Monday Dec 16, 2024
Monday Dec 16, 2024
Friday, 7 June 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Nepali billionaire and business tycoon, CG Corp Global Chairman Dr. Binod Chaudhary, whose business interests in Sri Lanka span a segment of pioneering leisure offerings, believes strongly that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his second term, will be able to usher in new developments not just for India but for the entire region.
Chaudhary who was invited to PM Modi’s swearing in ceremony held on 30 May at Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi, has always posited positive sentiments for the region, investing in eras of abject uncertainty as he did when he invested in Sri Lanka with the Taj Samudra during the war.
With Modi’s significantly larger mandate instilling immense confidence on his ability to accomplish not just his goals for India but for this South Asian region, Chaudhary believes Sri Lanka will benefit even more from this renewed leadership in India.
Looking back on the aftermath for the economy post the Easter attacks of April 2019, Chaudhary, who has always displayed immense love for Sri Lanka and continues to retain an infallible confidence in the country, recalls investing in Sri Lanka at a time when Colombo was akin to a war zone.
“Business was at an all-time ebb as was the economy. But I’ve always had a positive feeling about Sri Lanka and the friends I have from this country have nurtured that feeling in me. I know that the potential Sri Lanka has is just immense.”
He opines that he wasn’t wrong with his debut investment into the hospitality sector for CG Hospitality with the Taj Samudra back in 1998 and subsequent investments over the next 20 years, “and I’m not wrong about the next wave of growth the country will see in the months and years to come.”
Chaudhary, who heads more than 130 companies in diverse sectors, including financial services, energy, education, hospitality and real estate spanning 30 countries and four continents adds that he has always been excited about taking calculated risk.
“I was very optimistic when I brought CG Corp into Sri Lanka and I’ve been able to work with some very visionary partners from then on,” he says, citing Jetwing, Ceylon Hotels Corporations and Hatton Plantations.
CG Hospitality Lanka headed by Tilak de Zoysa now has five more properties under its portfolio of Ekho Zinc Journey, in addition to the partnership Chaudhary mooted with Jetwing Hotels. The Group currently holds a formidable portfolio of 125 hotels in 12 countries through 90 destinations and 6500 keys, pioneering cutting edge concepts across hotels, resorts, residences and spas in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
