Trading Together

On Monday, I went to the opening of the London Stock Exchange Group’s new technology hub in Sri Lanka.  The hub is in the TRACE Expert City precinct of Colombo.  It’s a lovely location: working closely with the Urban Development Authority, the Group’s architects have converted beautiful old brick railway buildings into light and spacious office accommodation.  The message is clear: tradition and trust allied with modernity and cutting edge technology.

In their speeches, both the Honourable Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Donald Brydon, Chairman of the London Stock Exchange Group, focused on Sri Lankan skills and the country’s potential.

That belief is widely shared.  I went straight from the opening to the Council for Business with Britain’s annual Christmas carol concert.  It’s one of my favourite evenings of the year, and I think it was the best attended yet, with a strikingly diverse range of businesses represented.  From tourism to apparel, logistics to pharmaceuticals, cars to construction, and banking to IT, pretty much every aspect of the business world was covered – a cheering reflection on the strength of the Sri Lanka -UK trading relationship, a relationship which brings greater prosperity to all sides.  The proceeds from the carol concert will help fund the Council of Business with Britain’s long running CSR project to upgrade the teaching of English in Sri Lanka’s schools.  Delivered in partnership with the British Council, this project provides focused in-service teacher training and support.  I’ve met many of the teachers who have benefited from it, and they describe it as transformational of both their English language and wider teaching skills.

The award-winning choir from the British School in Colombo provided its usual glorious singing.  And of course education is another great way in which we are boosting both the UK and Sri Lanka’s prosperity.  Around 55 institutions now offer UK qualifications in Sri Lanka, boosting employability, and making students better able to benefit from global opportunities.

I saw a clear example of this earlier this year, when I was at the launch in Sri Lanka of Northumbria University’s degree in Banking and Finance, offered in partnership with Colombo’s Business Management School (BMS).  1,500 students have now been awarded University of Northumbria degrees in a range of subjects through BMS.  Every single one of those graduates is now in employment. As we all start looking ahead to next year, I wish everyone a peaceful, successful and prosperous 2017.