The American Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka (AmCham Sri Lanka), recently held its 29th Annual General Meeting and election of directors. 

In consideration of the pandemic resultant safety guidelines and its commitments toward social responsibility, the AGM was conducted virtually using the Zoom online meeting platform.

Despite thelimitations and challenges of the still rampant Covid-19 pandemic, where the usual Chamber activities were significantly curtailed, the Chamber recorded for a second consecutive year, a net surplus of over Rs. 3 million as at the end of the financial period ending 31st March 2021. 

The Director’s Report further highlighted significant increase in membership, advocacy engagement and successful trade initiatives over the period, including the Tradeshifts initiative launched in 2020.  

At the election of Office Bearers & Directors, Lakshan Madurasinghe, representing Coca-Cola Sri Lanka, was elected President, replacing Presantha Jayamaha, who completed his two-year term, whilst Sanjeeva Abeygoonawardene, representing Mountain Hawk Express was re-elected Vice President, Shirendra Lawrence representing MAS Holdings was re-elected Secretary, and Riza Wadood representing IBM Sri Lanka was re-elected the Treasurer. 

Chief Guest at the Annual General Meeting, Chief Political and Economic Officer of the Embassy of the United States in Sri Lanka and The Maldives, Ms. Susan Walke addressed the assembly at the commencement of the meeting. In her address, Walke congratulated AmCham on a successful year and noted, “It has been an incredibly busy year, and I’d like to call out some impressive accomplishments despite the economic challenges we’ve faced …this type of [activity] truly demonstrates the benefits of innovative thinking that US Companies are bringing to the global business community [and] it is clear that this AmCham’s success is not limited to Sri Lanka only as it now holds leadership roles in the Regional AmChams of Asia Pacific.”

“Post-pandemic economic recovery is not possible without these types of partnerships” she noted. “We want Sri Lanka to succeed. As President Biden said, there’s a fundamental truth in the 21st Century that our own success is bound up with others succeeding as well –Sri Lanka has a wealth of innovators and change makers who are already laying the foundations for launching a green and innovative economy, their input is also essential to economic policy development …Sri Lanka has the drive, but the challenge lies in building the right environment for your innovative businesses to thrive. 

The United States remains committed to supporting a more prosperous and inclusive Sri Lanka, there are endless numbers of exciting opportunities we can work on together based on our embassy and AmCham collaboration, and I look forward to continuing to play a role in these opportunities” she concluded. 

Addressing the membership, newly elected President, Lakshan Madurasinghe stated“It is true that we live in a very complex, fast changing and volatile environment which includes many opportunities as it does challenges. In these uncertain times, the AmCham will continue to represent our members and support you to do more business. We recognize that we have a key role to play in the attraction of investment into SL, make it easier to do business and we have a responsibility to make our society better, together.”

The new Board of Directors, elected unanimously by the assembly are: Lakshan Madurasinghe (Coca-Cola Sri Lanka Private Ltd.) – President,  Sanjeeva Abeygoonawardene (Mountain Hawk Express) – Vice President, Shirendra Lawrence (MAS Holdings) – Secretary, Riza Wadood (IBM Sri Lanka) – Treasurer, Presantha Jayamaha (Elyon Global) – President Emeritus, Nilupa Kiringoda (Sysco Labs Technologies) – Director, Sandeep Gopal (Fairfirst Insurance) – Director, Sheamalee Wickramasinghe (CBL Group) – Director, Rasitha Wickramasinghe (Stax Inc) – Director, Dimantha Senevirathne (NDB Bank) – Director, Tania Polonnowita-Wettimuny (IAS Holdings) – Director, Harsha Randeny (Microsoft Sri Lanka) – Director, Stuart Rogers (HSBC) – Director and Phill Loosli – Representative of the Embassy of 
the USA.