The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) elected Duminda Hulangamuwa as its new Chairman at the 184th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 30 June.
Hulangamuwa who is the Country Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Sri Lanka and the Maldives, succeeds veteran businessman Vish Govindasamy as the Chairman of the CCC.
Krishan Balendra, Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC, and Bingumal Thewarathanthri, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka, were appointed Vice Chairman and Deputy Vice Chairman respectively, for 2023/24.
Chief Guest at the AGM, Ambassador of Japan, Hideaki Mizukoshi addressing the gathering highlighted the importance of completing various reforms in line with the IMF programme. ‘Serious implementation of the reforms will also contribute to the improvement of the investment and business environment through financial stabilisation and the streamlining of administrative procedures through digital transformation initiatives. Japan supports very strongly such reform measures which enhance transparency, efficiency and consistency,’ he added.
Ambassador Mizukoshi assured that Japan will continue to play a significant role in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process, ‘not only as a creditor nation but also as a long-standing friend of Sri Lanka’.
Acknowledging the key role that the Ceylon Chamber played during the height of the economic crisis, drawing on its vast repository of skill, experience, and expertise to steer the private sector through the challenges, newly elected Chairman Hulangamuwa stressed that the Chamber would continue to provide ‘even greater support to the relevant institutions to steer the country from a stabilisation path to one of growth and prosperity that will ensure equal opportunities for all Sri Lankans’.
He stressed that as the leading business Chamber in the country, the CCC would continue to actively address issues faced by its members, including promoting corporate agriculture, removing price controls, promoting FTAs, tariff issues etc., as the success of the Ceylon Chamber is directly linked to the success of each individual Member.
CCC Board members elected: Chairman of Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC, Silvermill Investment Holdings, and CIC Feeds Group of Companies Amal Cabraal, Group CEO of Hemas Holdings PLC Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson, Executive Director of Hayleys PLC Sarath Ganegoda, Director/Group CEO of Dialog Axiata PLC Supun Weerasinghe, Chairman of Hirdaramani Group Vinod Hirdaramani, and The CCC Secretary General and CEO Buwanekabahu Perera.