brand logo

Canada considers sending

08 Sep 2022

  • Particular focus to be on businesses owned by women in North, East
Canada is considering mobilising experts to support badly hit Sri Lankan micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those owned by women in Sri Lanka’s North and East, to help improve their access to much-needed capital to weather the economic crisis.  This was disclosed at the 31st Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Canada Business Council (SLCBC) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce which was held recently.  High Commission of Canada Political and Trade Counsellor Daniel Bood graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Thames International Educational Consultancy (Pvt.) Ltd. Chairman Priyantha Padmasiri Chandrasekara was elected as the President of the Council for the year 2022-2023. Chandrasekara addressing the gathering stated: “It has been challenging to establish bilateral commercial partnerships with Canada over the past year because of the Covid-19 outbreak and the ongoing political turmoil in Sri Lanka. To increase the number of members engaged in business between Canada and Sri Lanka, the Committee Members will arrange more events, primarily in the development of membership, with the aid of trade fairs, business seminars, webinars, and bilateral trade investments with Canada.” Chandrasekara assured the members that the Sri Lanka-Canada Business Council, under his leadership, will continue with the new plan of action to further enhance tourism, education, travel and ticketing, IT consulting, travel, and insurance as well as export/import businesses between Sri Lanka and Canada. In his closing remarks, Chandrasekara expressed his sincere thanks to Bood for gracing the occasion. Bood began his remarks by congratulating the SLCBC on its 31st year of operations, referring to some of his observations since his arrival in the country in July 2021, a time when the country was yet battling Covid-19 and the Government was undertaking an aggressive vaccination campaign. He noted that at that time, there were also increasing warning signs that Sri Lanka’s growing economic malaise would soon explode into a full-blown economic crisis that had been long in the making. Given that the economic crisis has also exacerbated cases of sexual and gender-based violence, Canada will continue to help strengthen Sri Lanka’s women’s rights organisations and women-led MSMEs, while addressing sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) by supporting survivors and the service providers that assist them. At the same time, Bood indicated that the High Commission is pursuing collaboration opportunities between Canadian and Sri Lankan institutions in the education field that he hopes will bear fruit in the not-too-distant future. Bood said that he looked forward to working with the SLCBC in the coming months to contribute to that transition from the perspective of bilateral trade and investment. Prima Ceylon (Pvt.) Ltd. General Manager Ong Jhon Seon and Ceyline Shipping Pvt. Ltd. Chief Operating Officer Capt. Gayan Gunawardane were elected as the Vice Presidents while Hydromec International (Pvt.) Ltd. Chief Operating Officer Rajendra Abeyasinghe will serve as the Immediate Past President. Infomate (Pvt.) Ltd. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jehan Perinpanayagam, McLarens Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. Group Chief Commercial Officer Mahesh Kurukulasuriya, Spillburg Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. Managing Director Mohomad Hameez, Fairfirst Insurance Ltd. Chief Operating Officer Dhilan Mitchell, and United Ventures (Pvt.) Ltd. Manager Dilanka Herath were elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council for the period 2022-2023.    


More News..