AGM of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors

The 12th AGM of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) took place last month at the Ivy Room of the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.

Ronnie Peiris was re-elected the President of SLID together with his Council of Members to serve a second term: Pravir Samarasinghe and Shiromal Cooray as Vice Presidents, with Mahen Dayananda as the Immediate Past President and the Council of members were A.R. Rasiah, Preethi Jayawardena, Rajendra Theagarajah, Faizal Salieh, Nilanthi Sivapragasam, Kavan Ratnayake and Aroshi Perera.

The President in his address stated that SLID had continued to provide value to its members through seminars and workshops on topical issues, and had focused on building its internal capacity. The members approved the new Articles of Association converting the Institute from an informal association to a formal entity, which subsequently received the approval of the Registrar of Companies. SLID he said was now administratively ‘self sufficient’ in meeting the needs of its members and other stakeholders.

Having achieved the status of a formal entity, the Institute is now confident that it can raise the necessary funds, and garner the “volunteerism” of its members in expanding its activities in terms of both extent and intensity. SLID was happy to note that 30 members have already volunteered their support to the Institute’s activities, and are now assisting the Events Committee in planning various seminars/workshops/events. Further, plans are afoot to develop a curriculum that will lead to a certification both from an academic and a practical perspective for members, and further training was being planned with the relevant Regulatory Institutions.

SLID has taken on the task of disseminating the message of corporate governance to the provinces, and firmly believes that the country’s economic, and social, progress will be facilitated, and will indeed be accelerated, through appropriate best practices at the corporate, and boardroom levels in both the private and public sectors. During 2011/12, the message of Governance was taken to Kandy and Ratnapura.  Further visits are scheduled to Trincomalee, Hambantota and to the other provinces.

International Finance Corporation Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Adam Sack delivered a very interesting key note address to the well attended gathering on ‘How Good Corporate Governance Leads to Lower Costs of Capital – Facts and Lessons’.