The Northern Investment Summit and Jaffna Trade Fair – A review

By the Harmony Page Team

January was a more than a usual busy month in this newly dawned year; 2026 for Jaffna which generally comes alive with one of the biggest trade fairs in the country – the Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF).  

Organised by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (LECS) in association with the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yalpanam (CCIY), to date it has been one of the best post 2009 events for Jaffna to showcase its entrepreneurship and industry. For the past 16 years this has been the only large-scale event for the North to get exposed to a wide scale of local and international creativity as well as expertise in a range of sectors.  This year, the 16th edition of the JITF was held as usual at the Muttraweli Grounds from January 23 to 25 giving space to over 400 stalls representing industries, including construction, agriculture, ICT, and automobiles.

According to the statistics over 200 companies participated in the event with around 5,000 business delegates which included international participation.

As next year marks the 17th edition of the JITF, we would like to propose that it at least loosely ties up with the 2027 version of the Northern Investment Summit.

The Northern Investment Summit held at the Jaffna Cultural Centre was the first of its kind in the North initiated and managed by individuals such as Indrah Kaushal Rajapaksa, Anu Rakavan,  V. Niranjan, Nishanthan Karunairaj and Shanthi Bhagirathan. 

The first mooting point that got this iconic event started was when Manager of the Technology Transfer Office of Jaffna University  Anu Rakavan who also is at the helm of the Jaffna Management Club quipped to Indrah Kaushal Rajapaksa, a renowned business leader in the country, to initiate an investment gaining event in the North. The duo then got to work routing the idea into action from The Management Club, of  which Indhra Kaushal Rajapaksa was  last year appointed as the new President of the Board of Management and where Anu Rakavan is the current chairman of the Jaffna Chapter of TMC.  

The event soon reached the attention of the current policy makers and received the support of the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development. The two day event was subsequently held on 21 to 22 January at the Jaffna Cultural Centre inaugurated by Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Sunil Handunnetti who attended the inaugural session along with the Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar, Prime Minister’s Secretary G. A. Saputhanthri, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, Indian Consul General in Jaffna Sai Murali, Northern Province Governor N. Vedanayahan and other officials,

Several state institutions including the Board of Investment, Export Development Board, Tourism Promotion Bureau, National Enterprise Development Authority, and the Northern Provincial Council participated in the summit, alongside representatives from foreign missions and private sector stakeholders. Here we would like to mention that Sri Lanka is known for doing many great things but separately and that there is a great potential to change this model and for the JITF organisers who created the pioneering industry linkage for Jaffna with the rest of the country and the world, to be pitched as partners  or guests at the 2027 Investment Summit.

 The Investment Summit which received noteworthy support from India and as Indrah puts it  'is worthy of a great neighbour', can be further strengthened in regional exposure if it has a collaboration of sorts with the JITF.

According to the organisers of the Investment Summit several Sri Lankan diplomats in foreign countries contributed to the event being a success by creating awareness about the event within the countries they represent. 

One such diplomat was Dr. Ganesanathan Geathiswaran, Deputy High Commissioner of  Sri Lanka based in Chennai, India. He had reportedly exceeded his official duties by investing in personalised enthusiasm to find investors from India to boost business development in his home country Sri Lanka.

We were  unable to contact him for this week but we have learnt that he has pledged to get a significant number of investors from India and we wish to ask him how this would assist the youth entrepreneurs of the North who find it hard to secure investment for startups.

So, what is the collective significance of the two events in question – The Jaffna Trade Fair and the Northern Investment Summit ; which together could create a landmark change in how the Northern region is seen in the rest of Sri Lanka in terms of investment potential and in the globe at large. This would mean in a Lankan context especially that the unity  of the country would be further complemented when the region breaks the decades of suspicion caused by the thirty year long civil war and recognises Southern investment as a complimentary factor and not a threat. At this inaugural phase of the event a notable feature was the presence of those from sectors such as golf – with proposals to bring this activity to the North and linking  it with leisure tourism.

“This is not a one-off event as everyone knows by now. This investment summit was started so that it would run a very long marathon. There is by now an unprecedented amount of interest from  Southern investors and I will be able to provide a proper update soon,” Indrah Kaushal Rajapaksa stated when we followed up with him on the actual results gained from the event.

A noteworthy aspect was the focus on renewable energy and community tourism which were key highlights.

In a divided country the Investment Summit has a great potential to bring the young generations (between age 19 and 35) of entrepreneurs of all communities of Sri Lanka together. The old fears and prejudices that prevented Southern investment in the North could end with the Northern Investment Summit acting as a catalyst.

If this event ties up with the JITF and other ventures that may be planned, even in a marginal manner, it would enhance the momentum of the shared objective of boosting the visibility of Jaffna, the North  and thereby Sri Lanka as a whole.