Sri Lanka (Commonwealth) _ Lord Marland, Chairman of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), who was recently on an official tour of South and South East Asia, praised the Sri Lankan government’s post-crisis development initiatives and emphasized the importance of strengthening relationships among all Commonwealth nations in order to explore new opportunities for partnerships.
Partnerships with other nations will greatly benefit Sri Lanka’s overall development efforts, since the country has already demonstrated excellent economic recovery, reinforcing the strong indicators of growth following the terrible crisis period that Sri Lanka endured as a result of post-COVID challenges, he emphasized.
While recently in Colombo on an official visit, Lord Marland also paid a courtesy call to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. They both engaged in friendly talks and shared enlightening ideas about how to revive Sri Lanka’s chances of drawing in more investors for its international trade and investment projects.
Their talks further focused on how to improve relations between Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth and how to garner the support of all relevant parties in order to rekindle economic growth and improve the standard living conditions for all Sri Lankans without any differences.
A long-standing partnership exists between the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council and the Government of Sri Lanka. August 2023 witnessed Sri Lanka becoming an institutional Strategic Partner, and CWEIC was happy to help Sri Lanka in capitalizing on the Commonwealth Advantage.
In Sri Lanka, CWEIC has a number of strategic partners, or members, including the private companies LOLC Holdings, Capital Maharaja Group, and Port City Colombo.
At a special networking reception held during his visit to Sri Lanka, Lord Marland was fortunate enough to get to learn more about the amazing Port City Colombo project. Along with a plethora of dignitaries representing state and business organizations, Dilum S. Amunugama, Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Investment Promotion, was also in attendance. At the reception, he also got to know several well-known members of Sri Lanka’s business and political dignitaries, with whom he discussed potential paths for the public and private sectors to pursue in order to promote economic expansion.
Situated in a strategic location in South Asia, Port metropolis Colombo aims to develop into a world-class sustainable metropolis by utilizing the international service-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to create a vibrant commercial hub and dynamic financial center.
Thanking Port City, Colombo for hosting them, CWEIC Strategic Partner underlined that they are excited to showcase the potential for the Commonwealth. He went on to say that Sri Lanka is not an exception to the rule that CWEIC, the Commonwealth’s business network, is genuinely committed to facilitating trade and investment among its 56 member nations. He clarified that Sri Lanka will receive all assistance required to realize its full potential.
This occasion exhibited Lord Marland’s resolute backing of Colombo Port City’s (PCC) drive to attract potential investors from around the Commonwealth and beyond through investment promotion via CWEIC. It was also a fantastic forum for PCC to talk about its upcoming investment prospects.
In his welcoming speech, Lord Marland further praised Sri Lanka’s fortitude, spirit of entrepreneurship, hospitality, and enterprising spirit. He emphasized Sri Lanka’s 1.6% positive economic development and said the country is “a nation on the move,” continuously moving toward greater wealth.
Despite the previous two difficult years, he emphasized PCC’s tremendous progress in reaching important project milestones, such as the marina promenade and other signature developments scheduled to begin construction in 2024, and he extended CWEIC’s support to position the project as a major investment destination. His concluding sentiments were, “Port City Colombo will be a winner for those who participate in it.”
Representatives from several of Sri Lanka’s top businesses, including John Keells Holdings PLC, SLASSCOM, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Sri Lanka, Deloitte Consulting, and other esteemed invitees, were in attendance at PCC’s networking event with Lord Marland. Over the course of the two days, Niro Cooke, the director of Capital Maharaja Group and a member of the CWEIC’s statutory board, was among the existing strategic partners that Lord Marland met. He met a lot of potential strategic partners who were eager to work together to grow enterprises throughout the Commonwealth’s 56 member nations.
During his brief visit to Sri Lanka, Lord Marland attracted the interest of all media outlets in Sri Lanka. He was interviewed at a prime-time bulletin show by one of Sri Lanka’s top television networks to talk about the Commonwealth’s contribution to the country’s economic recovery and the activities of the CWEIC.
The CWEIC discussed a number of important issues for the Commonwealth during this thoughtful and long discussion, including how to balance economic expansion with the energy transition and the role of the private sector in promoting such sustainable economic growth.
With an official mission from the Commonwealth Heads of Government to promote trade and investment among the 56 member states of the Commonwealth, WEIC is a commercial, non-profit membership organization. The purpose of CWEIC is to promote trade and investment by leveraging the Commonwealth, under the leadership of His Majesty the King, and its reliable network.
About 140 corporate and governmental Strategic Partners (members) from 35 different countries and territories make up CWEIC’s network, including Standard Chartered, Zenith Bank, Trade & Investment Queensland, and the Government of the Maldives. In collaboration with the nation hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), CWEIC organizes the Commonwealth Business Forum every two years.
