The
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
SRI LANKA ECONOMIC SUMMIT
RE-BALANCING THE ECONOMY 9th - 11th July 2013 Cinnamon Grand - Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2013 Programme DAY 1 (Tuesday, 9th July 2013) 6.00 – 10.00 pm Inauguration Welcome Address: Keynote Address: Chief Guest:
Chairman, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Mr Anoop Singh - Director, Asia & Pacific Department, International Monetary Fund Bank Hon Dr Sarath Amunugama - Snr Minister, International Monetary Co-operation & Dep Minister of Finance
Reception & Fellowship
DAY 2 (Wednesday, 10th July 2013) 09.00 – 11.00 am SESSION 1 Managing the Fiscal Deficit Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit has been reduced from around 8% of GDP in the last decade to 6%-7% in the last t wo years. This has been achieved by reduction of the recurrent expenses but a concurrent fall in Government revenue is of concern. The fiscal deficit also leads to escalation of the public debt. The deficit needs to be cur tailed using a combination of revenue raising measures and expenditure management and controls. The session will review Sri Lanka’s current position, future targets and fiscal management strategies of other developing countries to ascer tain what lessons could be drawn for Sri Lanka. Keynote Speakers:
Panelists:
Dr P B Jayasundera - Secretary, Ministry of Finance & Planning ‘Fiscal Management, Lessons from Emerging Economies‘ Dr Koshy Mathai - IMF Resident Representative for Sri Lanka & Maldives Mr Rajan Brito - Managing Director, Aitken Spence PLC Mr Duminda Hulangamuwa - Partner-Head of Ta x Services, Ernst & Young Moderator: Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy - Director, Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC Former Director, Economic Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat
11.00 – 11.20 am
Tea break
11.20 - 1.00 pm SESSION 2 Export Strategy: Time to re-think and re-focus The Government policy framework has targeted to raise the rate of growth in expor ts to double that of GDP growth, but expor ts as a % of GDP have halved from year 2000 to 2012. The share of expor ts of Sri Lanka as a percentage of world expor ts has also declined over the years to reach 0.06% by 2011. The basket of merchandise expor ts from Sri Lanka as well as our expor ts markets have remained largely unchanged over the last few decades. The foregoing situation and change in the global economic scenario, with Asia gaining ground over the West, require us to rethink our expor t strategy given the impor tance of expor ts to a small economy targeting to achieve sustained high economic growth in the future. The session will identif y changes required to current strategy to rejuvenate the expor ts sector in Sri Lanka. Keynote Speakers:
Panelists:
‘Re-thinking the Basket of Exports’ Dr Premachandra Athukorale - Professor of Economics, Australian National University ‘Trade agreements as a tool to access Markets’ Dr Saman Kelegama - Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies Mr Niraj de Mel - Secretary General, Tea Exporters Association Mr Dinesh Saparamadu - CEO, hSenid Software International (Pvt) Ltd Mr Tuli Cooray - Secretary General, Joint Apparel Association Forum Mr Deshal de Mel - Senior Economist/Strategic Business Development, Hayleys PLC Moderator: Dr Anura Ekanayake - Past Chairman, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
1.00 – 2.00 pm
Lunch
2.00 - 4.30 pm SESSION 3 Enhancing Competitiveness through Higher Productivity A higher GDP growth requires higher value addition by the private sector, the main contributor to the national output. The slow recover y of the western economies has intensified competition in the global market and firms world over are adopting diverse strategies to enhance productivit y to remain competitive. The drive for higher growth and the need to remain internationally competitive demands Sri Lankan businesses to rigorously pursue strategies to increase productivit y both from the perspectives of adding value by innovation and through ef ficiency improvements in resource use. The session will discuss strategies for private sector to increase productivit y using the experiences of local companies and case studies from successful global brands. Keynote Speaker: Case Study Presenters: Panelists:
‘Strategies to Increase Competitiveness of Sri Lankan Companies’ Mr Ravi Fernando - Operations Director, Malaysian Blue Ocean Strategy Institute Apparel sector: Mr Jehan Jayasuriya - Financial Controller, MAS Intimates (Pvt) Ltd Rubber sector: Dr Mahesha Ranasoma - Managing Director, Dipped Products PLC Fruit & Vegetable sector: Mr Rizvi Zaheed - Managing Director, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Ltd Prof Sirimali Fernando - Chairperson, National Science Foundation Mr Ranel T WIjesinha - International Management Consultant Moderator: Mr Sunil Wijesinha - Management Consultant
Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2013 Programme DAY 3 (Thursday, 11th July 2013) 09.00 – 10.45 am SESSION 4 Connecting to Untapped Resources This session is intended to forge a closer par tnership bet ween the universities and the private sector. Following from the previous session to increase competitiveness and productivit y, the capacities in the universities to do research can be made more productive by encouraging the private sector to source the inputs of universities in their product/market research and direct the universit y staf f and students to do research that is relevant to solving real life issues. Speakers from academia and private sector will present success stories of par tnerships bet ween academia and business spelling out “dos” and “don’t” for other corporate to follow suit. Keynote Speaker: Panelists:
10.45 – 11.00 am
'Innovation and Technology for enabling Value Addition' Prof Gehan Amaratunga - Chief of Research & Technology - SLINTEC (Pvt) Ltd Dr Hans Wijayasuriya - Group CEO, Dialog A xiata PLC Prof Ajit Abeysekera - Senior Professor, University of Sri Jayawardenapura Dr Devapriya Nugewala - Chairman/Managing Director, Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd Prof Chandana Perera - Professor, Management of Technology / Consultant in Operations Management – University of Moratuwa Prof (Mrs) Dileeka Dias - Director-Dialog, University of Moratuwa Mobile Communication Research Laboratory Mr Jit Gunaratne - President, Consumer Food Sector, John Keells Holdings PLC Dr Suren Batagoda - Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance Moderator: Prof Ajith De Alwis - Project Director, Office of Science, Technology & Innovation – University of Moratuwa Tea break
11.00 - 12.45 pm SESSION 5 Meeting the Challenges of Demographic Changes and Skills Gap Focus on health and education in the past led to an improvement in our social indicators to the levels of emerging economies, including reduction in bir th rate and increase in life expectancy. Coupled with change in life st yles has made Sri Lanka a countr y with one of the fastest aging demographic profiles, specifically for a developing countr y. This would lead to a decline in the propor tion of persons in the employable age. The size of the labour force will be fur ther constrained by the high level of out migration from Sri Lanka. The poor response in skills development in conjunction with the requirements of the demands in the labour market is another aspect that af fects the availabilit y of labour. The session will discuss the foregoing issues and the way for ward. Keynote Speaker:
‘Sri Lanka’s Demographic Profile and Future Outlook’ Prof Indralal de Silva - Senior Professor of Demography, University of Colombo ‘Meeting the Human Resource Challenges’ Dr Nisha Arunatilake - Research Fellow, IPS
Panelists:
Mr Donglin Li - Country Director, ILO Dr Surath Wickramasinghe - President, The Chamber of Construction Industry Mr Anura Lokuhetty - Past President, The Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka Dr Ramani Gunatilaka - Consultant Moderator: Mr Ravi Peiris - Director General, Employers Federation of Ceylon
12.45 – 1.45 pm
Lunch
1.45 - 3.15 pm SESSION 6 Powering the Nation for the Future Energy has been gaining prominence for countries as a national issue and for its people with rising energy consumption and depletion of world’s thermal energy deposits / rise in prices. Sri Lanka as an impor ter of fuel, amounting to 25% of its total impor t bill, has been experiencing many issues ranging from pricing fuel and electricit y, lack of timely investments in the oil and electricit y sectors, implication of rising costs on industries and the households to implications at a macroeconomic level on the fiscal performance and balance of payments. The session is intended to discuss strategies to manage the energy supply and demand in a more ef ficient manner for the future. Keynote Speaker: Panelists:
3.15 – 3.30 pm
‘Meeting the Energy Needs of Tomorrow’ Dr Anil Cabraal - Director, Energy Forum Mr Upali Daranagama - Additional Secretary (Planning & Development), Ministry of Power and Energy Dr Thusitha Sugathapala - Director General, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority Mr E M Piyasena - Project Director, Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery Modernization Project Mr Damitha Kumarasinghe - Director General, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Dr T L Gunaruwan - Senior Lecturer, University of Colombo Moderator: Prof Rohan Samarajiva - Chairman/CEO, LirneAsia (Colombo, Sri Lanka) Tea break
3.30 - 5.00 pm SESSION 7 Challenges to re-balancing the Economy The session will facilitate a group of parliamentarians representing dif ferent par ties in power to express their views on how best to address the issues brought out at the previous sessions and other impor tant current issues and discuss the way for ward. Panelists: Hon Namal Rajapakse Hon Faizer Mustapha Hon Sujeewa Senasinghe Hon Dayasiri Jayasekara Hon M A Sumanthiran TBC Moderator: Mr Mano Tittawala - Chairman, Copyline Group & APEX Consultancy Services (Pvt) Ltd
SRI LANKA ECONOMIC SUMMIT
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce With over 174 years of service to the nation and business community, it is the premier forum for business in Sri Lanka.
RE-BALANCING THE ECONOMY Sri Lanka advanced to the lower-middle income country status in January 2010. With the rise in income levels and acceleration of development in the post-war era, the re-balancing of the economy has become increasingly important. In the past, the re-balancing has taken place on a need basis as well as by policy shift such as focus on infrastructure development, north-east reconstruction, development of the less developed regions, priority on agriculture and food security, etc. The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2013 will deliberate on some of the critical areas that should receive more attention from policy makers.
PLATINUM SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSOR
Working closely with 38 Trade, Product and Service Associations, 21 Bilateral Business Councils and through its network of 20 regional chambers, the Ceylon Chamber serves as the gateway to a world of business opportunity.
FOR WHOM Chairmen & CEOs, Directors, Senior Managers, Managers, Executives, Management Trainees, Foreign Investors, Senior Government Officials & Academics
KEY BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS
Enhance your knowledge on government plans to develop the Sri Lankan economy and progress in implementation of plans
Ascertain potential sectors and projects for investment in Sri Lanka
Opportunity to clarify your concerns with key government officials and industry leaders
Opportunity to meet and network
STRATEGIC SPONSORS
Carson Cumberbatch PLC
SESSION SPONSORS
HOST HOTEL
COMMUNICATIONS PARTNER
For further information, contact Sriyani at:
The
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
50 Nawam Mawatha, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka Tel : + 94 11 5588800 / 5588877 / 5588899 Fa x: +9411 2449352 / 2437477 Email: events@chamber.lk sriyani@chamber.lk www.chamber.lk
The
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
SRI LANKA ECONOMIC SUMMIT
LOCAL PARTICIPANTS Single participant (Member company)
REGISTRATION FEE @ LKR 22,000/- (including local taxes) Single participant (non-Member company)
@ LKR 25,000/- (including local taxes) For 3 or more bookings (per participant)
REGISTRATION FORM
@ LKR 20,000/- (including local taxes) Please send this form duly completed to:
Closing date for registration: 4th July 2013
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce 50 Navam Mawatha, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka Tel: + 94 11 5588800 / 5588877 / 5588899 Fa x: +94 11 2449352 / 2437477 E-mail: events@chamber.lk, sriyani@chamber.lk
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