LIIN hosts Sri Lanka first - ever Impact Investing Summit 2026 with multilateral partners

ft.lk · Feb 18, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

Full Article

Snapshot of Summit partners LIIN Founder and Chairman and GSG Impact Sri Lanka Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema Senior Economic Adviser to the President Duminda Hulangamuwa High Commission of Canada Counsellor for Political and Trade Affairs Gwen Temmel GSGII Director of Coordination Raffaella DeFelice Keynote Speaker for Plenary One: UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative Azusa Kubota Plenary Two keynote address was delivered by responsAbility Investments AG Head – Sustainable Food Debt Neha Baid Plenary One, titled “From Potential to Impact,” was moderated by RNH Ventures Group Director Dr. Nirmal De Silva (extreme right). The speakers (from right) were Lanka Impact Investing Network and GSG Impact Sri Lanka Chair Chandula Abeywickrema, UNDP Policy and Program Specialist and Team Leader – Sustainable Growth Dulani Sirisena, Selyn Sri Lanka Director – Business Development Selyna Peiris, and Gojo & Company Inc. Deputy Chief Investment Officer Sohil Shah Plenary Two, titled “Sustainable Food Systems for Impact,” was moderated by Impact Investment Exchange, Singapore Associate Vice President Vasanthen Sivakajan (extreme right). The speakers (from right) were responsAbility Investments Senior Investment Officer Richa Tripathi, Vidullanka Director Rizvi Zaheed, Aavishkaar Capital Partner Abhishek Mittal, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Sri Lanka Assistant FAO Representative – Program Nalin Munasinghe, and MA’s Tropical Food Processing Chief Executive Officer Maliek De Alwis The keynote address was delivered by Asian Development Bank Senior Financial Sector Specialist Manohari Gunawardhena Plenary Three keynote address was delivered by Synamon Global Senior Adviser Rajendra Theagarajah Plenary Four keynote address was delivered by GSG Japan Chair Masataka Uo World University Service of Canada Country Director Mumtaz Aroos Faleel Chandula Abeywickrema delivering the closing remarks Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH Adviser – Circular Economy in the Food Sector Gideon Kletzka Sri Lanka reached a significant milestone in its sustainable finance journey with the successful convening of the Lanka Impact Investment Summit 2026, hosted by the Lanka Impact Investing Network (LIIN) and GSG Impact Sri Lanka, with the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) as the anchor partner through the World University Service Canada (WUSC), and in partnership with key ecosystem actors such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UNDP, the GIZ Sri Lanka, and the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs. The summit marked the country’s first dedicated national platform focused exclusively on impact investing, bringing together policymakers, development partners, investors, financial institutions, enterprises, and ecosystem builders from Sri Lanka, South Asia, and beyond. Designed as both a convening and a catalyst, the summit, attended by over 180 participants, laid the groundwork for positioning Sri Lanka as an emerging regional hub for impact investment, with a strong emphasis on translating dialogue into tangible investment pathways. Curtain raiser: Setting the strategic context The summit commenced with a high-level curtain raiser on the evening of 10 February, designed to frame Sri Lanka’s impact investment journey within its broader economic, policy, and regional context. Delivering the opening remarks, Lanka Impact Investing Network (LIIN) Founder and Chairman and GSG Impact Sri Lanka Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema emphasised the need to rethink how capital is mobilised in Sri Lanka. He noted that impact investing offers a powerful framework to align private capital with national priorities such as SME development, climate resilience, inclusive growth, and job creation, particularly at a time when Sri Lanka is rebuilding its economic foundations. In his keynote address, Senior Economic Advisor to the President Duminda Hulangamuwa highlighted that Sri Lanka is well on track in its rebuilding journey following the economic crisis of 2022, despite facing significant external shocks. He noted that the country had demonstrated resilience even after suffering one of the most severe natural disasters in its history with Cyclone Ditwa in November 2025, underscoring the importance of mobilising long-term, resilient capital to support recovery and future-proof growth. Hulangamuwa emphasised that impact-oriented investments can play a critical role in strengthening SMEs, rebuilding productive sectors, and attracting patient capital aligned with Sri Lanka’s development priorities. The evening also featured a keynote address by High Commission of Canada Counsellor for Political and Trade Affairs Gwen Temmel, who reaffirmed Canada’s long-term commitment to Sri Lanka’s development journey. She highlighted Canada’s strong focus on gender empowerment, inclusive economic participation, and sustainable development, with particular emphasis on supporting underserved regions, including the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Temmel also referenced Canada’s support for ecosystem-level initiatives that strengthen entrepreneurship and resilience, including programs that enable women-led and impact-oriented enterprises to access skills, markets, and capital. In this context, she acknowledged initiatives such as the GRIT (Growth, Resilience, Investment and Training) Program, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by LIIN in partnership with World University Service of Canada (WUSC), which is focused on fostering a gender-responsive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northern Sri Lanka. Her remarks underscored the importance of pairing capital with capacity-building and institutional support to achieve sustainable, inclusive growth. Concluding the curtain raiser, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSGII) Director – Regional Coordination Raffaella DeFelice placed Sri Lanka’s efforts within a global and regional context. She noted that national impact investment ecosystems succeed when they are deliberately structured to channel capital toward measurable outcomes. DeFelice also highlighted LIIN’s ongoing efforts to establish a local impact fund, designed to provide early-stage capital to growing impact enterprises in Sri Lanka, addressing a critical financing gap and strengthening the country’s pipeline of investment-ready enterprises. She emphasised that such initiatives are essential to translating dialogue into deployable capital and long-term ecosystem impact. Day Two: From dialogue to direction The second day of the summit focused on deep-dive discussions under the overarching theme of mobilising capital for sustainable and inclusive growth. Opening the day, Lanka Impact Investing Network (LIIN) Founder and Chairman and GSG Impact Sri Lanka Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema emphasised that sustainable growth is no longer optional for Sri Lanka, it is as fundamental to the country’s future as water is to life. Drawing on this analogy, he highlighted that growth pursued without resilience, inclusion, and long-term value creation risks deepening vulnerabilities rather than strengthening the economy. He underscored that Sri Lanka’s recovery must be anchored in investment approaches that balance financial returns with measurable social and environmental outcomes. Impact investing, he noted, offers a practical framework to achieve this balance, supporting SMEs, strengthening productive sectors, and directing capital toward areas that build resilience and long-term prosperity. His remarks set the tone for a day of discussions focused not only on opportunity, but on how capital can be structured and deployed responsibly to support the country’s next phase of growth. Plenary One: From potential to impact – Making Sri Lankan enterprises capital ready Plenary One opened with a keynote by UNDP Sri Lanka Resident Representative Azusa Kubota, who highlighted the deep resilience embedded across Sri Lanka’s entrepreneurial landscape. She briefly shared the story of a woman tailor she met during flood relief efforts, someone who had lost her livelihood to flooding yet was already planning to rebuild, for the third time. The example underscored the strength and determination of micro and small entrepreneurs across the country. Building on this framing, the panel discussion focused on identifying the specific areas that need strengthening to improve enterprise readiness, ranging from financial discipline and governance to impact measurement and operational controls. The panellists emphasised that combining patient capital with targeted technical assistance is essential to ensure that Sri Lanka’s resilient enterprises can transition from survival to scale and become investable at the level required to drive long-term economic growth. The discussion also highlighted that micro, small, and medium enterprises cannot be expected to adopt complex or costly systems designed for larger corporates. Instead, there is a need for tailor-made, affordable, and scalable control mechanisms that reflect the realities of smaller enterprises while still providing investors with confidence and transparency. The panel comprised Lanka Impact Investing Network (LIIN) Founder and Chairman and GSG Impact Sri Lanka Chairman Chandula Abeywickrema; UNDP Policy and Programme Specialist and Team Leader – Sustainable Growth Dulani Sirisena; Gojo and Company Inc. Deputy Chief Investment Officer Sohil Shah; and Selyn Sri Lanka Director – Business Development Selyna Peiris. The discussion was moderated by RNH Ventures Group Director Dr. Nirmal De Silva. Plenary Two: Sustainable food systems for impact Plenary Two focused on ‘Sustainable food systems for impact’, with a keynote address delivered by responsAbility Investments AG Head – Sustainable Food Debt Neha Baid, a leading global impact investor headquartered in Switzerland. Baid highlighted responsAbility’s long-standing engagement in Sri Lanka, underscoring the firm’s continued commitme