Sri Lanka-Korea Business Council holds 23rd AGM

Seated from left: Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, South Korean Ambassador Won-sam Chang, President Mahen Kariyawasan from Andrew the Travel Company Ltd, Patali Karunarathne from the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Alpha Tours Ltd. Vice President Priyantha Mendis and Immediate Past President Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala. Standing from left: Access International Projects Ltd. Committee Member Sampath Surin, Southern Tea Producers Ltd. Committee Member K.D.L. Chamara Udugama, Vaughan Chemicals Ltd. Committee Member Godwin Perera, South Lighting Lanka Ltd. Committee Member S.C. Byun, Hayleys  Exports Plc Committee Member Thideema Perera, Abans Plc Committee Member K. Kunendran, Aitken Spence Shipping Ltd. Committee Member Asitha Martis and Rannara Engineering Ltd. Committee Member Vajira De Silva. Absent: Transmarine Ltd. Vice President John Shiran Dissanayake, Isuru Engineering Ltd. Committee Member Mahesh Pasqual and Spear International Ltd. Committee Member Shamil Mendis

The 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sri Lanka-Korea Business Council (SLKBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held recently at Hilton Colombo Residences, where Mahen Kariyawasan, the Chairman of Andrew the Travel Company Ltd, was reelected President. 

The Chief Guest of the event was the Ambassador of South Korea Won-sam Chang. The Guest of Honour at the event was Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy who addressed the gathering on the ‘Current Status of the Economy and Investment Climate of Sri Lanka’.

Speaking to the members, Kariyawasan identified the council’s main objectives as to promote bilateral trade, investment, technical and economic cooperation, tourism and services between Sri Lanka and Korea. He further stressed the need for SLKBC to provide leadership in promoting investment and trade initiatives between Sri Lanka and South Korea. He went on to state that Sri Lanka, in his view, was yet to exploit its full potential to benefit from the growing economy of South Korea.

At the Annual General Meeting, the name of the council (former known as the Sri Lanka-Korea Economic co-operation committee) was changed to the Sri Lanka-Korea Business Council.

Alpha Tours Ltd. Managing Director Priyantha Mendis and Transmarine Ltd. Chairman John Shiran Dissanayake were reelected Vice Presidents.  Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala will serve as the Immediate Past President.

The following companies were elected to serve on the committee for 2017-2018 - Abans Plc, Access International Projects Ltd, Aitken Spence Shipping Ltd, Hayleys Exports Plc, Rannara Engineering Ltd, South Lighting Lanka Ltd, Isuru Engineering Ltd, Southern Tea Producers Ltd, Spear International Ltd. and Vaughan Chemicals Ltd.

The event was graced by Ambassador Won-sam Chang, who is also the Patron Member of the Sri Lanka-Korea Business Council. In his address, ambassador stated that the “council’s support to us as we pursue our objective of promoting trade investment between our countries is equally important.” Congratulating the newly-appointed committee, the ambassador appreciated SLKBC’s role in hosting and facilitating business delegations and stated that he looks forward to closer involvement with the council.