Eshana speaks at Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council Webinar

• Joins panel including CWEIC Chairman Lord Marland, Lord Mayor of London Alderman William Russel, Zenith Bank Chairman Jim Ovia, Standard Chartered Director David Bartlett
• Eshana shares key insights to services industry in emerging markets

National Development Bank Chairman Eshana De Silva

The National Development Bank PLC’s Chairman Eshana De Silva was among the elite panel- lists at the webinar on ‘Banking and Professional Services’ org anised by the Commonwealth Enterprise and

Investment Council (CWEIC), in partnership with the City of London yesterday.

The discussions revolved around international trade in services underpinned by functioning global markets as a route out of the current crisis especially for emerging markets.

The CWEIC is the Commonwealth business network with a mandate to facilitate trade and investment throughout the 54 member nations of the Commonwealth. 

NDB Bank was the only bank in Sri Lanka to take part in this webinar. 

De Silva represented the Banking Sector as a panellist at the discussion among the likes of City of London Policy and Resources Committee Chair Catherine McGuinness, Absa International Chief Executive Cheryl Buss, Standard Chartered Director David Bartlett and Zenith Bank Chairman Jim Ovia. 

De Silva discussed the importance of services trade when trade in goods dominates the discourse, the value of FTAs vs regulatory cooperation in services trade, and the future of international institutions and global cooperation. He spoke in depth on what else needs to be included in the global trade agreements to help grow the services industry in emerging markets. 

He further commented on how the Commonwealth can use this post Brexit opportunity to expand trade links with the UK. With two-thirds of global GDP generated by the services industry, it has been growing in importance for emerging market economies as well. The rapid advances in technology have increased the tradability of services across borders especially for countries such as Sri Lanka. Emerging markets would do well to use the current opportunities to establish trade agreements with country blocs such as the Commonwealth to expand their services trade.

The welcome remarks were given by CWEIC Chairman Lord Marland followed by the opening remarks given by Lord Mayor of London Alderman William Russell. 

This webinar was a part of a leadership series launched by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) that has so far been addressed by 15 current and former heads of state, ministers and over 100 business leaders. 

The Commonwealth is an organisation of 54 nations spanning nearly every continent and largely evolved out the former territories of the British Empire.

NDB Bank, which is the fourth largest listed bank in Sri Lanka, is one of the fastest growing banks in Sri Lanka. The bank was recently named ‘Bank of the Year Sri Lanka’ by the Banker Magazine UK for year 2020 in addition to many other accolades under its name. It is also the only financial service conglomerate in Sri Lanka. 

NDB Group is uniquely positioned towards assisting the growth and development of the Sri Lankan capital market to provide its customers seamless access to the product and service offerings of all its group companies.