"Sri Lanka needs to showcase itself to the external world," Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar, chief executive of the Standard Chartered unit in the island said.
"The perceptions are very different whereas the actual facts of it are that Sri Lanka has come a long way post-war in terms of the business environment, the rapid changes in friendliness in terms of doing business with investors.
"
Sri Lanka emerged from a 30-year war in 2009, and foreign direct investments have not come as fast as expected.
Standard Chartered's vice chairman Thomas Harris, regional chief executive Sunil Kaushal and Dastidar himself will be panels at the Commonwealth Business forum where more than 1000 delegates are expected.
Dastidar said businessmen who actually visit Sri Lanka have been pleasantly surprised at the way infrastructure has been built over the last few years with expressways as well as Colombo city development.
He said investments in infrastructure will pay off in the long run and road investments i