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Reviving the Jaffna Peninsula as a Regional Economic Hub

Feb 3, 2022

This report is compiled by Hajara Saleeth, Research Fellow, Colombo Initiative, Sri Lanka.

On 19 January 2022, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in collaboration with Colombo Initiative and the Sappani Foundation organized the discussion “Reviving the Jaffna Peninsula as a Regional Economic Hub”. This is the second webinar in a series of events hosted under this tri-lateral research partnership. The panel emphasized on Jaffna’s emergence as a regional economic hub and was moderated by Dr. Vinitha Revi. The participants discussed and provided some key recommendations to develop the region.

Mr. M.A. Sumanthiran, the Member of Parliament for Jaffna, delivered the keynote address and stressed on the following suggestions:

Ms. P.S.M. Charles, a member of the Sri Lankan Election Commission and a former Governor of the Northern Province, came up with a few suggestions as well:

Mr. A. Natarajan, the former Consul General of India to Jaffna, shared his experiences by emphasizing the following themes:

Mr. Jeevan Gnanam, a Sri Lankan venture capitalist, put forth a few recommendations too:

Mr. N. Sathiya Moorthy, a Distinguished Fellow and Head of ORF’s Chennai Centre, concluded with the following recommendations: