Bharti Airtel Lanka dials in as Principal Sponsor of CHOGM Business Forum 2013

Wednesday, 2 October 2013 01:59 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Bharti Airtel Lanka, a leading telecommunications company in Sri Lanka, yesterday announced that the company pledged its support as a Principal Sponsor of the Commonwealth Business Forum 2013, which is scheduled to take place from 12-14 November in Colombo. The Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 summit will be a landmark event for Asia as it is hosted by an Asian country for the first time in 24 years. It is jointly organised by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth Business Council. This biennial event is a meeting point for the leaders of a diverse host of countries in the world to gather in a common platform and discuss global issues such as multi lateral trade matters, international peace and security, environmental issues, gender equality, health, human rights

and other political and socio-economic issues. The Commonwealth Business Forum 2013 (CBF), which is an integral and imperative component of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will focus on the development of some of the fastest growing economies through the theme ‘Partnering for Wealth Creation and Social Development: The Commonwealth, Indian Ocean and SAARC’. While from an international perspective, the CBF provides member counties an opportunity to collaborate and collectively influence global trade and investment issues, identify potential investment opportunities that prevail, acts as a platform for the respective government and business leaders to network with each other and conduct business partnerships with international partners, the forum also enables the host country to attract potential investment into the country, expose the investment potential of Sri Lanka to the region and rest of the world and pave the way for investment opportunities out of the country, globally. The CBF 2013, the biggest business event ever held in Sri Lanka will be officially inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. While over 12 Heads of Government are scheduled to address the event, over 1,000 delegates from 60 countries, six continents and 100 international business leaders are expected to speak at this forum. Commenting on this partnership, Bharti Airtel Lanka CEO/MD Suren Goonewardene stated: “It is a great privilege for Airtel Lanka to have the opportunity of sponsoring a landmark event such as the Commonwealth Business Forum. We believe that this forum is held at the right moment as the commonwealth countries can reap the benefits of bilateral co-operation of member states for economic development. As a long standing investor in Sri Lanka, Airtel Lanka believes that the time is opportune for our country to take a more active role in implementing development initiatives and strengthen the macroeconomic environment. “This forum is the ideal occasion for Sri Lanka to send out a clear message about its stable economic environment that would encourage international investors. We see the commonwealth countries are wielding greater influence over changing the landscape of the global economy. We expect this forum to provide a common 360 degrees platform for sharing strategies and discuss opportunities for wealth creation and social development which would lead to making a better impact on the global economy.” The Commonwealth Business Forum is expected to provide the ideal platform for macro level dialogue on investment and trade amongst both government and leaders representing the Commonwealth Countries. It is also expected to attract the most diverse business networking opportunity bringing together Heads of Government, ministers and eminent business leaders from around the world. The event will also bring together an array of investment opportunities along with potential investors, government bodies, global technology and knowledge based industries as well as a range of access opportunities in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, education, IT/BPO, renewable energy and infrastructure. Global investors such as Bharti Airtel which is a leading integrated telecommunications company and world’s third largest in-country mobile operator in the world has strategically placed their operations in Sri Lanka as a part of providing multilateral functional support to serve over 276 million customers across 20 countries in Asia and Africa.