Colombo Port City could be financial hub of South Asia
Sri Lanka would be provided an opportunity to be the financial hub of the South Asian region once the Colombo Port City is in place. In such a situation even if all the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) members available in Sri Lanka are employed there, it would not be enough to man it and they would need more (accountants).
This was predicted by Imran Furkan, CEO, TRESTNC and a long standing member of CIMA while addressing the launch of ‘CIMA ‘Hundred and 10 per cent’ first ever ‘Virtual Career Festival’ – Investing today in Tomorrow’s skills”, held at the Hatch in Colombo this week.
The festival is a weeklong event to be held from September 13 to 19 featuring global and local industry leaders coming together for a one-of-a-kind career festival. The event will be focused on: Day 1 – Technical Skills; Day 2 – People Skills; Day 3 – Leadership Skills; Day 4 – Business Skills; Day 5 – Elevator Pitch, Becoming entrepreneurial; Day 6 – Diversity and Day 7 – Digital Skills.
Mr. Furkan said that professional accountants are going to be in very high demand and the Colombo Port City would become a component of a financial hub which would be a viable project. He indicated that as Hong Kong is in a mess over political turmoil the opportunity for a financial centre in South Asia would then be in Colombo and one can sit in Colombo and serve anyone around the world that could serve the biggest companies in the world.
Ms Melanie J. Kanaka, who addressed the forum, is the Vice President, CIMA the first Asian lady – a Sri Lankan to be appointed the VP, CIMA. Speaking at the same event, she said that the September 13-19 event is a ground-breaking one for Sri Lanka and is not only for this country but across the globe. About CIMA she indicated that it has been an educator of multiple disciplines, about the competency framework which provides business skills, technical skills and teamwork skills where a plethora of all these things results in a complete professional.
Today the world is full of complexities, volatile, uncertain and ambiguous and the world was almost collapsing due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in the case of CIMA they were prepared to move forward with the organisation planning to re-emerge as a much-sought-after profession.
The Business Times (BT) on the sidelines of the launch inquired from Ms. Kanaka about the accountability of the professionals as it is a matter of concern in this country due to the widespread corruption and what the focus of the institute on the question of accountability. She said this aspect is a matter for the professionals — accountant, architect or doctor is part of their ethos – to be accountable to what they stand for. “So as an accounting body per se we have focused on those value sets available through our ethics code,” she said.
As an institute and a body: “We can only show people the way and we can educate the people on the way of how they could take on this accountability. But at the end of the day it is the individual who is responsible,” she said.
Ms. Zahara Ansary, Country Manager for CIMA Sri Lanka, said that the environment has dramatically changed since COVID-19 hit the world and has forced many companies to speed up their digital innovation and transformation. Therefore, during times like this, professionals of today need to build relevant skills that will help them assure their employability.
She said that through this week long festival they want to inspire the next generation of Sri Lankan professionals to go above and beyond their careers.