The Bankers’ Debate 2016

The Bankers’ Debate 2016 (TBD2016) was organised by the Association of Professional Bankers – Sri Lanka with the main objective of enhancing communication skills among bankers. 

Seventeen debating teams from 11 banks entered this contest which was based on the American Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) style of debate. 

The contestants were initially trained on the CEDA style of debating by the Moderator of TBD2016, Yukthi Gunasekera and thereafter the preliminary round and the semifinals of TBD2016 were held at the Sampath Bank Auditorium. 

The Grand Finale of TBD2016 was held on Sunday 4 December at the Bougainvillea Ballroom, Galadari Hotel, Colombo amidst an august gathering which included Heads of banks. The Director of Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Professor Ajantha Dharmasiri was the Chief Guest. 

The debating teams from Sampath Bank and HNB contested at the Grand Finale on the topic ‘Banks should invest more in digital technology than in people to succeed in future’.  

The judging panel which comprised of K.R. Ravindran, Upali de Silva, Rohini Nanayakkara and Arun Dias Bandaranaike selected the debating team from HNB as the winner at the Grand Finale of TBD2016.