The Sri Lanka – Italy Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce held its 17th Annual General Meeting at the Hilton Colombo Residences recently. Dr. Giandomenico Milano, Charge D’Affairs A.I, Embassy of Italy in Sri Lanka was the Chief Guest at this occasion.
Mr. D. R. P Abeyasinghe, Chief Executive Officer, Hydromec International (Private) Limited was appointed President of the Council. Mr. Abeyasinghe has a Mechanical Engineering background. The latter part of his career however has been devoted to marketing and commercial aspects of dealing in Earth Moving and Materials Handling Machinery and Equipment. Mr. Abeyasinghe in his address said that the Sri Lanka – Italy Business Council can lay claim to organizational excellence that has taken the Council to such highest in its journey and reached the standing as the foremost Business Council in the country. He further added that overall, the relationship between Sri Lanka and Italy is a strong and abiding one.
Mr. Abeyasinghe takes over from Mrs. Tania Polonnowita Wettimuny. During her speech Mrs. Polonnowita said that together with the Sri Lanka Italy Friendship Society, the Council had organized a Farewell Reception for His Excellency Fabrizio Arpea, Former Ambassador, Embassy of Italy in Sri Lanka in June last year. The Sri Lanka Export Development Board, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka – Italy Business Council together with the Commissioner General of Expo Milan 2015 Secretariat organized a seminar on ”EXPO MILAN 2015” in July last year at the Auditorium of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management. The Annual Christmas Dinner & Welcome Reception for the Ambassador of Italy to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Paolo Andrea Bartorelli, was hosted together with the Sri Lanka Italy Friendship Society in December. A Breakfast Meeting was conducted by Hon. Minister Champika Ranawaka on the topic “The Vision of Megapolis and Investment Opportunities” in January this year at Hilton Colombo Residences. This Breakfast Meeting proved to be a very popular and timely event that drew over 200 participants from the Sri Lankan Business Community.
Mrs. Polonnowita also mentioned the Italian Language Course conducted by the Council. The 2nd Batch of Italian Language Course for Beginners was held from October 2015 to January 2016. Two students, Ms. Imalka Maduwanthi and Ms. Sumi Atapattu who had successfully passed the course were presented with their certificates at this event. Mrs. Polonnowita added that the third batch of the Italian Language Course for Beginners had also begun, with a class of 10 students.
In May 2015, the Council also provided its members with the opportunity to meet a Business Delegation from Italy regarding Renewable Energy. The delegates made a brief presentation on the alternative energy technology available to them, which was followed by a lively Question & Answer Session between the delegates and participants. This Business Delegation had accompanied the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy Hon. Benedetto Della Vedova on his official visit to the Country.
Mrs. Sonali Liyanamana, Chief Executive Officer, Interglobe – Worldlink Air Services (Pvt) Ltd, and Mr. Anushka Polonowita, General Manager, Euro Sports Auto Lanka (Pte) Ltd., Subsidiary of Micro Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. were elected Vice Presidents of the Council.
A Baur & Co. Ltd., Ally Weerasinghe Ltd, DFCC Bank PLC, JAT Holdings (Pvt) Ltd., Lanka Walltiles PLC, Spear International (Pvt) Ltd., The Autodrome PLC, Walkers Tours Ltd. were elected from the membership to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council.