Big draw for Commonwealth Business Forum in SL: Dr. Kaul
Thursday, 10 October 2013 00:00
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By Cheranka Mendis
Sri Lanka can now expect to welcome over 500 foreign delegates from 65 countries for the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) to be held in Colombo from 12-14 November in conjunction with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The 500 from abroad will form the biggest ever business gathering in Sri Lanka of 1,000 delegates at the CBF, the premier business event in the Commonwealth. It will bring together thought leaders from across the world, such as heads of government, ministers and top business leaders.
The number of foreign delegates will equal the number of local delegates, Commonwealth Business Council Chairman Dr. Mohan Kaul said yesterday, confirming that the largest delegation will hail from Sri Lanka’s traditional trade partner, the UK.
Confirmed delegates represent both Commonwealth as well as non-Commonwealth countries.
“There will be business leaders from China, Canada, Australia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and a number of Middle Eastern and African countries. We expect a very large and successful event and hope that apart from the business leaders addressing the forum, there will be one-to-one business meetings between businessmen here and aboard as well,” Dr. Kaul said.
Addressing the media at a briefing held at the External Affairs Ministry yesterday, Kaul noted that the Council is actively pushing large scale investment proposals from Sri Lanka from the private sector as well as the Government to the visiting business leaders. Already, a few investment proposals have been given to the Government in areas of airport, energy and power, tourism and manufacturing.
“We are focusing keenly on investment proposals and projects so that by end of the CBF and CHOGM, we will have information on what investment is coming to the country and how the projects will take place.”
The idea is to focus attention on Sri Lanka as an international hub, making use of the country’s natural strengths such as the geographical location, human resources, stability in the country, trade agreements with other countries in the region, etc.
Many of the heads of governments are also bringing their own investment proposals to promote them with local business leaders to spark corporate relationships as public-private partnerships.
“There is a lot of expectation,” he assured, “Our aim is to promote Sri Lanka as a destination for investment and to promote Sri Lankan expertise and trade links. We hope that CBF and CHOGM will not only be good political events but also bring economic benefits to the country.”
He noted that for Malta, the host of CHOGM 2005, FDI increased three-fold post CHOGM. “I can assure you that the effects of CHOGM and business forum will be seen over the next couple of years and flow accordingly.”
Noting confidence over expression of interest on the investment proposals that are being promoted as part of the event, Kaul assured that even though it would take time for the billion dollar projects to be implemented, it would certainly happen. The attention given by the media as well as the business delegates coming to the country will act as catalysts to encourage more businessmen to try out Sri Lanka. “Business people come in herds; as soon as they are confident, they will all come.”
The Council is also working closely with Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Investment and has had several discussions with the chambers as well.
The responsibility of selecting the local business community to attend the CBF has been handed over to the seven chambers while the council has agreed to give free admission to 50 small and medium businesses to attend and reap benefits from the forum. The chambers have thus far chosen 54 small and medium businesses, he said. Such measures would ensure that it is not only big businesses in the room, Kaul expressed, but a cross-section of the business community. “We have entrepreneurs from India and UK who will be talking about the opportunities across the world. We hope there will be good networking at the forum.”
Kaul expressed: “Our aims is to look at the business, investment and trade angles. We are happy to say that so far we have had a tremendous response from across the Commonwealth and outside the Commonwealth as well. As the business forum is not an official event, we are having ministers from non-Commonwealth countries and business delegations partaking as well. They have responded well to the invitation.”
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris noted that the Government will take the CBF as an opportunity to showcase Sri Lanka at its best, not only in Colombo but in the outskirts as well. While the meetings with heads of government and Business Council will be held in Colombo, the People’s Forum has been organised in Hikkaduwa and the Youth Forum in Hambantota, along with the final session. “President Mahinda Rajapaksa will attend the final session together with other heads of government and business leaders,” Prof. Peiris said.
Explaining further, he noted: “We want to ensure that the high level dignitaries who will be visiting Sri Lanka will have the opportunity to see much more than the capital city and have made arrangements to enable them to visit different parts of the country through the program.”
The central theme of the CBF will be economic development with social equity, Peiris revealed. A relevant theme with practical importance to many countries, particularly for those in the developing world, the forum will touch on what economic development should mean, how it should reflect itself in everyday lives of the people and what steps are needed to accomplish this objective.
“From the very start President Mahinda Rajapaksa was determined to ensure that the topic chosen is a useful one, not limited to theoretical discussion; something that would be meaningful to the ordinary citizens of the country.”
