Cinnamon Life Business Forum Series: Sharing ideas to shape competitive, dynamic city

A collaboration between Cinnamon Life, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and German Development Cooperation 

Sri Lanka’s real estate and property development has been the fastest growing sector, attracting foreign, domestic and private investments. Primarily in the city of Colombo, these investments are transforming the economy, and painting a new landscape for growth, jobs, and urban development. 

Cinnamon Life, in association with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and German Development Cooperation (GIZ), will host the Cinnamon Life Business Forum series, a sequence of thought leadership events, from 27 November onwards. The forum series will revolve around the central themes of economics, investment and international business. 

Each event in the series will feature a prominent internationally-renowned field expert who will deliver exclusive insights and innovative ideas that will inspire and inform the country’s top business audiences. Whilst serving as a platform to generate discussion, for the larger stakeholder and corporate communities and the general public, the series will shed light on how real estate and property development is set to elevate Colombo’s competitiveness as a top city in the region, while bringing in leading professionals and renowned experts to Sri Lanka. 

Leading the first event of the series will be Andreas Krüger, a globally recognised thought leader, who currently serves as the Managing Partner of Belius GmbH, Berlin. Andreas works with his team at Belius, a Berlin based strategic consultancy, which supports policy makers, urban administrations, property owners and investors, users as well as civic initiatives. His team helps them in their efforts to create and maintain human centred, liveable, relevant and economically feasible spaces. Additionally, Andreas specialises in curating urban residences and developments for cultural, retail and commercial as well as residential use. 

Commenting on the Cinnamon Life Business Forum series that is set to take place later this month, Cinnamon Life Chief Marketing Officer Roshanie Jayasundera-Moraes  said: “This initiative is designed to serve as a voice for thought leadership and innovation in Sri Lanka.  Cinnamon Life in itself is one of the largest investments to be made by a Sri Lankan corporate in the post-war era, hence it is not always easy for stakeholders who aren’t directly involved in the development to imagine or conceptualise the full influence and impact of a mixed development of this magnitude. Through the Cinnamon Life Business Forum series, we hope to bring to light and quantify the positive impact that the real estate industry will have on the overall city’s transformation, whilst garnering larger national and international awareness.”

Talking about the relevance of the Cinnamon Life Business Forum RandaKourieh-Ranarivelo, GIZ Country Director in Sri Lanka, explained that, “Berlin is currently one of the most talked about creative cities in Europe, if not worldwide. Among its many urban qualities it is the ability to mediate between the public and private interests that is the most profound in my opinion. This aptitude, which connects people, businesses, culture and creativity, is what creates today’s Berlin. The city is also elaborately mixing culture, creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit for economic growth. It has become a hotbed for creative industries in Europe and hosts more than 30,000 companies that work in the creative economy. As the German Development Cooperation it’s our pleasure to introduce Andreas Krüger for the Cinnamon Life Business Forum Series, as one of the early champions of Berlin’s profound transformation after the Fall of the Wall. He has been at the pulse of the city’s transformation into a liveable, creative and cosmopolitan city. We strongly believe that such exchanges with urban hotspots such as Berlin, will have a positive influence on the many urban transformation projects ahead in Sri Lanka. 

Cinnamon Life is an integrated development by Sri Lanka’s premier listed conglomerate, the John Keells Group. Upon completion, the project will comprise of an 800-roomed luxury hotel that will operate as part of the Cinnamon chain, an array of entertainment facilities, apartments, retail and entertainment malls, office spaces, and many other attractions. 

The development’s iconic design by Cecil Balmond will span across 4.5 million square feet and is envisioned to be the epicentre of modern South Asia. 

Designed to be the first multi-functional development of its kind in the country, and a city within a city, Cinnamon Life is set to strengthen Colombo’s position as a travel, lifestyle and entertainment hotspot in the Indian Subcontinent.