Indian CEO Forum holds AGM

The Indian CEO Forum (ICF) a body of CEOs of Indian companies in Sri Lanka and Indian CEOs of multinational and Sri Lankan companies, completed three years of its existence on 12 July. ICF was launched with much fanfare on 12 July 2013 at Stein studios by the then Economic Development Minister and the current Indian High Commissioner; since then the ICF has come a long way.

At its AGM held on 12 July at the Taj Ballroom at which Prime Minister of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief guest and the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha was the guest of honour , the founder and outgoing President Sanjay Tiwari, (Chief Executive Officer of Piramal Glass Ceylon Plc) highlighted the objective of ICF is to showcase the successful investments, to promote and contribute to the economic growth of Sri Lanka through Indian investments, safeguard and strengthen existing economic corporation between the two nations and foster new economic ties between the two countries. ICF has successfully completed many projects for the well-being of the society and members over last three years. This is in addition to the specific CSR initiatives carried out by the member companies independently.

With the growing concern over diabetes, blood pressure and vision related problems they successfully organised three health camps to create island wide awareness:

The 1st Health Camp was organised at Horana, which was attended by over 250 villagers and was well appreciated  

2nd Health Camp organised at Peliyagoda was well received by the local residents and again over 200+ citizens availed the benefits.

The 3rd Health Camp being organised recently in Colombo 9, was further improvised and structured with an attendance of over 300 local residents and from neighbouring areas.

During these camps general medical check-up including blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure and vision test with free distribution of basic medicines was organised. All these camps were supported by local MOH, Hospital staff. 

To assimilate the two cultures and commemorate the 68th Independence day of India, the Indian CEO Forum, in collaboration with the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, organised an Independence Day Concert.

A Seminar on Purposeful leadership was organised in Colombo with the help of Senior Consultants from Usha Group India. The main focus was on leadership and challenges. 

An organised interactive workshop on Industrial Relations and Human Resource Development to highlight the best HR practices by top Sri Lankan conglomerates along with sharing of turnaround stories driven by best practices.

An eminent Professor from IIM Bangalore was invited to share his thoughts on Strategy Management including sharpening product features and positioning.

ICF also organised an interactive evening with an eminent economist, Indrajit Coomaraswamy, present Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, to educate members on the future of the Sri Lankan economy.

The Forum also made several deliberations on the National Budget of the Country with the Ministry of Finance, Government of Sri Lanka. Had a detailed meeting with the Finance Minister before the Annual Budget.

With the support of active members, ICF organised introduction meeting with the Chairman and MDs of state banks to explore the funding options for new ventures.

Indian CEO Forum regularly organises meetings with the Indian delegations visiting Sri Lanka for showcasing their success stories and boosting confidence for potential investors to explore investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. The objective is to attract and promote investment in Sri Lanka.

The member companies of ICF have provided employment to local staff for more than 18,500 while less than 1% are expats. The investments by the ICF members have so far crossed over $ 600 million. The revenue generation by ICF companies is over $ 1.1 billion said Sanjay Tiwari.

The bilateral trade with India has reached $ 5 billion in addition to this as per the data available – the investment in pipeline is to the tune of $ 1 billion.

At the AGM Sanjay Tiwari stepped down from the position of President after a successful span of three years and incumbent Vice President Kiran Redkar (CEO Ultratech Cement Ltd.) was elevated to president for 2016/17 along with election of new office bearers.

Speaking on the occasion the High Commissioner of India highlighted the enormous benefits of the Free Trade Agreement. He also mentioned that while Indian investments exceed $ 1 billion there is another $ 1 billion investment in the pipeline. India is also source for largest number of tourists to Sri Lanka and similarly Indian High Commission in Colombo and other Consulates issue more than 200,000 visas to Sri Lankans to visit India.

Ranil Wickremesinghe spoke at length about his vision for economic transformation of Sri Lanka over the next decade starting with a comprehensive plan for the next five years which would see divestment from loss making public enterprises, a new financial hub and in all this the Government will not hesitate to even subsidise few essential items if required to ensure a good life for all Sri Lankans. In all this emerging opportunity he offered Indian investors first opportunity to participate.

Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe