Sri Lanka to ask for fair share of Indian market at first bilateral CEOs Forum

The first-ever official-level India-Sri Lanka CEOs Forum will be held today, discussions at which are expected to focus on the way forward to double bilateral trade to $ 10 billion over the next few years.

Since the current bilateral trade worth $ 4.8 billion is heavily in favour of India, the Sri Lankan CEOs team, the Daily FT learns, will make a case for a fair share of the targeted figure.  The meeting will be closed doors and a spokesman for Ceylon Chamber said: “The CEOs will engage in an open discussion on ways to increase trade and investment between the two countries.”



The CEOs Forum will span for about two hours, followed by a luncheon which will be addressed by India’s Commerce, Industry and Textile Minister Anand Sharma.

The Co-Chairs of the CEOs Forum are Bharti Airtel Ltd. Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal from the Indian side and home-grown conglomerate DSI Group Managing Director Kulathunga Rajapaksa on behalf of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan CEOs team comprises Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Susantha Ratnayake, who is also Chairman of premier blue JKH, former Chairmen Mano Selvanathan (Director Carson Cumberbatch) and Tilak de Zoysa (President AMW), Brandix Lanka CEO Ashroff Omar, CIC Holdings Chairman B.R.L. Fernando, Ceylon Biscuits Chairman M.P. Wickramasingha, Nature’s Beauty Creations Chairman Samantha Kumarasinghe, LAUGFS Holdings Chairman Kumar Wegapitiya, Ramya Holdings Chairperson Ramya Weerakoon, Siddhalepa-fame Hettigoda Group Managing Director Asoka Hettigoda, Bank of Ceylon General Manager K. Dharmasiri and SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena.

The Indian CEOs team comprises Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod Dasari, NTPC Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury, Suzlon Energy Ltd. Chairman and Managing Director Tulsi Tant, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group Chairperson Jyotsna Suri, Jubilant Life Sciences Co-Chairman and Managing Director Hari Bhartia, Punj Lloyd Chairman Atul Punj, State Bank of India Managing Director (IB) Hemant G. Contractor, TVS Motor Company Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan, Lanka Indian Oil Corporation S. Dakwale and Taj Group Upper Upscale Hotels Chief Operating Officer Veervijay Singh.

Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and Senior Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama are expected to join the luncheon to be addressed by Sharma. Following the CEOs Forum and the luncheon, the two Co-Chairs are scheduled to join Minister Sharma when the latter pays a courtesy call on President Mahinda Rajapaksa later today.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was the point of contact for both the India Show organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the CEO’s Forum, partnering Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The Indian CEOs team is in addition to a 12-member CEOs delegation brought down by the CII for the three-day India Show, which kicked off yesterday at the BMICH, and a conference on ‘Doubling Indo-Lanka Bilateral Trade and Investment within five years’ held yesterday.