Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) Chairman Lord Marland will visit Sri Lanka from 19th to 21st February 2024 as part of a larger trip to South and South East Asia where he will meet H.E. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Ministers and business leaders.
CWEIC is a commercial, not-for-profit membership organisation with an official mandate from the Commonwealth Heads of Government to facilitate trade and investment throughout the 56 Commonwealth member nations. CWEIC has multiple Strategic Partners (members) in Sri Lanka including Port City Colombo, Capital Maharaja Group and LOLC Holdings from the Private sector. In 2023, the Government of Sri Lanka rejoined as a Strategic Partner.
On 19th February, Lord Marland will be meeting with H.E. President Ranil Wickremesinghe and State Minister of Investment Promotion Dilum Amunugama. In the evening, CWEIC Strategic Partner Port City Colombo is hosting him with prominent government and business leaders. On 20th February, Lord Marland will meet with the British High Commissioner H.E. Andrew Patrick. Throughout the two days he will meet with CWEIC’s current Strategic Partners, including Niro Cooke – Group Director of Capital Maharaja Group who also serves on the statutory board of the CWEIC. Lord Marland will also be meeting with prospective Strategic Partners interested in joining CWEIC to expand their businesses across the 56 Member States of the Commonwealth. He will depart for Singapore on February 21st.
Lord Marland served as the Trade Envoy for the UK’s Prime Minister and as Chairman of the UK Trade and Investment Business Ambassador Network between 2011 and January 2014. He was appointed as the Minister for the Department of Energy and Climate Change in 2010 and subsequently as Minister for Intellectual Property at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2012. He was one of the founding directors of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Plc, a multinational insurance business, and continues his active involvement in the business world. He currently serves as the Chairman of both EcoWorld Management Ltd and Bspoke Insurance Group Ltd, and is Co-Owner of The Wisden Cricketer Magazine. Additionally, he is a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Kuwait Investment Authority.
Lord Marland has been a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom since 2006 and frequently provides commentary on British politics. He is a strong supporter of the arts, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In December 2021, the Prime Minister of the UK appointed him as a Trustee of the British Museum. Additionally, he is the Chairman of Tickets for Troops and Trustee of the Winston Churchill Society UK, and a Founding Trustee of the Atlantic Partnership and Patron of Salisbury and South Wiltshire Cricket.
The CWEIC aims to use the convening power and trusted network of the Commonwealth to drive trade and investment. CWEIC’s network includes over 140 business and government Strategic Partners. Every two years, CWEIC hosts the Commonwealth Business Forum in association with the host country of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).