Sri Lanka Legal Summit on Governance, Regulation and Investment kicks off on Wednesday

 

All preparations have been made for this year’s National Law Conference of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka under the theme ‘Sri Lanka Legal Summit 2015 – Governance, Regulation and Investment – The Way Forward’.
The conference will be held on 4 and 5 March at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel Colombo, commencing with a formal inauguration followed by a reception on 4 March and Technical Sessions on 5 March.
Bar Association of Sri Lanka President Upul Jayasuriya said that this year the conference has been opened to participants outside the legal profession as well, in order to facilitate knowledge sharing and discussion between the various professions and corporate sector. “It also important for our lawyers to hear what the professionals and decision-makers outside have to say,” he added.
Summit Chair Rajeev Amarasuriya stated that the panel of eminent presenters and panellists represent all the important sectors in the country from the policy makers to the regulators, the captains of industry and also importantly the State sector, and that the Bar Association was happy that it would be providing a forum for all these stakeholders to come together and discuss and share their views and ideas within the framework of the rule of law and the legal system.
He further disclosed that the formal inauguration of the conference will take place on the evening of 4 March with Chief Justice K. Sripavan as the Chief Guest and other dignitaries including Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha, PC in attendance, which will be followed by a formal cocktail reception. Former Director of the Economic Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy will deliver the keynote address.
The Technical Sessions will commence on Thursday, 5 March, at the Oak Room of the Cinnamon Grand, with principal sessions on Governance, Regulation and Investment.
Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, PC is scheduled to make the main presentation on ‘Governance Reforms’ and the Session panel will include the Bar Association of Sri Lanka President-Elect Geoffrey Alagaratnam, PC as Session Chair, former Supreme Court Judge Justice Saleem Marsoof, PC, Solicitor General Suhada Gamalath, PC, former Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Chandra Jayaratne and University of Colombo Faculty of Law former Dean N. Selvakumaran.
The Session on Investment will be chaired by K. Kanag-Iswaran, PC and the principal presentations will be made by Deputy Minister of Highways, Higher Education and Investment Promotion Eran Wickramaratne and Jetwing Hotels Chairman Hiran Cooray, who will speak on the ‘Opportunities and Challenges faced by Investors’.
Inland Revenue Commissioner General Wasanthi Manchanayake, Controller of Exchange D.M. Rupasinghe, Customs Director General Jagath P. Wijeweera and Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Investment and Promotion Executive Director Renuka M. Weerakone will be the Panellists.
Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Thilak Karunaratne are lined up to speak on the future plans of their respective Institutions, whilst Deputy Minister for Policy Planning, Economic Affairs, Child, Youth and Cultural Affairs Dr. Harsha De Silva will speak on the role which is expected by these regulators. Sankarshana. A. Parathalingam, PC will chair this Session with National Development Bank CEO/Director Rajendra Theagarajah and Colombo Stock Exchange CEO Rajeeva Bandaranayke as the other Panellists. Bar Association Deputy President Prasanna Jayawardena, PC and Bar Association Executive Committee Member Anura Meddegoda are also due to speak at the Technical Sessions. The Members of the Summit Committee include Attorneys-at-Law Kushlan Seneviratne, Ruwandhi Thanthrige, Himali Orugodawatta, Dinesha De Silva, Samantha De Soysa and Ruvinda Welikala. The Principal Sponsors of the Summit are Dialog Axiata PLC, the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and the Bank of Ceylon and the Official Newspaper is Daily FT. For details and reservations please contact Sanduni at the BASL on 2447134/2331697 or email basl.lawnet@gmail.com.