Sri Lanka to become a commercial hub of Asia: Speaker Karu Jayasuriya
View(s):Sri Lanka has embarked on a socio economic development process to make the country as a commercial hub of Asia. This was disclosed by Speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, when he addressed as the Chief Guest at the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainable awards ceremony 2015 of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Colombo.
He added that it was necessary to capitalise on activities of international trade as well as global economic competitiveness towards this end.
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has taken appropriate action to redesign activities related to the guidelines set by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development programme, he revealed.This was a plan of action for the planet, its people and for its prosperity, he said adding that it will also seek to strengthen universal peace and freedom and eradication of poverty in all forms which is a global challenge.
The sustainability awards scheme initiated by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will benefit companies to safe guard the environment at large.
He paid tribute to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for the role it played to highlight the need for good governance, transparency, accountability and establishing the rule of law and eradication of corruption. The keynote speech was delivered by Mark Devadason, the Global Head of Sustainability, Standard Chartered Bank.
Dr. Anila Dias Bandaranike Chairperson of the Evaluation Panel said that sustainability is both the business challenge and business opportunity of the 21 century. She noted that continuance profits go hand in hand with preserving the planet and serving its people. She said it was disappointing to note that despite having around 2500 large companies in Sri Lanka, applications for sustainability awards this time have dropped compared to last year. The Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Samantha Ranatunga said as the Chairman of the 176 year old Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, there was never a time, as today the three words of People, Planet and Profits became the buzzword among the respected corporate entities which were focused on doing business with integrity.
He said there was an era, when organisations thought much about Profits, less about People and none about the Planet. Today, an organisation’s wealth is not only measured by ‘Profits’, but also by the contribution it has made to sustain the ‘Planet ‘and also care for the ‘People’. This we call as the ‘Triple Bottom Line’, he said.Meanwhile Sampath Bank Plc emerged as the winner of the ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2015’. Singer Sri Lanka PLC and National Development Bank PLC were awarded as the 1st and the 2nd runners up of the competition respectively at the ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2015’.
The Citizens Development Business Finance Plc became the winner of the Category B ( Less than Rs. 15 billion turnover) while Laugfs Holdings Limited and Access Engineering PLC became the 1st and the 2nd Runners up of the ‘category B’ respectively.The ten corporate citizens awards went to Sampath Bank PLC, Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC, National Development Bank PLC, Aitken Spence PLC, People’s Leasing and Finance PLC, John Keells Holdings PLC, Hatton National Bank PLC, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC and Sri Lanka Telecom.