‘Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2014’ kicks off today

Tuesday, 5 August 2014 00:54 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2014 will be kicked off in Colombo today (5 August) with 450 participants, including public and private sector decision makers, policy experts, economists, Central Bankers, academics and politicians among many others taking part. The flagship annual event of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will see a series of renowned speakers taking the stage to share their thoughts on a number of important topics during the two-day event, which is being held under the title ‘Sri Lanka 2020 – Towards Surpassing the $ 7,000 Per Capita’.

Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera and Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal will set the stage for the two days of intense discussion and debate to take place, speaking on the lines of ‘National Vision: Policy Implementation Perspective’. Naina Lal Kidwai, Head of HSBC India, Alpesh Shah, a Senior Partner and Managing Director in the Mumbai office of The Boston Consulting Group, Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor Associates of Mumbai Office and Rizvi Zaheed, Managing Director of Hayleys Agriculture Holdings will also deliver key note speeches under different sessions. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe too would be among the keynote speakers and will share his thinking under the title ‘Education – Critical Driver of Competitive Advantage’. The forum’s eight sessions will cover topics such as Policy Implementation, Branding, Banking in the New World, Education, Integrating Development, Rise of Asia as a Trading Bloc and Vision for Sri Lanka 2020, etc. “The theme of the Summit this year, ‘Sri Lanka 2020 – Towards Surpassing the $ 7,000 Per Capita,’ is most relevant in the current context of the country’s development strategies and looks to the growth projections for the future that are most encouraging. It also merges well with the development goals of ‘Mahinda Chinthana,’ the policy framework of this Government,” said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a congratulatory message sent to the Faculty book of Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2014. The Summit will also include a CEOs session with some of the top minds of the local corporate sector sitting down to discuss the, conduciveness of the country’s business environment to innovation and growth. Among those executives are Ajith Gunewardene, Deputy Chairman of the John Keells Holdings PLC; Ashok Pathirage, Chairman, Softlogic Holdings PLC; Dhammika Perera, Chairman, Sampath Bank PLC; Ashroff Omar, CEO, Brandix Lanka Ltd.; and Dr. Hans Wijesuriya, Group CEO of Dialog Axiata PLC. For the first time in the summit’s history, it has lined up five of Sri Lanka’s emerging corporate leaders to discuss the nation’s future, under the title ‘Our Vision for Sri Lanka 2020’. Emerging corporate leaders such as Shyam Sathasivam of Sunshine Lanka Healthcare (formerly Swiss Biogenics Ltd.), Jeevan Gnanam, Director of SAKS, Harsha Purasinghe, CEO of Microimage Ltd. and Samadanie Kiriwandeniya, Chairperson of SANASA Development Bank, will comprise this panel. High calibre personalities will take part as the moderators of the eight sessions of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit. Carson Cumberbatch PLC, CIC Holdings, Dialog Axiata, Walkers, CML – MTD, First Capital, Commercial Bank, Altair, York Street Partners, AIA, Access Engineering, Cinnamon Grand and OMD have partnered with the Ceylon Chamber to make this event a success.