Nihal Kaviratne to Speak at BTGF’s Distinguished Lecture Series

The Banyan Tree Global Foundation will soon host the first in its series of upcoming Distinguished Lecture series in Singapore.

Taking place from on 20 August 2009, guest speaker Mr. Nihal Kaviratne will discuss “When Local Communities Claim Ownership”.

Mr. Nihal Kaviratne’s global career with Unilever spanned 40 years. He most recently served as president of Unilever Asia and Senior Vice President of Development & Environmental Affairs for Unilever Asia until 2005. Over the years he has practised leadership and team building in a variety of cultures, with special interest in negotiation and alliance building. He was one of 25 leaders at the forefront of change chosen by Business Week in 2002 for the Stars of Asia Award.

Mr Kaviratne will speak from experience on the power of businesses whose interests have become inextricably interwoven with the welfare of the societies in which it thrives, to the extent that these societies take pride in “owning” it.

The event will take place at the SMU Admin Building, Conference Hall 1, Level 5 at 81 Victoria Street between 16:00 and 18:00. It is targeted at business leaders, government ministries, chambers of commerce, students and other civil society practitioners in Singapore with an interest in community building.

This is the second event held by Banyan Tree Global Foundation (BTGF), which organised an intimate invitation-only Dialogue session on 18 June 2009. Attended by 28 senior leaders of the hospitality and leisure, architecture, and academic fields, the dialogue comprised two speakers and a roundtable discussion on the subject of sustainability tools and strategies.

Chairperson of Banyan Tree Global Foundation, Ms Claire Chiang, said, “We hope to connect people and resources, to address and shape issues pertaining to our communities, be it climate change, social empowerment or economic improvement. This series of Lectures and Dialogues by Banyan Tree Global Foundation aims to build learning platforms where diverse people who care, can articulate and take action on matters that concern all of us.”

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