CA Sri Lanka’s 40th National Conference to restore confidence, chartered accountants’ spark

From left: National Conference Committee Chairman Dulitha Perera, CA Sri Lanka President Jagath Perera, CEO Dulani Fernando and National Conference Technical Committee Chairman Moiz Rehmanjee unveiling the theme of the 40th National Conference 

In a world engulfed in corporate stress and daily monotony, professionals, including chartered accountants, feel depleted, which stops them from being goal-oriented strategists with the power to drive businesses forward. To counter this drift, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) will take the lead at the 40th National Conference to revitalise the confidence and help restore the lost spark of chartered accountants and help them regain their passion and purpose. 

The conference, dubbed Sri Lanka’s biggest business summit, will be held from 14-16 October at Waters Edge, Battaramulla on the theme ‘Finding your mojo: A journey of self-discovery’. 

The theme of the conference was unveiled at a press conference held on 21 September, in the presence of CA Sri Lanka President Jagath Perera, National Conference Committee Chairman Dulitha Perera, National Conference Technical Committee Chairman Moiz Rehmanjee and CEO Dulani Fernando. 

Mojo is defined as the internal magic which translates to external success. It is the passion and focus professionals have that will help them reach the highest percentiles in their lives and professions. However, anyone can fall victim to circumstances and therefore need to recover from forces that are out of their control. The conference, which will also attract some of the country’s best-known business leaders and C-suite executives, will provide an important platform for participants to explore how to rediscover that spark of magic as well as passion and purpose within themselves which will ultimately help them drive value for themselves, their companies and to the country as a whole. 

The conference will be inaugurated on 14 October followed by two days of technical sessions on 15 and 16 October featuring a high-profile panel of speakers and panellists who have created an important niche due to their unorthodox methodologies, which have helped them propel themselves to the highest pinnacle of success. 

Delivering the welcome speech, Jagath Perera said that the conference reaches an important milestone as it celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. 

“Not only members of our institute but the business leadership of this country has also been enjoying this flagship event for the last 40 years. I am confident that this year’s conference will be an inspiring platform for accounting professionals,” he said. 

Meanwhile, to accommodate the growing number of participants and due to limited seating at the primary venue, organisers have also scheduled a live telecast of the technical sessions at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo. The three-day event will also be offered via webcast for the benefit of chartered accountants and other professionals who live overseas and are unable to attend the event in Colombo. Last year, the conference attracted over 2,000 participants. 

Dulitha Perera emphasised that in the current context where chartered accountants were facing multiple challenges in performing their roles inside and outside boardrooms, the institute has taken the lead in keeping chartered accountants updated on all developments taking place globally as well as locally. 

“The National Conference is an event chartered accountants look forward to every year, as it is an important platform which updates their knowledge on what’s happening around the globe, as well as what’s impacting the profession and their day-to-day work,” he added. 

Rehmanjee said that this year the technical committee decided to focus on a very unorthodox theme as the conference celebrated its 40th anniversary. 

“At this year’s conference, we want to talk of the mojo that we as individuals, as employees and as businessmen possess. We want to explore what it means, whether we have it, or whether we have lost it and if so, how do we regain it,” he said. 

Rehmanjee also gave an overview of what was in store for the two days of technical sessions.