ECONOMYNEXT – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has re-elected Chairperson Krishan Balendra and the Board for 2026/27 at its 187th Annual Common Assembly.
The 2026/27 office-bearers are Chairperson Krishan Balendra, – Chairperson John Keells Holdings PLC, Vice Chairperson Bingumal Thewarathanthri – CEO, Normal Chartered Financial institution Sri Lanka, and Deputy Vice-Chairperson Vinod Hirdaramani – Chairman, Hirdaramani Group.
Jayanthi Dharmasena – Managing Director, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Ltd., Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson – Chief Working Officer, Head of APAC – 5Hour Worldwide Company Singapore, Shibani Thambiayah – Managing Director, Renuka Accommodations PLC, Supun Weerasinghe – Director/Group CEO – Dialog Axiata PLC, and Shiran Fernando – Secretary-Common and CEO will function Board Members. Mr. Rohana Dissanayake – Group Chairman and Managing Director of David Pieris Motor Firm Pvt. Ltd. may even be a part of the Board, changing Mr. Bernhard Stefan – Managing Director – Nestlé Lanka PLC, who relocated abroad.
Excessive Commissioner of Britain to Sri Lanka, Andrew Patrick, attended the occasion as Chief Visitor.
Balendra famous that over the previous 12 months, the Chamber adopted a extra solutions-oriented strategy to advocacy, focusing not solely on figuring out challenges but additionally on growing constructive suggestions in collaboration with authorities, business stakeholders, and improvement companions, with this strategy yielding stronger outcomes.
“Via our engagement within the Funds 2026 course of, eighteen suggestions proposed by the Chamber had been included into the nationwide funds, protecting areas akin to commerce facilitation, funding promotion, digitalisation, infrastructure, and enhancing the convenience of doing enterprise. This builds upon the sturdy momentum established in earlier years and demonstrates the worth of evidence-based, constructive engagement.
“The Chamber additionally contributed to addressing rising world commerce challenges, together with tariff-related points affecting Sri Lankan exports. By representing personal sector views in Presidential Committees, we supported efforts to safeguard export competitiveness and strengthen commerce resilience.”
Past advocacy, it considerably expanded its engagement footprint, strengthening bilateral partnerships throughout greater than twenty international locations, and supporting greater than 1,800 SMEs by way of coaching, advisory companies, and market entry initiatives.
He added that over the subsequent 12 months, the Ceylon Chamber is dedicated to deepening engagement with members, strengthening world partnerships, enhancing help for SMEs, and accelerating efforts to advertise exports and appeal to funding, and is dedicated to working with the Authorities. (Colombo/Jun27/2026)
