German Envoy pledges best services

“I want to learn from you, how I myself and the German Embassy will be able to give services best for you in time to come,” said Dr. Jurgen Morhard, Ambassador Designate to the Federal Republic of Germany addressing the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka – Germany Business Council (SLGBC).

The event was also a formal welcome for Dr. Morhard, who is also the Patron of the Business Council.Dr. Morhard further said that being market oriented he intends to go around and listen carefully to the problems and needs of the members and expressed his desire to visit as many of the companies here as possible to understand their operations and businesses. He also invited the Boards to meet with him frequently in order to discuss pending problems and to focus on new ideas and projects.

The Ambassador invited the Business Council to cooperate with the German Embassy on the Commemoration of the 60th anniversary of German-Sri Lankan relations in 2013 as this anniversary next year will serve as an excellent opportunity to raise the visibility of the council and its member companies.

Addressing the gathering SLGBC President Mark Francis said that at the invitation of Minister Basil Rajapaksa, a discussion was pursued at his Ministry to deal with issues of German enterprises and many matters were resolved on the spot whilst the others were referred to the Board of Investment for redress. He also pointed out that the BOI followed up with two more meetings and almost all concerns were dealt with.

Speaking of the activities of the council he noted that they organised a number of meetings and interactive evenings with eminent speakers during the past year and informed that the same will continue in the New Year.

The Sri Lanka-Germany Business Council was inaugurated in 1999 with a primary objective of promoting trade, investment, tourism and services between Sri Lanka and Germany and to promote mutual understanding and strengthen the relationships between Sri Lanka and Germany

Francis, Executive Director of Malship (Ceylon) limited was re-elected as the President of the Council for the year 2012/2013. Neil Umagiliya, Managing Director, Dial Textile Industries Limited and Ranjith Pandithage, Chief Executive Officer, Diesel & Motor Engineering Co. Ltd. were elected as the Vice Presidents of the council.

Michael Elias – Chief Executive Officer Walkers Tours Limited, Senaka Amarasinghe – Managing Director Carmart Limited, H.A. Reuter – Managing Director, Prestige Automobile (Pvt) Ltd., Niranjan Rodrigo – Director Quality & Standards, Aitken Spence Travels Pvt Ltd., Asoka Hettigoda – Managing Director, Hettigoda Industries (Pvt) Ltd., Navindra Abeysekera – Director, New Business Development, Delmege Forsyth & Co Ltd., and M. Nazvi Hassan – Director, Yasui Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. were appointed as Committee Members for the year 2012/2013. Regina Von Ahn, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Federal Republic of Germany, would also serve on the committee.