CIPM Sri Lanka to host World Human Resource Congress in 2020

It is seldom that a small country like Sri Lanka gets a chance to host a mega event such as holding the World Human Resource Conference in Colombo on July 6 to 8, 2020. 

By Jayampathy Jayasinghe

It is seldom that a small country like Sri Lanka gets a chance to host a mega event such as holding the World Human Resource Conference in Colombo on July 6 to 8, 2020. 

“We have become the country representative of the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) where 70 countries in the region and the Asia Pacific Region are expected to participate at the 2020 conclave in Sri Lanka,” said Dhammika Fernando, President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Director of Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the World HR Congress 2020 at a media briefing held at the BMICH Colombo this week. 

The CIPM in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management (APFHRM) and the World Federation of People Management Association (WFPMA) will host the world’s largest HR conclave in Colombo.

The 38th 2-day National Conference of the CIPM Sri Lanka was inaugurated at the BMICH last Tuesday and an agreement between the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) of Sri Lanka and the World Federation of People Management Associations was signed at the inauguration ceremony.

Secretary General of the World Federation of People Management Associations, Bob Morton said that a robust process of the World Federation goes through when appointing the conference hosts. CIPM Sri Lanka was chosen because of the long standing record in developing the profession in Sri Lanka. “They have also lifted the standard of the profession in Sri Lanka and in the region. They had stiff competition from Australia, a large country. We have to be mindful of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.” he said 

CIPM President Dhammika Fernando said CIPM Sri Lanka won the opportunity to host the biennial World HR Congress in 2020 Colombo after an intense competition bidding and evaluation process held in Hong Kong with countries like Australia, Philippines and Thailand. 

Some 96 countries from five continental federations are expected participate at the 2020 conclave in Colombo. Around 2500 management professionals and business leaders in Sri Lanka and overseas are expected to participate at this mega event. The countries that will participate in the HR Conclave Colombo 2020 include India, Pakistan Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives as well as countries in the Pacific region such as New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Viet Nam and Thailand. 

Many delegates form regional HR professional bodies such as National Institute of Personnel Management of India (NIPM), Bangladesh Society for Human Resource Management (BSHRM), Pakistan Society for Human Resource Management (PSHRM) Maldives Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM) and other regional and global human resource societies are expected to participate at the World HR Congress 2020. 

The Immediate Past President, CIPM Sri Lanka Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri and the Chairman of the Technical Committee of World HR Congress 2020 also spoke.