Roshanie Moraes elected first woman president of CBB
COLOMBO – Creating history of sorts, Roshanie Moraes, Executive Vice President, John Keells Holdings PLC, was elected President of the Council for Business with Britain, becoming the first woman to be elected to the post. The feat was achieved at the 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce held on August 27.
Stepping into the role with ease, she said moving forward the CBB’s efforts will primarily be focused on enhancing business and trade between the UK and Sri Lanka as part of wider government-led efforts to support post-COVID economic revival.
“We believe women will also play a greater role in driving this recovery, and to that end, we will also be launching an initiative to improve female labour force participation and gender parity across Sri Lanka’s business environment,” she added.
With UK being one of the two largest apparel buyers from Sri Lanka, exports to the UK, stand at around US$ 1 billion and imports at around US$ 370 million.
Outgoing president Mark Prothero, CEO of HSBC, Sri Lanka & Maldives, commenting on developments during his tenure, said it been an unfortunate and difficult period for Sri Lanka with two ‘Black Swan’ events in a row in 2019 and 2020 that brought with it unprecedented challenges to the economy and particular hardship for the tourism and leisure sector. “However, it is encouraging to see that despite these unique challenges, there are other sectors of Sri Lanka’s export economy which have rebounded sharply in a strong v-shaped recovery,” he noted, adding that this serves as one of many indicators as to the resilience of the Sri Lankan people and “we can be confident that under a united president and government there is still strong opportunity for Sri Lanka to develop and prosper in the years ahead”.
Having served as president during the 20th anniversary of the CBB, Prothero went on to express his gratitude to fellow Committee members – including some of the largest domestic corporates and multi-nationals – for their support and senior-level engagement in the CBB.
Over the past year, CBB organized multiple discussions and events focused on relevant and timely topics, covering financial and forex markets, responsible marketing, urban development and the significance of architecture and sustainable development. Among the other key highlights in the CBB’s calendar over the past year was the launch of the SL-UK trade and investment report and the hosting of a special event to felicitate former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, Kumar Sangakkara on his appointment as the Chairman of the MCC.
Reading a statement issued on behalf of High Commissioner to Sri Lanka from the UK, Sarah Hulton, Lisa Whanstall, Deputy High Commissioner for the UK thanked the outgoing president, Mark Prothero, and the CBB committee for all their hard work and for the time they have spent sharing insights and working together with the High Commissioner in her first year in Sri Lanka. She also congratulated incoming President Roshanie Jayasundera Moraes, together with the new office bearers and other committee members, with who she said she look forward to working closely in the year ahead to support UK businesses in this challenging time.
The 2020/21 committee comprises Linda Giebing, General Manager, Hilton Colombo Residences and Ameena Ziauddin – Development Director, Norfolk Foods – Vice Presidents, Tania Polonnowita Wettimuny, MD, Inter Air & Sea Logistics -Treasurer and Mark Prothero, CEO, HSBC Sri Lanka & Maldives -Immediate Past President.
Newly appointed committee members include: Shirendra Lawrence, COO, MAS Holdings, Hajar Alafifi, Chairperson, Unilever Sri Lanka, Sarath Ganegoda, Director, Hayleys PLC, S Renganathan, MD, Commercial Bank, Nikhil Hirdaramani, Director, Hirdaramani Group, Arjuna Nanayakkara, Head of Shared Services, London Stock Exchange Group SL, Irfan Thassim, MD, Oceanpick, Dougie Douglas, Country Manager, Etihad Airways, Indika Abeykoon, GM, Aitken Spence Travels and Gihan Jayasinghe, MD, Finlays Group, SL.
Michael Fernandopulle, Head of Trade & Investment at the DIT, of the British High Commission, the Head of the British Council and Shaameel Mohideen, MD of Spillburg Holdings representing SMEs will be invitees to the Committee, with representatives from the BOI and the EDB to attend the meetings as invitees every quarter.