Private sector needs more incentives to boost exports-CMA President
While the recent budget allocation of 60-70 per cent of money has been allocated to government ministries, one must question the value created by each of these ministries to the country and the society at large.
“On the contrary the private sector is the most important component of the country and if not for the private sector there won’t be any exports. If incentives are given to the private sector they will increase more exports but the government has to create an infrastructure for such an endeavour,” said President of the Institute of Certified Management Accountant of Sri Lanka (CMA) Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala making the welcome address at the CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2021 held at the Taj Samudra Colombo recently this week.
He said integrated reporting is on value creation mostly done by the private sector of the country and the government also has to take account of that aspect as well. On earlier occasions people had a notion that these companies were only making profits which is not correct. “As a professional manager I was able to transform loss-making state sector entities into profit making ones winning gold awards at the Exports Awards forum. Although people today blame politicians it is the people who work in these state institutions (who are) responsible for creating losses. Before restructuring these loss-making state institutions what is more important is to follow principles involved in accounting practices. These are mistakes made by people. I do not think that the Ministry of Finance is aware of such practices,” he said. Mr. Watawala questioned the CEO’s and chairmen of state corporations on their accountability. The managers who serve under them have to be accountable for their actions. “Today we have five excellent companies that have created value by integrated reporting.”
The CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2021 supported by the Colombo Stock Exchange was organised for the seventh year in succession. Some of the key speakers at the IR Awards were Alan Johnson, President of the International Federation of the Accountants (IFAC) the global body for the accounting profession; Prof. Mervyn E. King, Chair Emeritus of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) London, the global Reporting Initiative {GRI) Amsterdam, among others. Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Viraj Dayaratne PC and President SAFA Hennayake Bandara and CEO Colombo Stock Exchange Rajeeva Bandaranayake also addressed the gathering.
Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the chief Guest, said the culture of Integrated Reporting is now being captured in society and it is necessary that all companies to be accountable and show responsibility.
“Not only should we be looking at the past but should be looking at the future as well where reporting is concerned. At the Monetary Board of the Central Bank I have told officials to focus 75 per cent of their time on future events and to take steps to deal with such eventualities that may occur. We should also set out the future as we want it to be. It is also important to set out what we want to achieve to the stakeholders as well. The companies should also set out what they hope to achieve in the future. The annual report of the Central Bank is an important document. But we must be able to foresee what lies in the future and set out a road map as accountability does not mean past events. At the Central Bank we seek opinions and views of officials to formulate an integrated policy,” he added.
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