovations adopting traditional techniques and motifs are constantly increasing. The craftspeople of ‘Lakpahana’ make crafts preserving the aesthetic grace of age old traditional handicrafts and absorb new thoughts and ideas to cater to the modern market. They strike a balance between tradition and modern day trends by combining two or more materials, finding new uses for existing handicrafts and by introducing modern art in the way of colours, motifs and techniques.

Finding new utility value for traditional crafts or by adding value to the existing range these crafts have been transformed into articles for modern day living use.

Recommended by Trip Advisor, a member of the World Craft Council and with many UNESCO Excellence Awards for its crafts, Lakpahana truly is representative of Sri Lanka’s rich craft heritage.

Wooden Items

The wooden containers with decorative lacquer work, which earlier was a thing of ornamentation, has now been converted into an item for packaging tea, coffee, spices and various other items. Traditional lacquer work is an intricate process of painting with the finger nail or thumb nail, it is aptly called ‘niyapothu vada’ (finger nail work) and hails from the Matale district of Hapuvida in South Matale.

In recent times modern, lighter shades are combined with modern form of art. A good example, is the mats made of reed and rush woven with the traditional motifs named ‘Makara’ (a mythical animal), ‘Sinha’ (Lion), ‘Hansa’ (Swan), elephant and lotus used along with the bright colours of red, yellow, black and green as well as conventional stripes and circles.

Dumbara Mats

Dumbara a picturesque & fertile valley is to the north of Kandy at the foot of the ‘Hunnasgiri Hill’ has been the home of traditional ‘Dumbara’ mat weavers who for ages have practiced the art of mat weaving, using hana (hemp). The hana plant (Agave Sisalana) growing wild in the Dumbara valley provides the raw material for mat weaving. In addition to the traditional colourful mats. Dumbara craftsmen also make cushion covers, hand bags, shopping bags, letter and shoe holders, fans, screens, table mats, coasters, file and book covers, purses and other products to meet the demands of contemporary society.

Amongst the wide range of traditional handicrafts are masks, lacquer work, silverware, pewter, silver jewellery, brass work, handloom textiles, lace embroidery items, educational toys, coir rugs and mats, bamboo items, paper pulp and elephant dung items, coconut husk items and hand sewn hankies.

Therefore LAKPAHANA is a store waiting to be discovered especially for these looking for a special memento that has a Sri Lankan identity.

Searching for the most delicious and freshly made traditional treats? Head over to Lakpahana and indulge. Choosing from a variety of items such as stuffed veralu, coconut toffee, kalu dodol, cadju puhul, narang kavum and unduwel. The items are made fresh on a daily basis. Everyday favourites such as murukku, macaroons, marshmallows, aasmi, kokis, kavum and mung kavum are available in addition to neatly wrapped packages of love cake, bibikkan and jaggery cake. Lunu dehi as is a popularly known, is an integral part of Sri Lankan cuisine and even culture. These are just perfect for the festive season or even as a gift. Cake orders can be placed too. Sugar and jaggery alpal, tala bola, coconut and milk toffees stock the shelves in addition to the other yummy treats. Lakpahana also has freshly prepared lamprais for lunch every day. Other items available at Lakpahana include jars of bees’ honey (50ml/100ml), lime pickle, seeni sambol and dried fish pachade.

Lakpahana is open from 9.30 a.m. – 6.30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sundays & Holidays.

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Business

AIA delivers strong first half results in 2026; double-digit growth across key financial metrics

Published

23 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

The Board of AIA Group Limited (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Group’s financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2026. Growth rates are shown on a constant exchange rate basis unless otherwise stated:

New business performance and embedded value

Value of new business (VONB) of US$3,212 million, up 10 per cent overall and 14 per cent excluding Thailand(1)

Record high annualised operating ROEV of 18.0 per cent, up from 15.8 per cent in full year 2025

EV Equity of US$83.4 billion, up 6 per cent per share over the first half on an actual exchange rate basis

IFRS earnings

Operating profit after tax (OPAT) of US$4,163 million, up 13 per cent per share

AIA now expects to exceed OPAT per share CAGR target of 9 to 11 per cent from 2023 to 2026(2)

Record high annualised operating ROE of 17.5 per cent, up from 15.5 per cent in full year 2025

Cash generation and capital returns

Underlying free surplus generation (UFSG) of US$3,935 million, increased by 10 per cent per share

Net free surplus generation (net FSG) of US$2,758 million, up 12 per cent per share

US$3.6 billion returned to shareholders in the first half through dividend and share buy-back

Interim dividend increased by 10 per cent to 53.90 Hong Kong cents per share

Lee Yuan Siong, AIA’s Group Chief Executive and President, said:

“AIA has delivered another strong performance in the first half of 2026, with double-digit growth across our key financial metrics, while continuing to return substantial capital to shareholders. VONB reached a record high of US$3.2 billion with growth across all distribution channels, and all reportable segments excluding Thailand. The Group has achieved 17 per cent CAGR since the first half of 2023(3), demonstrating consistently strong demand for AIA’s professional advice and differentiated products.

“At the core of our unrivalled distribution platform is our market-leading Premier Agency. I am delighted that AIA has once again been ranked the number one Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) multinational company globally. We have held this position for a record 12 consecutive years and we have more than double the number of MDRT members of our nearest competitor. In the first half of 2026, our Premier Agency achieved strong VONB growth of 11 per cent excluding Thailand(1). Our extensive network of strategic distribution partners further expands our market reach and generated an 18 per cent increase in VONB, supported by very strong performance in both the bancassurance and independent financial adviser (IFA) and broker channels.

“Strong new business, together with disciplined management of our in-force portfolio, has supported sustained growth in recurring earnings with OPAT per share up by 13 per cent in the first half. As a result, we expect to exceed our 9 to 11 per cent OPAT per share CAGR target for 2023 to 2026(2). UFSG, the Group’s core measure of operating cash generation, increased by 10 per cent per share. After allowing for new business investment, net FSG increased by 12 per cent per share. In accordance with our prudent, sustainable and progressive dividend policy, the Board has declared a 10 per cent increase in the interim dividend to 53.90 Hong Kong cents per share. These achievements demonstrate that our financial strategy is working as intended.

“Asia remains the most compelling growth opportunity for life and health insurance. Powerful structural tailwinds across the region continue to create substantial demand for our professional advice and differentiated products and underpin the exceptional long-term prospects for AIA’s business. I am confident that AIA’s disciplined execution of our strategic priorities will continue to deliver long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders.”

Business

British Council Sri Lanka launches soft skills workshops to elevate learning and empower communication

Published

23 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

The British Council team answering questions on Corporate English Solutions from leading corporates about professional development skills courses

The British Council Sri Lanka has launched Corporate English Solutions (CES), tailored to the Sri Lankan corporate and education ecosystem, aimed at helping organisations strengthen workplace communication and professional development.

The launch event took place recently at the NH Collection, Colombo 3, gathering corporate partners, clients and education stakeholders throughout the country.

CES extends the British Council’s long-standing work in English language education and teacher training into a dedicated offering for the corporate sector. The launch introduced two new components to the British Council’s presence in Sri Lanka such as public workshops and teacher training programmes, open to learners and educators beyond the organisation’s existing corporate and academic partners. Guests at the event were shown a short video introducing Corporate English Solutions before the formal proceedings began.

Talal Meer, British Council Regional Business Development Director, South Asia, welcomed guests and introduced the British Council’s team in Sri Lanka. In his remarks, Meer set out the scope of the CES launch, covering the introduction of public workshops in Sri Lanka, the rollout of teacher training programmes, and an overview of the CES product portfolio. Meer’s role covers educational partnerships in the South Asia region, and his address framed the Sri Lanka launch within the British Council’s broader regional strategy.

Business

Ogilvy Group tops award tally at ‘Dragons of Sri Lanka’ 2026

Published

23 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka delivered a standout performance at the recently concluded Dragons of Sri Lanka 2026 Awards, securing a total of nine awards comprising two Gold Dragons, one Silver Dragon and six Black Dragons, among the festival’s highest overall award tallies. Gold Dragon wins for Phoenix Ogilvy and Ogilvy Digital, together with the seven additional recognitions across multiple categories, highlighted Ogilvy’s ability to combine creativity, strategic thinking and commercial effectiveness to deliver business results.

Organised by the 4As Sri Lanka, the third edition of Dragons of Sri Lanka shortlisted more than 50 agencies and corporates, making it one of the country’s most competitive marketing communications awards. These local awards, along with the chapters in Malaysia and Pakistan are part of the Dragons of Asia platform, one of the region’s leading programmes for marketing communications effectiveness, with entries being judged on strategy, originality, execution and measurable results.

Ogilvy Digital accounted for eight awards in total, including a Gold Dragon in the Business & Trade Marketing category, and a Silver Dragon in the Innovative Idea or Concept category. The Agency additionally received six Black Dragons across the categories of Innovative Idea or Concept, Business & Trade Marketing, Content Creation, Small Budget, Event or Experiential, and Brand Trial or Sales Generation.

Commenting on the achievement, Sajith Weerasinghe, Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy Digital, said, “These recognitions reflect the breadth of capabilities we’ve built across strategy, creative, content, experience design, technology and performance marketing. The fact that the work was recognised across so many different disciplines demonstrates our ability to apply creativity to a wide range of business challenges and objectives. We’re proud that this achievement spans multiple clients, categories and types of work, reflecting both the versatility of our people and our commitment to delivering results.”