As Sri Lanka prepares to formulate and implement reforms that will enable economic revival, the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2022 organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will explore necessary reforms and their implications during Session 1 of the Summit dedicated to ‘Economic Reforms and Implications’, on December 6th.
The session will begin with a fireside chat with the former Finance Minister of Georgia, Aleksi Alexsishvili who will discuss Georgia’s economic reform story. He is widely credited with successfully implementing reforms in the areas of public finance, tax and customs policy and administration and deregulation and liberalisation. During his tenure from 2005-2007, Georgia was recognised as the world’s number 1 reformer country by the World Bank ‘Doing Business’ survey, improved from 132nd to 18th place in the Ease of Doing Business index. During this same period, the country’s tax burden reduced drastically accompanied by a significant increase in the rate of tax compliance, while both foreign direct investment and GDP growth rate saw noteworthy improvement. Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe will join the fireside chat, presenting Sri Lanka’s plans for economic reform.
The presentations and discussions that follow will focus on the roadmap to desired fiscal reforms, as well as prioritising reforms within the framework of an economic reform agenda, in addition to the outlook on the debt restructuring process and what a 4-year International Monetary Fund programme will mean for the private sector. The session will also explore the role that monetary policy and an independent Central Bank will play in the process, gaps in the current framework, recapitalisation of the banks and strengthening the social safety net to protect the increasing segment of the vulnerable population.
Session panellists will include Mr. Krishan Balendra – Chairman, John Keells Holdings, PLC, and Deputy Vice-Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Sharmini Cooray – Former Director, Capacity Development, IMF. Dr. Cooray is an eminent economist who was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Group on Multilateral Engagement and Debt Sustainability which was tasked with guiding Sri Lankan institutions and officials on engaging with the IMF to solve Sri Lanka’s debt crisis. Mr. Bingumal Thewarathanthri – Chief Executive Office, Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka will also join the panel discussion, with Mr. Mahinda Siriwardena – Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance also slated to join. The session will be moderated by Dr. Naveen Gunawardena – Co-Founder and Managing Director, Lynear Wealth.
The Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2022 (SLES 2022) is scheduled to be held on 5th and 6th December as a hybrid summit, at the Shangri-La Hotel. The theme for the 22nd Sri Lanka Economic Summit is based on the theme of Resetting from Turmoil to Opportunity.
The Chamber look forward to delivering an insightful and valuable experience to all participants. Participants have the opportunity to register online from https://www.chamber.lk/index.php/sles-2022 for the entire two- day summit or choose the sessions they wish to attend. Registrations for the event are now open. For further information, please contact Niroshini on [email protected] or 0115588852; or Alikie on [email protected] or 0115588805.
