Focus on Lanka’s location advantage

Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2016:

 The upcoming ‘Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2016’ on August 2 and 3 will have a session to discuss how Sri Lanka can utilize its locational advantage to boost its international trade and logistics sectors.

The session titled ‘International Trade and Logistics – Leveraging on Location’, will have three keynote speakers, Sarathkumara Premachandra, Managing Director of Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Steve Saxon, Expert Partner of McKinsy & Company and Dr. Saman Kalegama, Executive Director of Institute of Policy Studies. This will be followed by a panel discussion comprising Dr. Harsha de Silva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ruwan Waidyaratne, Managing Director of Hayleys Advantis Limited. It will be moderated by Thilan Wijesinghe, Chairman, TWCorp.

Sarathkumara Premachandra is an SLPA veteran having previously served as its Additional Managing Director and Director operations.

Steve Saxon of McKinsy & Company, focuses primarily on transport, infrastructure, and logistics.

Dr. Saman Kelegama, another keynote speaker of the session, is a trade policy economist who also works on industrial economics, public enterprise reform, and macroeconomics.

Dr. Harsha de Silva, before entering active politics was a development banker, consultant economist and was engaged in co-founding the country’s largest market and social research agency.

While his session partner Ruwan Waidyaratne has been a pivotal figure in driving the transportation and logistics sector of the Hayleys Group to the forefront of the industry.

This session will be held on August 3 and focus on what Sri Lanka needs to do to become a global logistics hub, by utilizing its strategic geographical location of being closer to some of the busiest international shipping lanes in the world.

Tapping Lanka’s agribusiness potential

‘The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2016’ organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has allocated the

‘Session 6’ titled ‘Commercial Agriculture – Tackling the Competitiveness and Political Challenges,’ will focus on agricultural policies and land-use regulations, the need to invest more in technological innovation and upgrade quality and compliance standards to meet global market needs.

Dr. Romesh Bandaranaike, Chairman of Science Land, and an international economic, financial and power sector consultant for over 30 years and Desmond Sheehy, Managing Director of Duxton Asset Management, a specialist on Investment Strategies will deliver the keynote speeches at this session.

This will be followed by a panel discussion, which will include Indira Malwatte, Chairperson of the Export Development Board, Waruna Madawanarachchi, Chief Executive Officer of CIC, Dr. Upali Ranasinghe, Chairman, CR Exports and Roshan Rajadurai, Managing Director of Kelani Valley Plantations. Dr. Anura Ekanayake, former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will be the moderator.

Mrs. Indira Malwatte is the first women CEO of the Export Development Board, while Roshan Rajadurai holds the overall responsibility for the Hayleys Group’s Plantation Sector, Waruna Madawanarachchi of CIC, has been a Deputy Director at the Department of Agriculture, before joining the private sector.

Hayleys PLC and Pyramid Wilmar are platinum sponsors of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit, while Sunshine Holdings and CIC are the Gold Sponsors. Dialog has also signed in as the Silver sponsor and First Capital, the strategic sponsor.