From left: Saliya Senanayake - Immediate Past Chairman of CILTSL and current International Vice President of CILT; Professor Amal Kumarage - Chairman CILTSL; Captain Lasitha Cumaratunga - Vice Chairman CILTSL; Upali Zoysa of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (Financial Sponsor); and Shanaka Fernando of Sri Lankan Airlines (Official Airline)

The International Conference 2010 of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), themed 'Envisioning Development Opportunities in Transport and Logistics in South Asia' with an emphasis on 'The Synergy of Public Private Partnerships,' will be held in Colombo this week.

The Management Committee of CILT (UK) had unanimously selected Sri Lanka to host its International Conference 2010 given the growing importance of Sri Lanka as a regional hub in the global transport and logistics industry.

With numerous new opportunities opening up for development and economic growth in Sri Lanka, such combined synergies in the transport and logistics arena are certain to provide directly for the rapid growth of the industry.

The conference will be held at the Ceylon Continental Hotel Colombo from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday 13 October. The conference is being organised by CILT Sri Lanka.

The resource persons listed for presentations and discussion during the conference cover a wide range of experiences and specialisations in the sector. The knowledge they would share would provide a valuable experience for transport and logistics professionals in any context, especially those working in Sri Lanka and the developing countries.

The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Partha Mukhopadhyay, PhD, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, India.

Guest speakers are Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake, PhD, Chairman/CEO Aitken Spence Maritime Logistics, Sri Lanka; D.S. Jayaweera, Director General of the Department of Development Finance, Sri Lanka; K.C. Jena, FCILT, President, CILT India and Chairman - Railway Board India; Prof. Alan Waller, OBE, MA, MSc, DMS, FCILT, FIBC, CMC, FCMI, FMS, FOR, International President-Elect, CILT; Ram C. Menen, FCILT, Divisional Senior Vice President - Cargo, Emirates Airline; and Bernard Auton, FCILT, Director General, CILT International.

Established in 1919, CILT is the leading global professional body associated with the logistics and transport industry. The key objective of the institute is 'To promote and encourage the art and science of logistics and transport".

With a global membership of over 33,000 members working in over 100 countries, CILT provides a professional identity to those in the ever expanding logistics and transport sector. Having received the Royal Charter in 1926, the institute has an exciting history behind it, but it has always been adapting to stay consistent with the current logistics and transport related issues. The Institute's Patron is Queen Elizabeth II.

During the past few decades, the landscape of the world economy has changed noticeably. New trade patterns reflect an increase in the regionalisation of the supply chains and intra-industry trade, with increasing flows between neighbouring countries and trading blocs with similar factor endowments. Similarly, new modes of transportation have opened exciting new perspectives for creating more liveable cities and providing higher quality of personal mobility.

The importance of this integrated approach has made it possible for global trade and freight logistics to converge strongly to provide an unparalleled opportunity for many countries to strengthen their links with neighbouring nations as well as other trading performance for greater efficiency, the combination of public and private sector synergies in service and infrastructure provision appears to provide a platform for the sharing of different resources required for quality improvements, capacity expansion and modernisation that are often the areas of concern in provision of acceptable logistics and transport services and infrastructure.