BoC, a principal sponsor of CBF

A principal sponsor of the commonwealth Business Forum 2013, the Bank of Ceylon (BoC), conducted the final session on 'Strengthening National Economies through Global Business and Trade' on the last day of CBF (Commonwealth Business Forum) 2013.

Left: The panel - Ministers Basil Rajapaksa, Dr Sarath Amunugama, BoC, Chairman Razick Zarook, CEO, De La Rue, Tim Cobbold, and Trade Envoy Lord Marland. Right: Top BoC officials with some of the visitors from the Seychelles.

Bank of Ceylon Chairman, Razik Zarook chaired the session and the panel consisted of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Finance and Planning, Deputy Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama, CEO De La Rue, UK, Tim Cobbold, and UK Prime Minister's, Trade Envoy, Lord Marland of Odstock.

The session focused on advantages to be gained by global economic and business trends and challenges of countries trying to extract the full benefit of these conditions, and on commonwealth cooperation. Dr. Amunugama, said that Government's key emphasis was to encourage foreign investors to invest in the country while preserving the Sri Lankan identity and to bring about a win-win partnership for the country and the investor. Tim Cobbold and the UK Prime Minister's, Trade Envoy, Lord Marland of Odstock shared their experience on global trade and business.

The BoC Chairman said that there are challenges regarding complete access to product markets caused by trade barriers and hefty subsidies in developed countries on commodities of interest to agricultural producers, limited access to financial resources, and for some countries high conditionality of concessional resources, the constraints on acquiring technology in terms of resources, human and financial, and inadequate infrastructure.