The BizPAct Investment Forum - Jaffna

The BizPAct Investment Forum – Jaffna was, in part, a follow up to Investment Symposium event held in June 2009 in Colombo.

BPA is an alliance of regional chambers of commerce and access to investment for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) is a continuing problem. At the same time, given the impacts of the many years of conflict on the general population it is very important that investments are done in a socially responsible way. BPA wanted to find a way of further promoting the regional business agenda whilst emphasising the need for investment to be done in a way that is sensitive to the local context, both in economic terms and in terms of the conflict situations that have affected local communities.

Jaffna is a place that has suffered more than most during the years of conflict. However, businesses there have kept going, despite often being isolated from the business community in the rest of the island. What better place, then, to explore regional investment needs in a socially responsible way?

The event itself was held in the Jaffna Public Library Conference Hall, and the symbolic significance of this gathering of sinhala, Tamil, muslim and others was not lost on the participants.

With the help of the two local chambers of commerce (both of whom are part of the Business for Peace Alliance), the BPA organised this event to fulfil the demand that we were aware of from both the Colombo and the regional business community, as well as amongst our diaspora contacts.

The forum took the form of a one day conference of mainly interactive sessions . This was followed by a day of visits both to local industrial sites and to local landmarks. Finally, on the return journey from Jaffna a networking lunch was held in Vavuniya where there were further opportunities for investors and a wider selection of regional entrepreneurs to meet together, network and discuss their needs.

The slide show below show a selection of the speakers, panel members and people asking questions during the conference part of the event.

The conference day was attended by about 170 people in total, with about 60 local chamber members from the Jaffna area, along with investors from Colombo, regional investors, foreign investors, government officials and representatives from INGO's and NGO's involved in regional economic development.

On the second day, the people who had travelled to Jaffna were given the opportunity to see some of the local industries and also to see some local tourist sites - as well as having the opportunity to experience a sinhala and Tamil cultural show in the evening.

A number of regional entrepreneurs were unable to come to Jaffna for the two day event. So, to enable more of them to meet up with possible investors, a networking lunch in Vavuniya was arranged for the people travelling back to Colombo by coach.

The slide show below shows a selection of photographs taken on this second day of the Forum event and from the networking lunch in Vavuniya.

The feedback from the event was that it was very worthwhile to organise. An independent evaluation is currently in preparation. However, most attendees agreed that the event provided valuable information about the ground situation in the North and that it has enabled them to think more clearly about the timing and nature of the investments that they want to make. There were many opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs to meet and talk to one another and this was valued by the participants.
The feedback has also been very positive about the way in which the BPA organised the event. One attendee commented :
" great conference and I learnt a lot. The BizPAct conference is exactly what is needed to heal Sri Lanka. The staff were friendly enthusiastic and helpful."