June 30, 2010, Colombo. Airtel proudly announced its Platinum sponsorship of the 24th Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Conference held together with the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2010. The Summit, which is the foremost business forum in Sri Lanka, is organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for the 11th consecutive year. This is Airtel’s 2nd consecutive year as Platinum Sponsor of the event. Scheduled for July 05 to 07, at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo, the joint conference will focus on “Facing Global and Local Challenges: The New Dynamics for Economic Development”.

On this occasion, Amali Nanayakkara, CEO, Bharti Airtel Lanka said “As the future of Sri Lanka dawns upon a new landscape of opportunity, it is imperative that we not only build strong pillars to support that development climate, but also to engineer avenues of sustainable growth for all key sectors that contribute to this national cause. An agenda based on a cohesive long term strategy to rebuild Sri Lanka at a moment when the country is about to make a positive leap into the future, will dramatically improve the lives of all Sri Lankans. We are confident that the Summit will yield these results and are therefore honoured to partner such a worthy initiative. We take this opportunity to thank the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for providing us the opportunity of association once again.”  

The 24th Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) Conference and the Sri Lanka Economic Summit will include a greater foreign participation comprising of the CACCI membership of 27 countries across Asia and the Western Pacific. Utilising this foreign expertise present, the summit will facilitate the convergence of public and private sector participation to arrive at recommended policy measures and long term planning required to address the summit’s focus areas of mitigating the impact of climate change for Business and Economic Development, Investing in Human Capital and Technology for Sustainable Economic Growth, the identification of economic implications of an aging population as well as the identification of key elements required to boost Foreign Direct Investment Opportunities in South Asia.

Dr. Anura Ekanayake, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said, that “With enhanced investment opportunity now open, the Sri Lanka Economic Summit, together with the 24th Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry proudly facilitates the admirable purpose of charting a rational course for progress in the region. We would like to thank Airtel for partnering with us and enabling the gathering of some of the best minds in the country and the region to actively participate and address challenges and emerging issues that lay ahead in the path of regional development and inter-regional cooperation.”

The conference will also host a number of eminent speakers presenting topics on Issues on Food Security and Opportunities in Innovative Agriculture/Plantation, Accelerating infrastructure development, Fast Tracking the Economy and also the FTA's role in promoting an export economy.