Regional business links up with Colombo business leaders

The Business for Peace Alliance (BPA), established five years ago as a regional business network for regional empowerment, was granted affiliated membership in the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

“The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has been associating closely with BPA since its inception and we have collaborated with BPA in organizing some important joint projects. These projects have had a significant impact,” said Mahen Dayananda, Chairman CCC in a statement.

He said since the BPA has institutionalised itself, the CCC felt it should formalize its association with BPA by granting affiliated membership to BPA.

Dayananda that the CCC placed importance on addressing the current initiatives connected with the process of peace and reconciliation and BPA’s efforts at regional level complemented the efforts of the CCC in this context.

BPA Chairman H Wijeyanandana said their network now comprises 25 regional business chambers in all the provinces in Sri Lanka. The membership of two of these chambers is made up exclusively of women in business.

Wijeyanandana said the traditional “Colombo centric approach” has not been a successful model for economic growth and national development. “The bulk of the raw materials and the bulk of production is done in the regions. However most decisions affecting the regions are made in Colombo without consulting the regions who are affected,” he said.

“ We want to preserve our regional identity and dignity. However we cannot function in isolation. We have much to learn from the big business in Colombo. We also have much to share by way of providing inputs from the regions and also providing support to implement projects in the regions,” he added.