Council for Business with Britain to strengthen UK-SL trade corridor  

The 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held recently in Colombo in which Ms. Roshanie Jayasundera Moraes, Executive Vice President, John Keells Holdings PLC became the first woman to be elected as the President of the CBB.
“Moving forward our 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 that 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 stated at the meeting, according to a media release issued by the council.   
Exports to the UK from Sri Lanka is around US$1 billion while imports from the UK is around $370 million The UK is one of the two largest apparel buyers from Sri Lanka. 
Commenting on developments during his tenure, outgoing President, Mark Prothero, CEO of HSBC, Sri Lanka & Maldives said: “As we all know, it has been an unfortunate and difficult period for Sri Lanka with two ‘Black Swan’ events in a row in 2019 and 2020 which brought with it unprecedented challenges to our economy and particular hardship for our 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. 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.”
Over the past year, CBB organised 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. 

Above Ms. Roshanie Jayasundera Moraes