(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The Colombo School of Business and Management (CSBM) organised the Second International Conference on ‘Social Entrepreneurship’-Innovations in Social Enterprise for Development (ICSE 2017) on 1 December 2017 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. The Conference Partners were the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok and the Colombo Plan. High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu was the Chief Guest at ICSE 2017.
Mr. Kinley Dorji, Secretary General, Colombo Plan, Mr. Dian Gomes, Chairman, Colombo School of Business & Management, Prof. Ranjith Bandara, Head, Colombo School of Business & Management, Dr. Faiz Shah, Director, Yunus Centre, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok and Mr. Channa De Silva, Chairman, Sarvodaya Development Finance Ltd., Sri Lanka were also present at the inaugural session.
In his inaugural address, Mr. Sandhu spoke about the several initiatives and policy measures instituted by Government of India to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. He added that Sri Lanka also has a strong tradition of innovation, and that there is a lot that we can learn from each other. He also spoke about technology as a great leveller, and social entrepreneur has the potential to offer small solutions to big problems. He noted that innovation and entrepreneurship are critical for development, not just because they enhance productivity but they also address social issues in a novel manner. He urged Sri Lankan youth to make use of the varied learning opportunities provided by Government of India under Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, various scholarship programmes and S&T research innovation programmes.
