Sri Lanka-Australia-New Zealand Business Council holds 15th AGM

11 October 2010 05:08 am Views - 8433

From left: Lionel Silva, Vice President, Mark Francis, Vice President, Ms. Ramya Perera, Vice President, Harin Malwatte, Secretary General/CEO, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Kathy Klugman, Australian High Commissioner, Senaka Silva, President, Ms. Andrea David, Secretariat, Ceylon Chamber, Sumithra Gunasekara, Immediate Past President and Thusith Samaraweera, Vice President

The 15th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Australia-New Zealand Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held on 9 September 2010 at Waters Edge, Battaramulla, with High Commissioner for Australia in Sri Lanka Kathy Klugman gracing the occasion as the Chief Guest.

The Sri Lanka-Australia Business Council was incorporated in December 1994 as the 17th Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The Council was renamed as the Sri Lanka-Australia-New Zealand Business Council at the Annual General Meeting of the Council held on 31 July 2001.  The Business Council has continued to be an important link between Sri Lanka and Australia and Sri Lanka and New Zealand

Klugman, addressing the gathering, stated that with the end of the 30-year conflict, the confidence of Australian investors was increasing and moving towards Sri Lanka. She also requested the members of the council to inform the High Commission of possible opportunities that exist for Australian businesses and reiterated that the Australian High Commission was keen to build the trade and investment relationship between Sri Lanka and Australia.
Speaking about the Australian economy, Klugman stated that the Australian economy had recovered relatively quickly form the slowdown that followed the global financial crisis.
Honorary Consul General of New Zealand Senaka Silva was elected as the President of the Council for 2010/2011 and Ramya Perera (Infotechs Ltd.), Mark Francis (Malship Ceylon Ltd.), Lionel D. Silva (Lidechsi Pvt. Ltd.) and Thusith Samaraweera (Waters Edge Ltd.) were elected as Vice Presidents of the council.

The following were elected to serve on the committee of the council for 2010/2011; AG International (Pvt) Ltd., Dart Global Logistics (Pvt) Ltd., Green Earth Group, Glolan International (Pvt) Ltd., Fonterra Brands (Pvt) Ltd., John Keells Holdings PLC, Mega Pharma (Pvt) Ltd., Prestige Foods Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., Sri Lankan Catering (Pvt) Ltd. and Westmann Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd.

Membership of the council is open to individual persons, partnerships, companies, corporations or other organisations engaged in trade, tourism or services with Australia and New Zealand or engaged in joint ventures with Australian/New Zealand organisations or interested in entering into or promoting trade, tourism, services or joint ventures with Australian/New Zealand organisations. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce provides secretarial services to the Sri Lanka-Australia-New Zealand Business Council.