SLSBC to further promote bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and Singapore

The 15th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council (SLSBC) was held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce recently. Shamil Mendis, Chairman and Managing Director, Spear International (Pvt) Ltd. was elected as the President of the Council for the year 2012-2013.

In his address Mendis mentioned that the SLSBC held a well-attended Business Forum to mark the recent visit of K. Shanmugam, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Law of Singapore who was accompanied by a high profile business delegation from the Singapore Business Federation with which the Council entered into an MOU to cooperate in facilitating the growth of business between the two countries.

The Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council will arrange an outward business mission to attend the Sri Lanka Seminar and Business Forum arranged by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore later this year. Mendis stated that in this manner the council would undertake initiatives to further promote bilateral trade relations between Sri Lanka and Singapore.

In addition to working closely with IE Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation, the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council will maintain close ties with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the pursuance of its objectives, said Mendis. Prajeeth Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Blue Ocean Ventures (Pvt) Ltd., Upali Bandaranayake, Managing Director, Forbes Fine Foods (Pvt) Ltd. and Rohitha Mendis, Managing Director, Prudential Shipping Lines (Pvt) Ltd. were elected as Vice Presidents of the Council.

A. Baur & Company Ltd., Mindspring (Pvt) Ltd., Overseas Reality (Ceylon) PLC, Prima Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd., Tellida (Pvt) Ltd., and Asia Pacific Brewery (Lanka) Ltd. were elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce acts as the Secretariat to the Council.

SLSBC was inaugurated in 1997 under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with the main focus of promoting trade, tourism and services between Sri Lanka and Singapore.