Work in Sri Lanka Conference 2015 - Great event for those who are on the fence about returning to Sri Lanka

The 3rd Annual conference titled, ‘Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges’ will be held on the 22nd of December 2015 at The Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo. The conference is a great place for those who are on the fence about returning back to Sri Lanka to learn about the practicalities of coming back home and also listen to stories of those who returned recently and how they navigated through challenges faced. The line of speakers and panelists include people from both private and public sectors and hence provide a good mix of information and insights that would help you progress your decision. I attended the 1st Work in Sri Lanka conference in 2013 and was able to learn a lot about plans and vision of some of the reputed companies in the country and also clear questions I had about immigration/work visas (for non citizens), taxation, recruitment plans for key companies and infrastructural changes planned for the country. It was also great to hear stories from recent returnees about why they returned, what issues they faced in their initial years and the challenges faced by their families when settling down. Their stories definitely helped provide some justification to my thought process and also some re-assurance that we will be able to settle back and be happy with the decision in the long term. Subsequently I had the opportunity to be part of the panel at the 2014 conference and share my experience of returning back.

I encourage you to attend if you still have doubts about returning. However attend with an open mind - the conference is not about showcasing everything that is good about Sri Lanka in order to entice you to come back so make sure you ask the right questions and use the opportunity to talk to people who can help you clear your doubts.

You can watch some of the talks and discussions from previous sessions here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAIxsODWOoAp9gtiqHY8EfQ/feed

Speakers and panelist include:

• Hon Eran Wickramaratne: Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Public Enterprise Development
• Mr. Hiran Cooray: Chairman, Jetwing Hotels and Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority
• Mr. Ajit Gunewardene: Deputy Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC
• Mrs. Manjula Mathews: Executive Chairperson, Dunamis Capital PLC 
• Mr. Suresh Shah: Director and CEO of Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC & Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC
• Mr. Arjuna Sirinanda: Chief Executive Officer, Brandix i3
• Mr. Prajeeth Balasubramaniam: Founding partner & Managing Director - Blue Ocean Ventures Pvt Ltd Sri lanka General Partner - BOV Capital Singapore
• Mrs. Chandi Dharmaratne: Head of Human Resources, Virtusa
• Mr. Sameer Nagarajan:  Director Human Resources & Corporate Relations, Unilever Sri Lanka Limited
• Mr. Dumith Fernando: CEO, Asia Securities
• Mr. Tilak Dissanayake: MD/Engineer, Ants Global (Pvt) Ltd
• Dr Dinusha Panditaratne: Executive Director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies

For information on the agenda and registration: www.workinsrilanka.lk