Friday May 17, 2024
Friday May 17, 2024
Friday, 14 August 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Seated from left: Tan Beng Chuan – Vice President, Rohitha Mendis – Immediate Past President, Prajeeth Balasubramaniam – President, Janaka Gunasekera - Vice President, and Shiluka Gunawardena - Vice President. Standing from left: Aitken Spence Cargo Vice President Jerome Brohier, Kalhari Enterprises Chairman/Group Managing Director Indhra Kaushal Rajapaksa, Overseas Realty (Ceylon) Head of Leasing Kumi Miranda, MAC Holdings Chief Financial Officer Tilak Gunawardana, Spear International Chairman/Managing Director Shamil Mendis, Sudath Perera Associates Partner Dushyantha Perera, Tengri Aero Industries Chairman Eric Wikramanayake, and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Manager (Business Councils) Dinithi Dias
The 23rd Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council (SLSBC) of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held on 23 July via Zoom. The SLSBC was inaugurated in 1997 under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with the objective of promoting trade, investments, tourism and services between Sri Lanka and Singapore.
BOVCapital Ltd. Managing Partner Prajeeth Balasubramaniam, was elected as the President of the Council for the year 2020-2021. A Baur & Company Limited Deputy Managing Director (Agri Inputs) Janaka Gunasekara, Prima Ceylon Ltd. Group General Manager Tan Beng Chuan, and KPMG Partner Shiluka Gunawardena were elected as Vice Presidents of the Council.
In his address, Balasubramaniam mentioned that in the last 2 years, under the able leadership of Rohitha Mendis, the council moved with a greater vigour. He further mentioned that the benchmark keeps improving each year and the council hopes to continue this trend. Despite the many obstacles, the council will continue to have events via webinars, focusing on sectors in line with the country’s needs. “The partnerships we already have with the Singapore Manufacturer’s Association, The Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Singapore Business Federation, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will help boost the bilateral trade and meet the objectives,” he added. In addition, SLSBC works very closely with Enterprise Singapore, which is the Government body promoting Singapore companies to venture out.
Under the new leadership of the Council, the first webinar was held on 27 July to celebrate the 50 years of diplomatic partnership with Singapore and Sri Lanka, under the topic of “Food and Digitalization - Accelerated Key Trends Driving the Growth in Sri Lanka”. Topics covered during the webinar included digitalization of businesses, food supply resilience in Singapore and food security. At the webinar, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore Sashikala Premawardhane said that food security was among the areas in which the two countries could deepen cooperation. According to the Sri Lanka High Commission, the total bilateral trade last year was valued at $ 883 million (S$ 1.21 billion) with Sri Lankan exports valued at $115 million. In line with it, the council along with the help of EDB has identified a few industries that they could help boost, and will form subcommittees for each sector. General members of the council with expertise in each area will be invited to join the subcommittee. The identified sectors are: agriculture, healthcare, startups, logistics, finance, education, plastic and rubber, and gems and jewellery.
Aitken Spence Cargo Ltd., Kalhari Enterprises, MAC Holdings Ltd., Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, Spear International Ltd., Sudath Perera Associates, Tengri Aero Industries Ltd. were elected from the membership to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council.
Further details regarding membership of the Council could be obtained from the Secretariat of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, No. 50, Navam Mawatha, Colombo 2. E-mail: [email protected] or Tel.: 011-5588861, 5588800.
