The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) elected Duminda Hulangamuwa as its Chairman at the 184th AGM last week.
Hulangamuwa who is the Country Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Sri Lanka and the Maldives, succeeds businessman Vish Govindasamy as the Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber.
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 for 2023/24.
The Chief Guest at the AGM Ambassador of Japan, Hideaki Mizukoshi outlined the importance of completing various reforms in line with the IMF program.
“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 said. 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, Hulangamuwa said 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 said as the leading business chamber in the country, the Ceylon Chamber would continue to actively address issues faced by its Members, including promoting corporate agriculture, relaxing price controls, promoting FTAs, tariff issues, as the success of the Ceylon Chamber is directly linked to the success of each individual member.
The following were also elected to the Board of the Ceylon Chamber:
Amal Cabraal, Kasturi Chellaraja, Sarath Ganegoda, Supun Weerasinghe, Vinod Hirdaramani and Buwanekabahu Perera.