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Honourable W D J Seneviratne Minister for Labour and Trade Union Relations of Sri Lanka addressed the joint session of the recently concluded UNI Apro Finance Steering Group and South Asia Finance Sector Unions Council [SAFSUC] meetings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The minister in his address; explained the government’s policy directions to stipulate a national minimum wage through an act of parliament, with a view to arrest exploitation of labour in the informal economy in Sri Lanka. He welcomed the UNI Apro Finance steering group members from Asia & Pacific to Sri Lanka, and extended greetings for productive the meetings in Colombo. 

Regional Secretary Christopher Ng extended fraternal greetings to the steering group in his opening remarks. Christopher was hopeful that as Sri Lanka recovers from the thirty years civil war that ended in 2009, and regains her glory and once again be the jewel in crown in this part of the world. He also took encouragement from the meeting with the Chairman of the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka (BOI) Mr Upul Jayasuriya, and was particularly impressed by his commitment to Trade Union rights.

Marcio Monzane in his opening remarks acknowledged that the finance industry is facing great challenges and it is important to bring the social dimension of all these challenges and changes to the table; to resolve issues through meaningful dialogue amongst all stakeholders.

Masakazu Tahara President of UNI Apro Finance chaired the meeting; steering group members from the region representing 20 unions in the finance industry attended the meeting. Federation of Bank Officers of Sri Lanka (FBOSL) co-hosted the meeting; Nuwan Diwakara Exco member of FBOSLwelcomed all participants to Sri Lanka.  Officials of Insurance Employees Union of Sri Lanka (IEUSL) and Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) participated as observers in the meeting.

Dr Ranee Jayamaha former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka made a presentation on the topic: “Regulatory tightening on diverse financial systems and financial inclusion” opening up the meeting to a lively debate and discussion.Steering group  deliberations were  on regulations and restructuring, CSR and initiating social dialogues to restore confidence in finance industry, and decided to hold 2017 UNI Apro Finance Sector conference on the theme; "Widening Financial Inclusion for Sustainable Growth".

UNI Apro acknowledges the contributions of outgoing UNI Apro Finance leaders. Milind Nadkarni, Masakazu Tahara and Marcio Monzane received plaques of appreciation from the Minister.  Regional Secretary Christopher Ng presented a plaque to minister W D J Seneviratne appreciating his support to facilitate partnership industrial relations to create decent jobs in Sri Lanka.

Steering group observed a minute silence to pay respect to the Late Alavi Mowlana, veteran Sri Lankan trade unionist; who passed away on 14th June 2016.  Mr Mowlana was very supportive of UNI Apro activities and graced many events as the guest of honour in his capacity as the Governor of Western Province of Sri Lanka.,