Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council holds AGM

Wednesday, 13 August 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The 17th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Business Council (SLSBC) was held on 25 July at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The SLSBC was inaugurated in 1997 under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with the objective of promoting trade, tourism and services between Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Shamil Mendis, Chairman and Managing Director, Spear International Ltd., was re-elected as the President of the Council for the year 2014-2015. In his address, Mendis mentioned that 2013-14 had been an eventful year and outlined some of the significant activities the Council had undertaken during the period which included the recently-concluded Business Mission comprising a 15-member delegation to Singapore in June 2014 which was organised to coincide with the IE-SBF Seminar on Doing Business in Sri Lanka, the facilitation of business meetings for members of the Council on two occasions with International Enterprise Singapore and their inward delegations to Sri Lanka, collaboration with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to conduct a survey involving selected Singapore companies successfully operating in Sri Lanka – this initiative being the first of its kind by the SLSBC to connect with trade organisations of other countries for the benefit of its members and the organising of a joint Networking Evening with the Singapore (Sri Lanka) Club providing an opportunity for members to interact and network with members of Singapore companies and the Singapore expatriate community in Sri Lanka. A meeting was also held between the SLSBC Executive Committee and the K. Shanmugam, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Law of Singapore which took place over lunch hosted in honour of the Minister and his delegation where the discussion pertained to business between Singapore and Sri Lanka in line with renewed interest from Singapore companies to partner with Sri Lankan companies in the areas of infrastructure, retail, education and the logistics sectors. Mendis stated that in this manner the Council would undertake initiatives to further promote business relations between Sri Lanka and Singapore in the forthcoming year as well. The SLSBC co-operates with International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore in the pursuance of its objectives said Mendis. Prajeeth Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Blue Ocean Ventures Ltd.; Rohitha Mendis, Managing Director, Prudential Shipping Lines Ltd.; and Upali Bandaranayake, Managing Director, Valdhue and Walker Ltd were elected as Vice Presidents of the Council. The following Members were elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council: A Baur & Co. Ltd., Ceylon Grain Elevators Ltd., Ovearseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, Tellida Ltd., Aitken Spence Cargo Ltd., MAC Holdings Ltd. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce acts as the Secretariat to the Council.