Echelon Magazine - May 2024

In this issue

Cat and Mouse, Chickens and Kingmakers
It would be naïve to take political diatribes seriously. However, the ongoing posturing between the two leading contenders for the Presidency and the Parliamentary majority, the NPP and SJB, over dates for a debate and who debates whom is irritatingly worrying.
The NPP leader - and Presidential aspirant - Anura Kumara Dissanayake is rearing for a debate with fellow aspirant and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa. The two leaders cannot agree on a date, and both are haggling it out cat and mouse-style in the press!
Daring and egging each other, suggesting one or the other is chicken. On the other hand, the SJB are keen that its panel of experts on economic policy be allowed to confront the coterie of experts informing the NPP strategy.
We infer two things from this mundane but reverting exchange between the NPP and SJB - and pardon us for stating the obvious. First, the consensus among business leaders, professionals and policy experts who have engaged with the two leaders becomes very evident. One exudes a firm grip on the economic malaise but marches to a different ideological drum. The other exudes an inferiority complex, is pretentious, and relies on a solid team of experts responsible for any clarity or semblance of a plan. Second, the most worrying conclusion from the posturing over dates and who debates who is that the NPP and SJB will likely continue the tradition of a factious and fractious parliament pushing the executive towards the ineffectual or autocratic.
For now, we can draw comfort that all the palaver and ruction over dates and debates, egregious as it may be, is just politics. When the time comes, after all, the choice is always ours.
They have clamoured for elections and a citizen mandate to deal with the economic crisis. When they get it, will they respect and abide by it from whichever side of the aisle citizens place them? Incidentally, would the Pohottuwa-clan become king-makers?

Echelon Magazine Description:

Intelligent Storytelling

The one thing that will define the Echelon magazine will be the quality of the storytelling. Echelon,published monthly, will cover in depth Sri Lanka’s most successful businesses, examine their winning strategiesand profile their leaders in immersive stories. Great stories are also never limited to words, and our approach includes rich photography, bold graphics and leading edge design which together will make for a compelling read.

But business doesn’t start and end in a boardroom;it extends to the golf club greens, to international travel and to pursuits that blurthe lines between commercial venture and sheer passion. The Echelon team will present the best in business and lifestyle coverage that will appeal to an exclusive and affluent readership: an otherwise hard to reach demographic.

Content will be developed by one of the most experienced and proven teams of editors, financial journalists, photographers and designers in the country.This team has already raised the bar for powerful and expertly crafted business news. Shamindra Kulamannage, will lead the editorial team.

The reputation of Echelon is being built on the separation between editorial and advertising. However we are also looking for the most creative and impactful new formats that can be applied in our magazines, iPad app as well as website to help our clients reach our audience. We are flexible and creative and we will have a solution for every single advertiser who wants to reach our audience.

We are passionate about creative results and about working with our advertisers to help them create bespoke multi platform creative solutions with our in house creative team and of course our sales team.

Echelon will be a great place to show off the products and capabilities of our clients because they will be surrounded by an editorial product that is expertly crafted, full of integrity and intelligence.