Making earthenware had been the bread and butter or sole livelihood of some villagers and stacks of finely crafted pottery neatly arranged in stockpiles outside their houses was a common sight in rural Sri Lanka for centuries.
This rich heritage and traditional craftsmanship have immensely influenced the distinctive designs and exquisite elegance of ceramic products, especially ornamental ceramicware, made in Sri Lanka.
High quality of raw materials such as red clay, kaolin feldspar, ball clay and silica quartz are available in the country in abundance. This has also contributed to the high standards of Sri Lanka’s ceramic products.
But the process of making ornamental ceramicware involves a great deal of effort and a multitude of the craft’s techniques has been applied to making a diverse range of items which are both attractive to the eye and have practical uses.
A Sri Lankan has emerged as the largest manufacturer and exporter of ornamental ceramicware in the South Asian region through his sheer perseverance and fortitude, supplying major global players such as Tchibo GmbH, H&M Home, Gilde-Handwerk, Pier 1, Country Baskets UK and Home Centre to name a few.
His factory is the largest factory producing ornamental ceramicware in the region, spanning over seven acres and using the most modern technology. It is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka. The company has the rare honour of creating more than 5,000 designs for the past 29 years of its existence.
This entrepreneur succeeded in taking the industry to greater heights by transcending traditional practices while retaining and ensuring high-quality craftsmanship. His willingness to take up challenges in the face of various obstacles is an example to budding entrepreneurs.
Chairman/Managing Director of Art Decoration International Company S.H. Bandula Karunaratne says that he is the one and only decorative ceramicware manufacturer in the country targeting overseas markets, especially in Europe, USA, Scandinavian countries and the Middle East.
He adds that second industrial revolution in Sri Lanka is inevitable if the vision of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is implemented as enshrined in his election manifesto ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ with import restrictions on goods that can easily be produced locally.
He notes that local industrialists will start producing all goods imported by the country locally, if the economic policy of the present government continues for the next four years.
Presently, our country has only 230,000 entrepreneurs which is just one percent of our total population, but the recognized norm around the world is that a country should have entrepreneurs among at least 10 percent of its population.
In Vietnam, 16 percent of its population are entrepreneurs while Thailand has 27 percent and India and China have 11 percent each. He said that the lack of vision among political leaders has resulted in very few entrepreneurs in the country.
Karunaratne hoped that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will focus on this area too. Karunaratne who started his empire from scratch said that his burning desire gave him immense opportunities to become an exporter and any person with sheer dedication and positive attitude can succeed.
“Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had utmost faith in the domestic economy through empowering local industries. She established many industries including Ceylon Steel Corporation, National Paper Mill, Ceylon Ceramics Corporation, Ceylon Glass and Plywood Corporation, Timber Corporation and Sugar Corporation,” he said.
Karunaratne said that all these industries were later sold for a song by those who lacked confidence in an economy based on domestic industries and the country had to depend on imports.
“Heavy machinery at Ceylon Ceramics Corporation factories in Piliyandala, Negombo and Balangoda were sold for scrap and the lands were also partitioned and given away to political lackeys,” he said.
He is of the view that imports of goods and consumer items cannot be banned completely as the country is bound by various trade agreements. “The Government can ensure fair trading by imposing a cess on imports with the objective of safeguarding the local industrialists.”
He suggests that at least Rs. 100 per kilo of sanitaryware and tiles to be introduced as a cess in order to eliminate various types of manipulations by the importers.
Karunaratne exports ornamental ceramic items to 47 countries bringing more than 60 percent of foreign exchange to the country from the ornamental ceramic sector. “In other words, we bring seven percent of foreign exchange to the country in the total ceramic and porcelain industry of Sri Lanka,” he said.
The global interior decoration, gift, tile and porcelain market is valued at US$ 133 billion and China has secured a US$ 11 billion market share in the ornamental segment alone.
“We are hiring the world’s best designers and craftsmen who have had thorough experience in the field. A group of well experienced craftsmen who had been in the now defunct Ceylon Ceramics Corporation are also employed here.”
“This industry survives in the country due to these well-experienced hands and their children who are equally talented in manufacturing high-quality ceramicware,” he said
Karunaratne who runs his factory at Bandaragama in his own style without exerting unnecessary pressure on his staff said that not a single employee in the company has been sacked under his stewardship.
His unwavering commitment with a dedicated staff has also become an integral part of the recipe for success.
 Porcelain vases
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He said that the employees have been guaranteed all the facilities and a salary much above the industry average. “The Company has never issued warning letters to the employees. After all, we don’t even have a Human Resources Department,” he said.
He is a positive leader who has placed immense confidence in the employees and given them as much power and self-determination as possible.
Karunaratne has never given orders to them, but provided guidance and resources necessary for his employees to do their best which is associated with a high degree of creativity and precision.
He recollected how he ran to a bank to apply for a loan, after a buyer from Holland expressed his wish to place an order worth US$ 0.5 million for his products during an exhibition held in Colombo.
“The company is now represented at the Frankfurt fair in Germany, the largest trade fair in the world, twice a year and over 100 new designs are on display at this fair every year,” he said.
This entrepreneur who was a Quality Controller and Research Development Manager at a multinational company started dreaming to become an exporter after he attended a funeral in Colombo 07.
“When I went to that funeral house in the late 1980s, former President J.R. Jayewardene was also there. I was wondering why he was there. Soon I came to know that the incumbent President was in attendance because my boss was an exporter.”
Karunaratne said that his mind started dreaming to become an exporter from that day. “My journey of becoming an exporter started with ardour, humility, and dignity. When I decided to be an exporter, I never really quite understood what it meant. I would not have predicted the amazing height that I would ascend in the field,” he said.
“A German buyer, Peter Zuran who was with me at this multinational company told me that there was a huge demand for terracotta products in Germany and so I started exporting decorative terracotta products (red clay) initially.
He started his export business in a small hut behind his house where only four persons including his wife were working and the first order worth US$ 7,000 came from Germany in 1992.
“We constantly keep an eye on the changes taking placing in the decorative ceramicware market in terms of demand and adjust our strategies to meet this ever-changing demand,” he explained.
The international ceramic market has been changing from terracotta to glaze, mat and crackling glaze ceramic from time to time according to the requirement of the customers.
Karunaratne laments that many people do not have an idea on how to plan their future. He said that people who always think how poor they are and how difficult are their lives will stay in the same situation.
He said that thoughts can make positive changes in life and earn more money and improve standards of living. He is worried about the lack of a proper mechanism to safeguard raw material deposits in the country used for the industry.
“I hope State Minister of Cane, Brass, Clay, Furniture and Rural Industry Promotion Prasanna Ranaweera who is very enthusiastic in promoting this industry will look into this issue seriously,” Karunaratne said.
The company is also manufacturing bath-ware targeting middle and upper middle class families in the country. He said the ceramic bath-ware industry has recorded a tremendous success with the Government’s decision to restrict imports to the country.
“This industry is thriving after the Government decision to curb imports and the industry is ready to fulfill the domestic demand completely, if government gives us a time to expand our capacities,” he said.
The company is ready to make an investment to the tune of Rs. 1.5 billion to Rs. 2 billion in the field to fulfill 50 percent of the ceramic sanitary and bath-ware requirement of the country believing that the present Government’s policy on imports would not change within the next four years.
“I am confident that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s policy to promote and safeguard local industrialists and restrict imports would continue for the next four years at least,” he said. He added that local industries such as his hinge on the government’s economic policies.
“The geological position of our country is a great advantage for our industry as many ships going around the world are berthed at the Colombo Port. This situation has helped us to ship our products to Europe easily with reasonable freight rates,” he said
The company has received various accolades including ISO 9001-2015 standards certification, Presidential Gold Awards for Export 2006, National Business Excellence Award 2006, CNCI Achiever of Industrial Excellence 2008 to name a few.
He is also blessed with three children all of them professionals in various fields. His youngest son, Charman Dilanga Karunaratne who is a lawyer and an economist is also a director of the company.
This amazing personality who has been rendering enormous service to the country by bringing foreign exchange in millions and uplifting the living standards of hundreds of employees says that Sri Lanka is blessed with immense possibilities and people with the right mind can tap them to benefit the nation.
