Sunday Nov 10, 2024
FT
Sunday Nov 10, 2024
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) aims to be the apex body of the retail industry in Sri Lanka with an ambitious vision of ‘Achieving Retail Excellence’ by being the ‘Voice of the retail industry in Sri Lanka’.
As a means of achieving SLRA vision and mission through retail excellence, SLRA was recognised as the 20th member of the Federation of Asia Pacific Retail Association (FAPRA) in 2019. Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) President Sidath Kodikara and SLRA Vice President Murali Prakash attended the 19th Asia-Pacific Retailers Convention and Exhibition (APRCE), which was held from 5 to 7 September 2019, at Chongqing Yuelai International Convention Centre, Chongqing, China. The theme of the 19th APRCE was ‘New Retail, New Consumption, New Dynamics – Cooperation and Sharing’.
Subsequently SLRA organised its first event with FAPRA by hosting the FAPRA Executive Directors’ Virtual Meeting 2020 on 14 July 2020. The meeting was joined by representatives from 20 countries in the region. The meeting focussed mainly on the emerging trends of retail both locally and globally, and to find answers to post-COVID issues in the industry and share innovative best practices of retail.
At the recently-held Heads of Directors Virtual Meeting of FAPRA, SLRA won against Singapore Retail Association to be the host country for Asia Pacific Retail Convention and Exhibition (APRCE) 2024. SLRA Asst. Secretary General Dinesh Perera was nominated as the Chairman of the organising committee APRCE 2024.
The APRCE is a major project of the Federation of Asia Pacific Retailers Associations (FAPRA), which is held every two years. The event has become Asia’s biggest and longest running retail convention and exhibition since it was first held in 1983 in Tokyo, Japan. The APRCE’s objectives are two-pronged: (a)To discover new approaches to the latest issues facing the region’s retailers and highlight innovative solutions that can help retailers differentiate themselves from competitors; (b) To deliver greater value to consumers in Asia and Pacific region. The APRCE consists of:
2 days conference and 2 days exhibition
The 19th APRCE is visited by more than 4,000 delegates and participants from more than 10 countries/regions, and the next APRCE will be held in Indonesia in year 2022.
The retail sector is highly dynamic and ever changing, the objective of organising the APRCE 2024 in Sri Lanka, is to boost and rebuild the confidence within Sri Lankan retailers, as it aims to provide international and local insights towards growth. The Sri Lankan retail industry had recorded an encouraging growth of 6.6% CAGR since 2013, and the scale is $ 31 billion which accounts for the 1/3 of the National GDP. The retail industry continues its emerging contribution to the nation’s economy and recorded an employment of 1.17 million (14% of the labour market of SL) staff with more than 300,000 retail outlets. For year 2019 quarter 1, wholesale and retail trade indicate 4.4% growth.
For any inquiries, please contact the SLRA Secretariat on 5588800 or email on [email protected].
