CASA facilitates seminar on Sri Lanka’s maritime hub aspirations on 20 Feb.

Monday, 5 February 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Following the launch of Vision 25 outlining the Government’s economic development program, there were many thoughts and discussions on making Sri Lanka a maritime hub. Sri Lanka is in an enviable location with the busy East-West shipping route passing just six to ten nautical miles south of the island. More than 60,000 ships ply this route annually, carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil and half of all container shipments. It is no secret that Asia is bound to emerge as the economic powerhouse of the world, if the current trends of development continue for the next couple of decades.

It is inevitable that Sri Lanka should capitalise on its location-specific advantages and position itself as a hub. Therefore it is important to probe what constitutes a maritime hub and the immediate investments required to get there.

To sift through a myriad of ideas and thoughts about what should and should not be considered essential ingredients for a thriving maritime hub in Sri Lanka, CASA opined it would be necessary to evaluate the fundamentals which would be the building blocks of such a hub envisioned for Sri Lanka. With this in mind, a seminar is organised under the theme of “Maritime Hub Aspirations of Sri Lanka” on 20 February at Hotel Galadari.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker, followed by former Commander of the Sri Lanka NavyAdmiral (Dr.) Jayanath Colombage,Freedom of Highseas Ltd Chairman and Managing DirectorCapt.Ranjith Weerasinghe,Hambantota International Port Group CEO Ray Ren andCICT CEO and Hambantota International Port Group DGM Jack Huang as the main speakers. The speakers are independent thought leaders and experts in their own chosen fields and intimately connected to maritime matters. The main topics covered by these speakers are:

Overall Road Map

Essentials of a Maritime Hub(Role of Ports, Ancillary Services, Infrastructure) Hambantota – Would it play a special role?

The series of speeches will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by SLANA Chairman and Past CASA Chairman Capt. A.V. Rajendra. Along with the other speakers, SLPA MD H.D.A.S Premachandra and CILT Sri Lanka Chairman Capt. Lasitha Cumaratunga will also join the panel discussion. CASA, the voice of the shipping industry, intends to launch their first quarterly magazine at this event. The magazine is named ‘Bridge’ and will consist of valuable articles and White papers written by industry experts. All participants will receive a free copy of the magazine.

For registrations contact CASA Secretariat on 0112696227 or email your request to [email protected]