CHOGM expenses are long-term investments – IDB Chairman

CHOGM will definitely bring huge economic benefits to the country and, therefore, the expenses for this international event are long-term investments, said Industrial Development Board (IDB), Chairman, Navaz Rajabdeen.

This is the biggest international event to be hosted by Sri Lanka after the 1976 Non-Aligned Summit in Colombo. This will be the best opportunity for Sri Lanka to showcase what it has achieved in the past few years after defeating terrorism, he said. It is a good opportunity to showcase the economic potential of the country to attract foreign investments and for tourism and export promotion. The three events, the meeting of Heads of Government, the business forum and international trade exhibition should be used to reap economic benefits, Rajabdeen said.

He said that Perth and Western Australia received unprecedented international attention and support to promote the tourism industry in the region when CHOGAM 2011 was held in Australia.

More than 1,000 international and Australian media personnel attended the Perth CHOGM and it was a rare and unique opportunity to promote Western Australia. “Today we too have got the same opportunity and since Commonwealth countries are spread in Africa, the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Asia, the value of this exposure is huge. Even today there is an international debate on Sri Lanka over CHOGM. Although there is a campaign against the country it has been adequately countered,” Rajabdeen said.

Heads of the governments of around 50 countries and representatives from all 53 countries will participate. Meanwhile the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said that it had registered 160 participants for the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) from diverse business sectors.

The Chamber was also instrumental in procuring several business proposals from private sector member companies to be discussed at the B2B meetings at the CBF. This would enable business partners to meet potential knowledge partners to discuss projects. The forum is an ideal avenue for potential investors to set up partnerships with Sri Lankan counterparts to strengthen business ties for the future. Key sectors that have been registered through the Chamber include agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, education, IT, BPO, renewable energy and infrastructure. The positive response in the number of registrations is evident of the enthusiasm of Sri Lankan business in the Commonwealth Business Forum and its outcome. The Secretary General CEO of the Chamber, Harin Malwatte said, “We started contacting our members early and we are appreciative of our members who registered for this important forum.”

-GW