CIMA CEO Forum:

Focuses beyond war

Today, Sri Lanka lives in the threshold of concluding a war which prolonged for nearly three decades. The end of an ethnic war which cost the country billions of dollars and thousands of human lives will see a new era of living, business opportunities and economic conditions.

'Beyond the war' - Building: Human capital, organisation and economy' was the topical discussion at the CEO Forum organized by CIMA.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in collaboration with The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) last week at Hilton Colombo.

'When the guns cease to fire, are we ready for peace?' was a very thought provoking question raised by Principal Coach, SIM, Mourad Mankarios, at the commencement of his address as the keynote speaker at this Forum. Mourad emphasised the importance of being ready to take charge of the controllable factors in pursuit of capitalizing on opportunities by development of the talent pool of people and constant innovation to give the extra edge in taking the organization and the economy beyond the spheres of war.

He also focussed on inculcating strong values and exercising transparency, as two vital aspects of leadership in establishing a sustainable eco system.

Mourad as the former Chairman and CEO of Philips Electronics Singapore (Pte) Ltd drew invaluable insight through his varied experience in areas of operations, IT and regulatory framework working in the Middle East, Africa, The Netherlands and East Asia.

Mourad's presentation was followed by an enlightening discussion with an eminent panel of business leaders bringing in their wealth of diversified knowledge and experience to this forum. This session was moderated by Chairman, Colombo Stock Exchange, Nihal Fonseka.

He stressed the importance of Foreign Direct Investments in achieving the required level of development and expressed that there is a higher possibility of attracting the capital flow given the end of war.

As a panel member, Director Economic Affairs, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, Rohantha Athukorala, provided great insight pertaining to the current economic impact of war.

He said that the war has cost approximately US $ 20 bn to the economy. He also focused on the way forward in positioning Sri Lanka in the global market.

Panellist, Executive Director, Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Colombo, Jeevan Thiagarajah, with his experience in the arena emphazised the vitality of reconciliation and healing the hearts of people to avoid the best laid efforts being derailed.

Chairman, Bank of Ceylon, Dr Gamini Wickramasinghe, another panellist brought in his insight relating to development of livelihood in the north and east via an agricultural and a knowledge based economy by promoting professional education and industries such as Business Process Outsourcing.

The discussion session concluded with further insight from the keynote speaker, Mourad on the key learning from the success story of Singapore.

Creating value to the business community by facilitating discussions of timely and relevant topics to business leaders of the day, remains a constant commitment of CIMA and SIM.