Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council held its Fourteenth Annual General Meeting

Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council (SLMLBC) of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce held its 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, 18th August 2022 at Hilton Colombo Residences and His Excellency Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Acting High Commissioner, High Commission of the Republic of Maldives graced the event as the chief guest.

Mr. Kevin Edwards (CEO, E.B. Creasy & Company PLC) was elected as the President of the Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council whilst Mr. Bandula Egodage (Vice President – Corporate & Regulatory Affairs, Nestle PLC) was elected as the 1st Vice President and Mr. Sudesh Mendis (Managing Director, Ocean Trade & Logistics Pvt Ltd) elected as the 2nd Vice President. The committee elected to serve for the year 2022/ 2023 consisted of the following companies.

The newly elected Committee of the Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council comprises,

  • President – Mr. Kevin Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, E.B. Creasy and Company PLC
  • Vice President – Mr. Bandula Egodage, Vice President, Nestle Lanka PLC, Chairman, APIIT University, Chairman, IASL, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
  • Vice President – Mr. Sudesh Mendis, Managing Director, Ocean Trade Logistics (Pvt) Ltd
  • Immediate Past President – Ms. Shenali Panabokke, Managing Director, Eastern & Allied Agencies Limited
  • Committee Member – Mr. Sirimal Fernando, Deputy Managing Director, Astron Limited
  • Committee Member – Mr. Suranga Ratnayake, Assistant Vice President, Aitken Spence Travels Ltd
  • Committee Member – Mr. M. M. Imran, Managing Director, CDC Events and Travels (Pvt) Ltd
  • Committee Member – Mr. Kingsley Abeywickrama, Director/ General Manager, CMA CGM Lanka (Pvt) Ltd
  • Committee Member – Mr. Sanjeewa Perera, Head of Commercial Real Estate Finance for Sri Lanka & Maldives, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd
  • Committee Member – Mr. Devinda Lorensuhewa, Deputy General Manager – Marketing, Kelani Cables PLC
  • Committee Member – Mr. Gayan Maddumarachchi, Director, MAC Holdings Private Limited
  • Committee Member – Mr. M L Wickramasinghe, Director, Puritas (Pvt) Limited

Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council

14th Annual General Meeting 2022

18th August, 2022.

Address by Mr. Kevin Edwards, President 2022/2023

Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council


His Excellency Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Acting High Commissioner of Maldives – Patron of our council, Officials from the office of the Maldivian High Commission, Mr. Manjula de Silva, Secretary General/ CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, distinguished invitees, members, ladies and gentlemen.
At the outset let me thank His Excellency Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Acting High Commissioner of Maldives, for having graced this occasion.
As the newly appointed President of the Sri Lanka – Maldives Business Council, I take this opportunity to thank the membership and committee, for having the confidence in me and assure you of my best during my tenure in office.
It’s a known fact that the covid 19 pandemic, was a global destructor and the consequences were immense and still continuing. This indeed had a significant effect on trade mainly between Sri Lanka & Maldives in 2019 & 2021. However, we now see that business is slowly getting back to what it was pre-covid, with the new normal. We should also congratulate the government of Maldives for the efforts during the pandemic and the measures taken to be the first country to open its doors to tourist.
Looking at trade statistics between Sri Lanka and Maldives
Imports from Maldives have had a drop since 2019.
2019 – USD.10.9Mil
2020 – USD. 8.5Mil
2021 – USD. 6.62Mil (probable due to the restriction on imports & the scarcity of USD. Main items imported being fish & crustaceans, machinery & equipment)



Exports to Maldives have seen an improvement when compared with 2020.
2019 – USD. 114.07Mil
2020 – USD. 77.60Mil
2021 – USD. 102.88Mil (main items being dairy products, vegetables, fruits, nuts, cereals, flour, edible preparations, electrical machinery, equipment and spare parts)



Looking at the visitors to each country in 2021.
Sri Lanka had 2,448 visitors from Maldives mainly for medical and educational purposes, while the Maldives had 1,945 visitors mainly for employment and leisure.
In conclusion, we the committee look forward to working with the officials of the Maldivian High Commission in Sri Lanka, to further strengthen the business ties between our countries. My sincere appreciation to the print and electronic media present and the Chamber Secretariat for all the support extended.



Thank you.