The 30^th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka – Canada Business Council (SLCBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held on 07^th October 2021.  Rajah Abeyasinghe, Chief Executive Officer of Hydromec  International (Pvt) Ltd was re-elected as the President of the Council for the year 2021-2022.  Abeyasinghe addressing the gathering stated that “the pandemic has caused socio-economic havoc not only in Sri Lanka but also globally and Sri Lanka needs to focus rest of 2021 to recover from both the Covid-19 pandemic and concurrent crises, especially managing its increasing debt will be a crucial pillar of Sri Lanka’s economic recovery”.

Abeyasinghe,  assured the members that the Business Council under his leadership will continue with its plan of action to further enhance trade, investment and tourism between Sri Lanka and Canada and thanked His Excellency David McKinnon, High Commissioner for Canada Chief Guest of the Virtual Annual General Meeting, who is also the Patron of the Sri Lanka – Canada Business Council for his untiring assistance extended to the Council and welcomed Daniel Bood, Counsellor for Political & Trade to the Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka.

The High Commissioner for Canada, His Excellency David McKinnon congratulated the SLCBC on its 30th year of operations, referring to the anniversary as “a significant milestone in the organization’s continuing support for Sri Lankan and Canadian business partnerships.” High Commissioner also highlighted the importance of the commercial component of the Canada – Sri Lanka relationship, taking into consideration Sri Lanka’s many assets in terms of talent, resources and geography. The High Commissioner emphasized that these assets, if properly harnessed through the right policies, could help strengthen the country’s economic prospects.

Ong Jhon Seon, Prima Ceylon (Pvt) Limited and Priyantha Padmasiri, Thames International Educational Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd were elected as Vice Presidents while Lionel Silva serves as the Immediate Past President.   Capt. Gayan Gunawardena, Director Ceyline Shipping Ltd, Jehan Perinpanayagam, Chief Executive Officer, Infomate (Pvt) Ltd, Harith Jayasuriya, Chief Marketing Officer, MAC Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, Mahesh Kurukulasuriya, Group Chief Commercial Officer, McLarens Holdings Ltd and Sajith Rajapaksa, Director, Samsons Rubber Products (Pvt) Ltd were elected serve on the Executive Committee of the Council for the period 2021-2022.

Further details regarding membership of the Council and its activities could be obtained from the Secretariat of the Sri Lanka – Canada Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce by E-mail: dinithi@chamber.lk or Tel. 5588861, 5588800.