Financial Times

All Party parley at the Cinnamon Grand?
Somawansa, Sampanthan at CCC economic summit
By Feizal Samath
JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe and TNA leader R. Sampanthan – on different sides of the political fence – meet at an unusual event (for them) later this month – the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC)’s annual economic conference.

They are among a group of political leaders including D.E.W. Gunasekera, Minister of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration, UNP parliamentarian Prof. G. L. Peries and SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem invited to participate in ‘The Way Forward’ session for Sri Lanka to articulate their views, in an attempt to reach some degree of consensus on the crisis of peace and the close-to-war situation.

“Mr Amarasinghe has confirmed his participation. We have also invited Mr Sampanthan,” said CCC CEO Prema Cooray. That session is on day one of the January 27 – 28 economic summit titled ‘Economic Growth: Towards National Prosperity’ at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.

Many government, corporate and trade union leaders are making presentations and taking part with the keynote address being made by Dr. Shubhascis Gangopadhyay, Director, India Development Foundation.

This is perhaps the first time Amarasinghe, a firebrand Marxist leader, is taking part in a discussion with the business community in recent times and comes at a stage when the chamber is playing a lead role in taking the business community into the peace process with some far-reaching steps including a meeting with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, which was exclusively reported by The Sunday Times FT.

In the same week a high powered delegation from Northern Ireland led by Bruce Robinson, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and former CEO of the Industrial Development Board of Northern Ireland is visiting Sri Lanka (January 24 to February 1).

Officials said the delegation has representatives personally involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland and are expected to share their experiences and the initiative spearheaded by them to bring peace, with business leaders and civil society here. That peace process was driven by business leaders in Northern Ireland supported by the chambers of commerce, civil society, and trade unions who played an important role in bringing about an end to the conflict.

The visit has been organized by the International Conflict Research Centre (INCORE) of Northern Ireland and the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust in Sri Lanka. The delegation is meeting influential members of the chamber on January 26 and is also likely to attend the economic summit.

The CCC is also holding the first meeting of its sub committee on peace on January 24. Chaired by Deva Rodrigo, chairman of the CCC, those invited to serve on the committee include Prema Cooray, Chandra Jayaratne, Dr. Anura Ekanayake, Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake and Suresh Shah.

Other members of the visiting delegation are. Chris Gibson, Pro Chancellor Queens University Belfast, former Chairman/ MD of ICI Ireland Ltd, and recent past Chairman of the Confederation of British Industry,(CBI) Northern Ireland Chapter, Peter Bunting, Assistant General Secretary, Irish Congress of Trade Unions the umbrella organization for trade in Ireland, Ms. Janice Tracey, Chief Executive of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and Ms. Helen Lewis - Representative from INCORE.

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