The logistics industry is reshaping and evolving its role to facilitate a new order of global trade, e-commerce and to reach out to the 21st century consumer with flexibility and speed, modernising the global supply chains. For this reason, strategic distribution hubs connected by air and sea and proximity to markets and transportation hubs makes a location suitable for international logistics to provide services at minimal costs.
In the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka has this unique unmatchable geographic advantage which is its number one unique selling point. 22 miles north of it, is the Indian sub-continent home to over two billion people and the fastest growing economic region in the world with a vast expanding middle class consumer market and a regional manufacturing base. Emerging international trade corridors, be it via, the Africa-Asia growth corridor or the Belt and Road initiative of China, Sri Lanka offers to be the best maritime and logistics centre in South Asia to connect continents of Africa, Europe and Asia via ocean and air routes.
Developing rapidly with world class infrastructure, next to the world’s busiest shipping lane, with three major deep draught ports as well as strongly networked regional air connectivity, the island nation sits between two hubs of Singapore and Dubai with equal time for ocean and air travel. At the same time, as a location it sits in an advantageous global time zone, where business can operate to facilitate clients in both west and the east round the clock.
An eight-hour flying time radius connects the island to more than 50% of the world’s population. Known as a major tourist hot spot in the world, Sri Lanka is an ideal location for expats to have headquarter operations as there are very special laws and tax concessions for such investments. Combined with skilled and talented human resources together with the most liberal, open market in South Asia, it is ideally located to have storage and distribution centres where almost all major global shipping lines use Colombo as the main port for transshipment and Hambantota the biggest ro-ro facility in South Asia and a developing bulk port.
The first-ever Colombo International Logistics Conference, will be held on 1 and 2 August at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo and will be joined by 20 international speakers to discuss the modern logistics trends, South Asia’s logistics market and the emerging role of Sri Lanka as a global logistics centre. Delegates attending this conference, will get a first-hand idea of the ports of Sri Lanka and the new port city that is being built with up to $ 18 billion investment. The conference will give an opportunity for networking and develop new businesses for companies involved in logistics as well as investors.
The Government of Sri Lanka has fully supported the event and the National Export Strategy key driver, Export Development Board, has taken an initiative to promote logistics and support this event. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is the patron of the conference. The event will mark the 40th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, who will join as a business partner along with its terminal operators and Sri Lanka Logistics and Freight Forwarders’ Association will join as the ‘strategic partner’, with the organisers, CIMC-Eevents.
Source at: Daily News
