Invest Sri Lanka forum kicks off today in Mumbai

Thursday, 21 February 2013 00:52 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Invest Sri Lanka, a groundbreaking investor forum, will be held today at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai as part of a major push to woo Indian interests in to the capital market.

Organised by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in partnership with Bloomberg, the forum comprises a formal session involving top speakers and separate business meetings by Lankan companies and broking community. Over 100 fund managers based in Mumbai have registered their participation.

Apart from showcasing the vast potential in investing in the overall capital markets in post-war Sri Lanka, nine companies will also promote portfolio investment into their listed equities and debt.

The-S&P SL 20 Index constituent nine companies are John Keells Holdings, Hayleys, Carson Cumberbatch, Dialog, Commercial Bank, HNB, DFCC, NDB and Access Engineering. These companies will be represented at Chairman, CEO or senior management executive level during the forum.

Around 20 Sri Lankan broking firms will be participating as well.

Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal will make the keynote address whilst there will be presentations by SEC Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, CSE Chairman Krishan Balendra, CSE Director Vajira Kulathilaka on Government and Corporate Debt followed by a Question and Answer Session. Prasad Kariyawasam, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India, Afghanistan and Bhutan will also speak. The nine companies will also make short presentations.

Mumbai was selected as venue for the fresh initiative by the CSE given the large presence of foreign funds as well as high net worth Indian investors.

Mumbai is also the financial and investment capital of India. Bloomberg has a growing presence in Mumbai and is expected to draw a good mix of institutional and individual investors.

According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) data, India last year attracted $ 24.4 billion net foreign investments into its equities, marking it the second best year after having lured $ 29 billion in 2010. As of January, the number of registered Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in India stood at 1,760 and the total number of sub-accounts was 6,357.

The CSE last year attracted a record Rs. 39 billion in net foreign inflows after two years of outflows whilst so far this year, the net outflow is Rs. 1 billion. As opposed to negative returns during the past two years, the Colombo Bourse is up over 3%.