“This is a new beginning, an opportunity to stem the brain drain by attracting companies at the highest end of the value chain like aerospace, automation and performance materials. This is a company that overwhelmingly employs scientists, Research and Development (R&D) specialists, high-end IT professionals and would be a boon to our workforce,We had a good discussion, covering issues such as the ease of doing business here, taxation and labour laws,”

What did cote discuss with Eran? – Fortune 100 company Chairman’s surprise visit to Sri Lanka

With the establishment of the new government and the fall of the former regime, prospects of larger, more frequent foreign direct investments, especially from the West to the country’s economy have long been awaited. The wait might not be too long however, as it seems the CEO of a Fortune 100 company made a surprise visit to the island earlier this month.
One of the highest profile CEOs in the United States of America, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell Corporation, David M. Cote, made an unexpected visit to Sri Lanka last week (Saturday 9) and met the Minister of Highways and Investment Promotion, Eran Wickremaratne.

Cote, who had arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport in his private jet had just finished a short stint in India, where the company has had a significant presence, from as way back as the 1930s.
Honeywell Corporation is a diverse US$79 billion company, with expertise in Aerospace, Automation and Control Systems, Computing and Performance Materials and Technologies.

“We are very pleased that a global high-tech company in the stature of Honeywell is seriously considering us which is a testament to the new found confidence in Sri Lanka,” Deputy Minister Wickremaratne said adding that this was the first time that a top-level advanced manufacturing and high-tech company was looking at investing in Sri Lanka.
According to Minister Wickremeratne, Cote who arrived with a high level delegation from the corporation, which included one of the company’s Senior Vice Presidents and its President of Indian Operations, Anant Maheshwary had noted Sri Lanka’s resurgence and was particularly interested in advanced manufacturing and the IT sector.

CEO of the Year

Chairman and CEO David Cote is one of the most highly-regarded business leaders in the U.S., having won the CEO of the Year from the Chief Executive Magazine in 2013. Cote was named Co-chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum by President Barack Obama in 2009 and has served on the Forum since July 2005. He is also a Board member of the prestigious New York Federal Reserve.
During Cote’s dozen years of leadership at Honeywell, the company has delivered strong growth in sales, earnings per share, segment profit, cash flow and a total shareowner return of 400 p.c. Honeywell has great positions in good industries and technologies that address some of the world’s toughest challenges such as safety and security, clean energy generation, energy efficiency, customer productivity and globalization.

“This is a new beginning, an opportunity to stem the brain drain by attracting companies at the highest end of the value chain like aerospace, automation and performance materials. This is a company that overwhelmingly employs scientists, Research and Development (R&D) specialists, high-end IT professionals and would be a boon to our workforce,” Minister Wickramaratne added.
He pointed out that the company which already employs over 12,500 in India was attracted to Sri Lanka following positive political and economic developments here. “We had a good discussion, covering issues such as the ease of doing business here, taxation and labour laws,” Minister Wickramaratne said.

Headquartered in Morris Township, New Jersey, the Honeywell Corporation is a multinational conglomerate specializing in Aerospace Advancements, Automation Smart Technology and Control Solutions, Cutting-Edge Performance Materials and Technologies and even deals with Efficient Transportation systems With more than 127,000 employees worldwide, including more than 22,000 engineers and scientists, Honeywell was placed 77 in the Fortune 100 rankings and has also been awarded prestigious recognitions such as being on the Fortunes list of World’s Most Admired Companies from 2008 – 2015, Best in Sector – Diversified Industrials and Best Financial Reporting 2014 by IR Magazine and distinguished as one of the ‘Most Ethical Companies’ in 2013 by Ethisphere.com Operating throughout the world, more than 50 percent of the company’s sales are from outside the United States, making Honeywell a truly global enterprise.

Honeywell’s presence in India

Honeywell’s presence in neighbouring India dates back to the 1930s, when refining technology from Honeywell’s UOP group was commissioned in India’s very first refinery in the State of Assam. Today, with more than 12,000 employees, Honeywell operates state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing facilities in Pune, Guragon, Chennai and Dehradun.
Similarly, since 1935, China has been critical to Honeywell’s global venture, with around 12,000 employees located in 20 cities, including five major technology centres in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing and Chongqing with more than 1,400 scientists and engineers focused on Research and Development, Engineering and Design. In Africa, the presence of Honeywell was emphasized even as recently as last Wednesday (13) when UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced that its process technology, catalysts and proprietary equipment will form the basis for the largest refinery in Africa, reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuels and petrochemicals.

Also privy to the discussions held at the Ministry Headquarters, situated in the World Trade Centre, were Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI), Upul Jayasuriya and Executive Directors Duminda Ariyasinghe and Renuka Weerakone.
Speaking to Ceylon Today, BOI President Upul Jayasuriya said that the Honeywell team’s surprise fact-finding mission had had a positive note to it.

“The delegation was quite keen about our IT sector and textile industry. They inquired into details such as our IT graduates output, technical proficiency and what our labour laws and wages were like. They seemed genuinely interested.”
When Ceylon Today queried as to how optimistic the BOI was pertaining to investments from Honeywell, Jayasuriya opined that CEO David Cote seemed to have been impressed by the developments in the island adding that investments from a Fortune 100 Company would also provide employment for an array of sectors.
Meanwhile BOI Executive Director, Renuka Weerakoon who also attended the meeting told Ceylon Today, “We are confident that they (Honeywell Co,) will return, hopefully this year, with large-scale investment proposals.”
The unanticipated visit by Cote and his high powered team is in the wake of the visit by United States Secretary of State John Kerry who came on a two-day official trip, earlier in the same week.

Among the issues discussed by Kerry was entering into Trans Pacific Partnership talks with Sri Lanka.According to Minister Wickramaratne, the US has been using the TPP mechanism to build stronger economic relations with key allies in the region adding that under the TPP, Sri Lankan exporters would gain significant duty concessions to the US market.Considering Honeywell’s specialized diversity in the various sectors and its obvious abundance in resources; its aim to advance its growth globally would bring much needed FDI to the island’s economy.