World Bank’s Tony Hegarty to be Guest of Honour for ICASL Conference

By Ben Fowler

Chief Financial Management Officer and Head of the Financial Management Sector Board of the World Bank Tony Hegarty has been announced as the keynote speaker for the 32nd ICASL conference to be held from 20 to 22 October.

The event, which has been ever-growing in both size and significance over the past thirty years, will be held at the Waters Edge in Battaramulla. This year’s event will feature six high-profile speakers each taking the ‘Quest for Balance’ theme and applying it to a different facet of business, whether at the personal or the global level.

Hegarty, who has extensive experience with development, business, and accounting, will give a 20 minute address at the conference’s inauguration on the 20th. Among many other accomplishments, he is Co-chair of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC), which works on assistance and poverty-reduction with developing countries.

He’s also Co-Chair of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions’ (INTOSA) Donors Steering Committee. And perhaps most significantly he was founder of the International Federation of Accountants’ Developing Nations Committee, which helps bolster strong accountancy practices in developing and emerging countries.

Other notable positions held: Chair of the Multilateral Development Banks Financial Management Working Group on Harmonisation, Member of the Multi-Donor Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Steering Committee, World Bank’s Public Sector Governance Board.

Hegarty’s background is particularly relevant with this year’s event — especially considering a big issue on the docket is Sri Lanka’s adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which strives to increase the ease of participating in global business and investing, which will be both a historic change and new opportunity for businesses to operate on the international stage.

ICASL also announced that the Chief Guest would be Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence.