Sri Lanka-China Business Council elects new President

Seated from left: Immediate Past President/Lanka Ceramic PLC Navindra Abeysekera, Vice President/David Pieris Motor Co. Ltd Yasantha Abeykoon, People’s Republic of China Ambassador Yi XianLiang, President/Agro Consolidated (Pvt.) Ltd Lasantha Wickremesooriya, Patali Karunarathne of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Committee Member/Abans PLC Kunendran and Vice President/Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC Thulitha Mendis. Standing from left: Committee Member/Stretchline (Pvt.) Ltd Dhammika Perera, Committee Member/Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Limited M.A. Rajap, Committee Member/Cosco Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd Joe Meng, Committee Member/Delmege Forsyth & Company Ltd Nuwan Wimalana, Treasurer/National Development Bank PLC Buwanekabahu Perera, Committee Member/Zam Gems (Pvt.) Ltd A.R.M. Shafraz, Committee Member/Synergy Shipping Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd Aruna Perera, Committee Member/Nature’s Beauty Creations Ltd Shamindi Kumarasinghe, Committee Member/Associated Motorways (Pvt.) Ltd Chaminda Perera and Committee Member/E-Arrow (Pvt.) Ltd Janaka Angulugaha. Not in the picture: Committee Member/Walkers Tours Ltd Prabath Harshakumar, Committee Member/Standard Charted Bank Niluk Kalutotage, Committee Member/Stretchline (Pvt.) Ltd Ruwan Senevirathne, Committee Member/Hatton National Bank PLC Ruwan Manatunga, Committee Member/Saf’s Classique Gems (Pvt.) Ltd Sabri Joonoos and Committee Member/Sinwa Holdings Ltd Haroun Cader

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Sri Lanka-China Business Council (SLCHBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) was held recently at Hilton Colombo Residences electing Lasantha Wickremesooriya as President. 

The chief guest of the event was Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang, the Patron Member of the Sri Lanka-China Business Council.

Addressing the members, the newly elected President and Agro Consolidated (Pvt.) Ltd CEO Lasantha Wickremesooriya thanked outgoing President Navindra Abeyesekera for the immense contribution made towards the growth of the SLCHBC during the last three years. 
Wickremesooriya highlighted the council’s main objectives as to promote bilateral trade, investment, technical and economic co-operation, tourism and services between Sri Lanka and China. He further stressed the need for the SLCHBC to take leadership in promoting investment and trade initiatives between Sri Lanka and China.  

He went on to state that Sri Lanka, in his view, was yet to exploit its full potential to benefit from the growing economy of China and therefore, urged the private sector to adopt the right mindset and to understand the specific needs of the Chinese consumer.

Yasantha Abeykoon of David Pieris Motor Co. (Pvt.) Ltd and Thulitha Mendis of Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC were elected as Vice Presidents and Buwanekabahu Perera of National Development Bank as Honorary Treasurer. Navindra Abeyesekera of Lanka Ceramic PLC will serve as Immediate Past President. 

The following companies were elected to serve on the committee for the year 2016-2017: Abans PLC, Associated Motorways Ltd, Cosco Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, Delmege Forsyth & Company Ltd, E-Arrow (Pvt.) Ltd, Hatton National Bank PLC, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Limited, Nature’s Beauty Creations Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, Saf’s Classique Gems (Pvt.) Ltd, Sinwa Holdings Ltd, Stretchline (Pvt.) Ltd, Synergy Shipping Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, Walkers Tours Ltd and Zam Gems (Pvt.) Ltd.
In his address, Xianliang stated, “The council’s support to us as we pursue our objective of promoting trade investment between our countries is equally important.”

Congratulating the newly appointed committee, the ambassador appreciated the SLCHBC’s role in hosting and facilitating business delegations and said he looks forward to closer involvement with the council.

Abeysekera in his address as the outgoing Chairman thanked the fellow council members for the support and cooperation extended to him during his tenure. He highlighted the difficulty in obtaining the Chinese visa at present considering the present rigid visa procedures adopted and requested Xianliang to intervene by talking to the relevant authorities with a view to finding a solution in this regard.