Both a political activist and a corporate and media personality, Krishantha Prasad Cooray is not known to mince words and is quite forthright. Wearing multiple hats as Chairman of Hotel Developers (Lanka) Plc, which owns Hilton Colombo and Independent Non-Executive Director at DFCC Bank as well as a Working Committee member of the ruling coalition party UNP. The Daily FT sat with Krishantha to get a frank personal assessment of the country’s current status of governance and the political economy as well as business. Here are excerpts:
By Nisthar Cassim-Thursday, 9 March 2017
Q: The IMF has urged the Government to embark on privatising State enterprises. Among the institutions mentioned in news reports is Hilton Colombo. Are there moves to sell Hilton Colombo?
A: Decisions around the ownership of State enterprises are policy matters for the Government. The Board and I are focused on making sure that the institution under our purview does well. My priority is to do justice to a global brand, and build on an excellent reputation and track-record. We support and coordinate with the management company to keep motivating an excellent staff to maintain and improve standards of service, and taking cognisance of realities and meeting challenges with innovative strategies.
Q: The IMF has urged the Government to embark on privatising State enterprises. Among the institutions mentioned in news reports is Hilton Colombo. Are there moves to sell Hilton Colombo?
A: Decisions around the ownership of State enterprises are policy matters for the Government. The Board and I are focused on making sure that the institution under our purview does well. My priority is to do justice to a global brand, and build on an excellent reputation and track-record. We support and coordinate with the management company to keep motivating an excellent staff to maintain and improve standards of service, and taking cognisance of realities and meeting challenges with innovative strategies.