CCC turns 175

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) celebrated 175 years of service on Tueday. This is a landmark achievement for an organisation that has its origins in serving the needs of the plantation community but today represents a membership drawn from all business sectors of the country.

The then Governor of Ceylon, J A Stewart Mackenzie, played a key role in founding the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as he was keenly interested in promoting agriculture and trade in Ceylon.

At the time, those in the mercantile sector too felt the need to create a vehicle which would promote and protect their collective interests. A preliminary meeting was held on February 28, 1839 at which it was unanimously resolved that five of the people present - C.D. Bartlett, J. Armitage, George Crabbe, Stephen Vertue and E.J. Darley - form a committee to draw up rules and regulations, which when submitted and approved would form the basis of the new institution.

A General Meeting with 13 representatives of the mercantile community was held on March 25,1839 at the Corner House of Prince Street. With the adoption of the rules and regulations that were tabled, the first Chamber was set up in Sri Lanka - then Ceylon - and was named the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Mackwoods Limited was the first official Member of the Chamber. From a modest start, the Chamber is now an apex organisation that brings together corporates, sector associations, regional chambers and bilateral business councils.

Today, over 3,500 corporates are affiliated to the Chamber, representing a wide cross-section from blue chip public quoted companies to regional SMEs.

Since its inception, the Chamber has sought to promote the national interest by way of private sector led economic growth. Thus, the Chamber strongly advocated the construction of the modern port of Colombo and the Colombo-Kandy railway.

In 1858, the Chamber called upon the government to accept India's proposal to link Ceylon to the Madras Presidency Telegraphy line.