Monday Nov 25, 2024
Monday Nov 25, 2024
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Welcoming the world
He noted that when Malaysia hosted CHOGM, it saw benefits in the form of US$ 29 billion 24 years ago. It was also a key point in attracting the world to the Asian market. China was not a global influence at that time. Today, with Sri Lanka hosting CHOGM, it will further open up opportunities and showcase South East Asia as well.
“There are no other routes for ships to take other than passing Sri Lanka with close proximity to the main land. Every container, whether it is carrying cargo manufactured in Russia, India, Bangladesh and in China or commodities going from/to Africa to Europe through the Suisse Canal, Cape Town or to East or North America – every cargo vessel must pass Sri Lanka to get to their destinations.”
Hence, the enormous contributions from the national coffers to develop the ports, introducing the south port in Colombo and the harbour in Hambantota. Cargo going to the North East of Asia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, etc., all pass Colombo and stay in (seven day) transit in Singapore, he asserted, noting that port development is aimed at creating a shipping destination in Sri Lanka.
Why the interest in CHOGM?
The Heads of Governments are not only coming to participate in the meeting, Perera asserted. “When I started bringing in investors, I requested President Rajapaksa to allow inviting non-Commonwealth countries as part of the business forum as major players such as Russia, Vietnam and China are non-Commonwealth countries along with most of the South American, African and Arabian countries.”
He has been able to canvass 22 additional countries with top delegations supported by their governments to come to Sri Lanka ‘for networking’.
He stressed that those coming in are not necessarily coming in to invest in a 22 million population market with 10-30% purchasing power depending on the value put in. “It is not the purchasing power that we market; it is the Free Trade Agreements.”
While the FTAs, particularly the one set to be signed with China is deemed a “myth” by many, it is this along with the FTA with India which opens a 1.2 billion market for those interested and the FTA with Pakistan that has caught the attention of the world. “This is what they are coming for.” An FTA will also be signed with Russia, he said.
And why is China interested in a small country like ours? “China’s interest in Sri Lanka is to have a safe passage for the goods they manufacture and goods they import to manufacture. People are concerned about piracy and instability in countries. This is where Sri Lanka is regarded as being on a higher pedestal than most others.” The agreement intended to be signed with China is much better than ASEAN which Sri Lanka missed in 1965.
The Government and President’s dynamic leadership has encouraged leaders to come and take this opportunity, not just to invest in the country but to network with industrialists, Government leaders and Government member officials coming for the event.
Opportunities for the business community
While the opening session of the Commonwealth Business Forum can house only 1,000 persons, requests are still flooding in, Perera assured. 500 international and 500 local delegates have been given seats for participation.
The interest is equal to that of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, he said. “While participation fee for Davos is close to US$ 10,000, the fee for the business forums is 1,000 pounds, 250 pounds for ladies and 60% discount for chambers. This is an excellent platform for networking.”
All participants, their products, services and intentions are available for those interested on the Commonwealth Business Forum webpage, through which one can directly request appointments, meetings with heads of governments or foreign ministers through foreign ministries, and with other delegates as well. “We encourage such dialogue and look forward to facilitating this process.”
The slots have been sold to top industrialists, not just to China or India, Perera expressed. “We have 22 additional countries, over and above the 52 countries participating. The whole world will be watching us.”
This is also a huge marketing opportunity for the country, brands, products and companies to show their objectives, capacities and capabilities. Sri Lankans investing abroad can also make use of the opportunity to build contacts, etc.
What the Government has done and can do
The Government is doing its best to make CHOGM a resounding success. Unlike the non-aligned which was only open for Heads of States, this is an event which involves the whole country– public, youth, business, 52 SMEs registered under the Treasury and all district chambers, Perera acknowledged. All district chambers were invited to Colombo to give a briefing on CHOGM and what to expect. “All their projects have been made available in the web pages of Commonwealth Business Council.”
However, there is still a lot more the Government can do to encourage investment, he remarked. On top of the agenda must be to iron out the political tier system. “Our political tier system includes local government, provincial government, central government, presidential system and approvals, BOI approvals, provincial approvals, provincial environmental approvals. Those must be sorted out. We don’t have a clean platter.”
Despite this, the opportunity created by the Government by bringing in CHOGM to the country is considerable.
President Rajapaksa will chair the Business Forum as well as the Heads of Government for the next two years, taking on the responsibilities of decisions and directions concerning the Commonwealth Heads of Government. He will be heading nearly 31% of the landmass of the world. “This is the market the Government is trying to open up for us.”
Industries take on CHOGM
While the Government has been busy rallying everyone together, the key sectors of the economy, namely tourism, apparel, trade and exports, Ceylon Tea, ICT and branding have been running their own race in prepping up for CHOGM and related events.
A distinguished panel representing these categories presented their thoughts on CHOGM and collectively agreed that along with CHOGM come a large number of opportunities for the country not only to build its image but also promote Sri Lanka as a brand. It also poses an opening for the sectors to put their best foot forward and showcase capabilities and talents.
Tea
“This is the best time to relaunch the brand ‘Sri Lanka’ after the war with 52 world leaders at our doorstep,” Ceylon Tea Board Chairperson Janaki Kuruppu said. “They can come and see for themselves the progress we are making.”
Noting that the country failed to get the 2018 Commonwealth Games it was pitching for in 2011, she asserted that this is the opportunity to turn around the negative top-of-the mind perception which included war, terrorism, blood and tears into positive experiences. Kuruppu added that over 1,000 media personnel will arrive in Sri Lanka for the events.
ICT/BPO
National service provider Sri Lanka Telecom will play the leading role in facilitating ICT infrastructure for all programs during CHOGM. SLT will facilitate 2,500 compact users during the main event at the BMICH.
There is a lot being done, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC Chief Enterprise and Wholesale Officer Kiththi Perera remarked, adding that it would give the country a chance to create awareness on potential investors of the capabilities of some of the ICT organisations in the country on their scalable solutions.
“There are 50 plus projects ready to be pitched at the Business Forum,” he said. “We saw a lot of opportunity in these projects to collaborate with them and add value and facilitate ICT solutions.”
With the world trend in the sector showing movement towards outsourced model, local companies can now look at tapping into these markets. “We can help potential investors in setting up ICT infrastructure in the context of cutting edge technologies.”
Hospitality and tourism
First things first – when the delegations arrive, the first tick off the hospitality industry list will be to put them to sleep. “We will ensure they all sleep comfortably and have a pleasant stay; that is what we are geared to do,” Jetwings Hotels Ltd. Chairman Hiran Cooray quipped.
On a more serious note, Cooray expressed that this is a “fabulous opportunity to project to the world what we have done in the last four years”. It hasn’t been easy marketing the destination and bringing in as many tourists as they can from different parts of the world, he said, and here is a chance to give the top level of the markets a firsthand experience. What is even better is the improvement on infrastructure which the locals can benefit from long after CHOGM wraps up in mid November.
“The benefits will come after the event. For tourism, we could not have asked for a better event to promote ourselves.”
Trade and exports
Sri Lanka wins two victories by hosting CHOGM, EDB Chairman and Chief Executive Bandula Egodage observed. One is the political diplomacy achieved through bringing in the large number of world leaders to the country and the second is the commercial diplomacy with presenting opportunities now and in the future. “Export development says the world is my market. For more exports we need to tap in to the world. This is a tremendous opportunity for me to have 70 states here. I don’t need to spend money to tap into the 70 markets individually,” Egodage said.
The trade, tourism and investment exposition ‘Reflections of Sri Lanka’ which will be held in conjunction to CHOGM will allow 300 local exporters to showcase their unique properties while the 100 international technology providers will present value addition prospects for industrialists.
Apparel
Given its position as a key export industry, the apparel sector will have two related sessions at the Business Forum while 25 apparel sector personalities will attend the forum from the 500 local delegates. Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association Chairman Yohan Lawrence noted that the sector is looking at promoting itself as an industry rather than on an individual basis. At the exposition, Sri Lanka apparel will run a stall as a Sri Lankan pavilion showcasing the range of products under its belt. “We consider this a platform to highlight what we do as a brand with ‘Sri Lanka Apparel’ as well as the Garments without Guilt program. We will be looking to project the industry to the Commonwealth and the others.”
Branding and marketing
Zoom in on Prince Charles sipping a cup of Ceylon Tea and sit back and let two million TV viewers telecast it all over the world. What better way to promote your brand then let Heads of States do the talking through photos?
Grant McCann Erickson Chairperson Neela Marikkar expressed that the country as well as industries and brands must take every opportunity to get people to engage with local brands. “I think we are all stakeholders in this. There are huge opportunities for brands. CHOGM last year had a TV viewership of two billion. Whether it is Ceylon Tea or tourism or individual brands, it is a priceless opportunity,” Marikkar said. She added that citizens too have a responsibility as brand ambassadors to promote the country’s famous hospitality traits and the Lankan smile.
She added: “One thing we have underestimated also is that within the Commonwealth itself, inter-country trade has gone up to US$ 3 trillion, which is a huge amount of trade. Just imagine if we can get a bigger portion of that. Despite the negative feelings and criticism, the fact is that CHOGM is happening and it is a duty of every Sri Lankan to make it a success.”
Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe
