CA Sri Lanka’s 41st National Conference goes virtual with an exciting line up of speakers, panellists

An exciting line up of thought leaders as well as high profile speakers and panellists will set the tone for the 41^st National Conference of Chartered Accountants organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) at a 3-day conference will be held from January 18^th to 20^th.

The National Conference will be inaugurated on Monday, 18^th January 2021 under the patronage of Ajith Nivard Cabraal, State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms and Prof. Sampath Amaratunge, Chairman of the University Grants Commission at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo with a limited number of special invitees in line with health protocols, the institute said in a media release. 

However, over 1700 participants from Sri Lanka and overseas will connect virtually with the proceedings of the conference which will be held under the theme “Abnormal.” The conference is held on a virtual platform for the first time in its four-decade long history due to the ongoing global pandemic and the related regulations imposed by health authorities.

The conference which will conclude on 20^th January 2021 following two days of technical sessions will feature locally and globally acclaimed speakers and panelists who will deliberate the changes, opportunities and abnormalities stemming from the COVID-19 crisis, with the aim of stimulating the intellectual curiosity of the participants while also exploring new business and professional practices to succeed in these abnormal times.

The 3-day event will kick off with an inspiring keynote speech delivered by Ms. Selyna Peiris, Director, Business Development, SELYN Exporters (Pvt) Ltd who will revolve her speech on ‘Walk the Talk.’ In her keynote, she will share her experience on managing the culture, operations and most importantly the people within the organisation, specially during these challenging times and how her leadership helped the business remain steady and relevant.

The technical sessions will kick off on 19^th January 2021 with the first session on ‘Defying the Normal’ with Dr. Ravi Fernando, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Global Strategic Corporate Sustainability Pvt. Ltd paying focus to how the pandemic has exposed cracks and left business with little choice but to regroup, rehash and revitalise.

During the session, Dr. Fernando will help craft out the different elements of the triple bottom line and set out a practical framework which 21^st century leaders can follow while meeting the expectations of stakeholders with the unique ability to rise to face unforeseen challenges successfully. Suranga Herath, Chief Executive Officer, English Tea Shop and Mahesh Nanayakkara, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Development Business Finance PLC will contribute as panelists, while Moiz Rehmanjee, Group Chief Financial Officer, Hela Clothing will moderate the session.

The second technical session on “New Economic Order’ will feature Dr. Nishan De Mel, Executive Director, Head of Research, Verité Research Pvt. Ltd who will shed light on the effects of these bail out strategies in the aftermath of COVID. Prabash Subasinghe, Managing Director, Global Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd and Thulci Aluwihare, Head of Strategy & Business Development, CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd will share their insights as panellists, while Tishan Subasinghe, Managing Director, Moore Stephens Consulting (Pvt) Ltd, Chairman, SANASA Insurance Co. Ltd, Director, Amana Bank PLC will moderate the session.

The third session on 'The Perfect Link' will showcase Ms. Gayani De Alwis, Global Chairperson, WiLAT, Immediate Past Chairperson, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Non-Executive Independent Director, Singer Sri Lanka PLC and Management Consultant who will speak on the future of supply chains and the increasing need to rethink and innovate flexible supply chains with new models. The session will be complemented with two panellists Hanif Yusoof, Group Chief Executive Officer, Expolanka Holdings PLC and Ms. Jayanthi Dharmasena, Managing Director, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Limited, while Channa Gunasekera, Finance & Operations Consultant will moderate the session.