Ravi Jayawardene, new President-National Chamber of Exporters

Ravi Jayawardene was elected as the new President and Jayantha Karunaratne and Mr.Kaushal Rajapakse were elected as the Vice Presidents of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) at its 26th Annual General Meeting held recently on January 21 in Colombo.

The AGM was followed by a Post Business Forum with Suresh de Mel, Chairman, Export Development Board (EDB) gracing the event as the Chief Guest.

According to a media release issued by the NCE, Mr.  Jayawardene is the Chairman of Golden Palm Craft (Pvt) Ltd Established in 1986. He has been actively associated with several national and international trade associations in the past and is the only Sri Lankan to be elected as the President, World Fair Trade Organization-Asia. Mr. Jayawardene has been with NCE for over 15 years as a Council Member and also has held the office of Assistant Secretary and the last four years as the Vice President of the chamber.

Addressing the participants, Mr. de Mel expressed his interest in working with SME exporters from regions and also highlighted his long standing affiliations with regional chambers where he contributed immensely towards the development of SME’s capacity building and skill development. In his address, Mr. de Mel further emphasized the importance of adding value to exports and reaching niche markets for Sri Lankan products and services. Under his leadership, EDB is planning to spearhead programmes to develop the SME sector of the country and will be committed to support SME exporters of all regions.

Mr. Jayawardene said 2020 was the “Year of Challenges” to everyone due to the outbreak of the virus and praised the government for reviving the Exports Development Council (EDC) after a prolonged gap of years. He further stated that it is encouraging to note that the EDC is chaired by the President himself, giving a clear indication of the government’s commitment to support the export industry in three key areas namely, New Markets for exporters, International Trade Agreements and the National Trade Policy. 

Unveiling the objectives of the Chamber for year 2021, Mr. Jayawardene stated that the NCE is geared to support the member exporters in their export development initiatives and a new business plan will be implemented under the title ‘Grow Beyond’, preparing programmes to support product innovation and market diversification in sustaining exports.

Launch of the Coffee Table Book

Mr Ravi Jayawardena

Mr Suresh De Mel

Newly elected Management Committee for the year 2021

Awarding the Certificate of Appreciation to Janith