Colombo International Logistics Conference to kick-start this week

The first ever Colombo International Logistics Conference (CILC) will be launched on Wednesday in line with the 40th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). Over 400 delegates and speakers will grace the occasion and will be joined by international and national speakers along with foreign delegates from number of countries.

The conference will have 12 major sessions over a two-day period with over 50 speakers discussing different global, regional and local aspects of the logistics industry which act as an enabler for trade growth, especially with new challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and the global e commerce trends.  

The pre-inaugural sessions of the conference will cover the Sri Lanka ports sector and its relevance to the global logistics industry as the country is considered a global geographic hotspot for connectivity and shipping. Delegates will also visit port of Colombo and Port of Hambantota which are optional tours offered to the conference participants over a period of three days.

For the first time over 130 university students who are studying logistics from five State universities have been sponsored by industry and individuals to take part in this first ever logistics conference to give them an exposure to the global industry leaders and understand the global perspective and meet with the business community directly involved with the logistics industry both as service users and providers.

CILC Organising Committee Chairman Rohan Masakorala said that CIMC events have done many international maritime and logistics conferences since 2015 and have had events held in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh prior to this first dedicated logistics conference in Colombo this year. The business of logistics is a spectrum of activities that supports international trade and plays a major role in global economic growth and employment creation.  

With new technologies coming into the industry with digitalisation, robotics and artificial intelligence along with changing consumer patterns the logistics industry too is transforming and evolving fast. The skills and knowledge tools to survive in the business and to be competitive is also changing and the CILC will discuss all these, said Masakorala.

This conference is the first major MICE event that will take place in Colombo after the unfortunate incidents that took place in the early part of the year in Sri Lanka. The event will boost the confidence of the country and its image internationally and help investors to understand more about opportunities in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka and many State and private institutions have come forward to support the event to make it a great success. The event program can be downloaded from www.cimc.lk.