LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit 2015 Making Colombo a Globally Competitive City
With an objective of initiating a multi-stakeholder conversation on opportunities and challenges for Sri Lanka to develop world class built environment, Lanka Business Online will host “LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit” on 3rd and 4th November. The Summit will bring together over twenty-five local and international urban thought leaders- industry representatives, investors and financial intermediaries, development experts, policy makers, researchers and academics – to discuss vital issues and opportunities in five insightful and thought provoking sessions.
1) “Cities Of The Future: What Do They Look Like, How Do We Build Them?”
2) “Making Colombo a Global City: Opportunities and Challenges”
3) “Investment Strategies and Business Models for Building a Global City”
4) “Creating a World Class Transportation System in Colombo”
5) “Reimagining Cities Through Technology”
The Summit is of great relevance and vital importance to those who are engaged in infrastructure design and development, and allied industries and services.
The platform to discuss and debate on opportunities and challenges in building world class built environment in Sri Lanka and in making Colombo a globally completive city will target attendees from government agencies and departments and the private sector responsible for infrastructure, road development and construction etc as well as multilateral and bilateral lending agencies, environmentalists, housing and real estate developers, urban and town planners and architects and those from related industry sectors; including those in technology, investing and financial services.
The speakers expected to share their expertise and perspectives and deliberate on urban and city infrastructure growth opportunities include Sumila Gulyani, World Bank’s global lead for urban development strategy and analytics, Professor Willie Mendis, Professor Amal Kumarage, Professor P K S Mahanama, Dr Lalith Siri Gunaruwan, Nayana Mawilmada (Director General, Urban Development Authority) and Yasushi Taira (JICA). Some of the private sector speakers are Jaijit Bhattacharya (KPMG), Vivek Puthucode (Microsoft), Ravinder Pal Singh (CISCO), Mangal Dev (Hitachi) and senior regional resource from a leading MNC bank.
The individual sessions will be chaired by Professor Rohan Samarajiva, Thilan Wijesinghe, Gayani de Alwis, Maninda Wickramasinghe and Peter D’ Almeida.
“Colombo has a high potential to become a global city as its geographic location and close proximity to maritime sea routes are strategic advantages and an exploitable asset in the global economy” articulated Luxman Bandaranaike- Founder Publisher and Director of Lanka Business Online (LBO) who added that it’s not only the access to “Silk Road” that global cities compete with each other now, but for capital, talent and ideas as well.
Bandaranaike went on to note that at present, Colombo is ranked 102 out of 120 cities in Global Competitive Index compiled by the intelligence unit of the ‘Economist’. According to current projections Colombo will slip to 108th position in the next ten years, behind a host of Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai as well as Gulf cities of Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Far Eastern KL, Singapore, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta metropolis’s.
The opening session on 3rd November will focus on ““Cities Of The Future: What Do They Look Like, How Do We Build Them?” Three international speakers and two local experts will take the stage in future oriented inspirational session, to set the context for rest of the Summit.
The day two will focus on specific opportunities and challenges for Colombo and urban Sri Lanka, building world class transportation systems, funding business models for competitive cities and leveraging technology to enhance the livability of cities, enhancing public services and efficiency of urban administration.
For further details, visit their website on www.lbo.lk/summit
