CA Sri Lanka to host 20th Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants Conference

Head table from left: Technical Committee Alternate Chairman Channa Gunasekara, Technical Committee Chairperson Anoji De Silva, Conference Committee Chairman Tishan Subasinghe, CA Sri Lanka President Manil Jayesinghe, CA Sri Lanka Vice President Sanjaya Bandara, CA Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Dulani Fernando, CAPA Conference Committee Alternate Chairman Ruwan Perera and National Conference Committee Alternate Chairman Dhanuka Cooray

The CAPA Conference website being launched in the presence of Manil Jayesinghe, Sanjaya Bandara, Tishan Fernando and Anoji De Silva, as well as Past Presidents of CA Sri Lanka Ranel T. Wijesinha (also a Past President of CAPA) and Lasantha Wickremasinghe

• Official CAPA conference website launched to attract top accounting professionals to Colombo  

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) on Tuesday announced that it was proud to host the historic 20th conference of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) in Colombo in October this year. 

The announcement was made by the Institute during the unveiling of the official CAPA conference website http://www.capa2020.org/ at a ceremony held at the institute in the presence of CA Sri Lanka’s President Manil Jayesinghe, Vice President Sanjaya Bandara, Conference Committee Chairman Tishan Subasinghe and Technical Committee Chairperson Anoji De Silva. 

Themed ‘Heritage – Many businesses, One planet’, the 20th CAPA Conference will be held  alongside CA Sri Lanka’s 41st National Conference and the two conferences are expected to attract over 2,000 local and foreign delegates making it one of Sri Lanka’s biggest accounting summits in the country’s history. 

Given its standing as an inspirational leader for the accountancy profession in Asia Pacific, CAPA is strengthened with 33 national professional accountancy organisations operating in Asia and the Pacific, which collectively represent close to two million accountants across the region. The CAPA Conference is held every four years and the conference this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, an important landmark in the conference’s history.  

Apart from being an excellent assembly to disseminate knowledge and debate about contemporary and emerging issues impacting the accounting profession, the 20th CAPA Conference is also set to boost Sri Lanka’s image in the world map and as a hotspot tourist destination. 

Issuing a message on the occasion of the website launch, CAPA President Dr. Chen Yugui said that with Asia and Pacific staking claim to some of the most dynamic and fastest changing economies, the stage is set for extensive deliberations on what the accountancy profession can and must do, what reforms must take place, and how to rebuild trust, as well as embrace ethics and good governance, in an effort to forge a sustainable future and leave a heritage everyone can be proud of.

CA Sri Lanka President Manil Jayesinghe said that the Institute is honoured and privileged to host the CAPA Conference in Sri Lanka. “The conference will be among the most influential gatherings of accounting professionals from Asia and Pacific to be held in Colombo,” he said. 

Jayesinghe noted that in the present context, the conference is aptly themed for several reasons. “Not too long ago, professionals including accountants only focused on profits, but fast forward to 2020 and there is an alarming need for us to safeguard the planet we are living in. Amidst climate change, pollution, depletion of natural resources, which are often the result of man-made decisions, we have come to a point where we need to not just only focus on profits but also protect our planet if we and our businesses are to survive. Therefore, as finance professionals, we have a crucial role to play in mobilising and promoting greener investments and ensure a greener economy, if we are serious about saving the planet for the next generations, and the CAPA Conference in October will pay special focus to these areas,” he added.

Chairman of the Conference Committee Tishan Subasinghe highlighted that the 20th CAPA Conference was a momentous event not only for the regional grouping, but also for Sri Lanka as the event will also help build CA Sri Lanka’s brand at a regional and international level. “Another important aspect of this conference is that it will reinforce Sri Lanka’s image as a sought-after destination for tourism,” he said.   Subasinghe said that with the launch of the dedicated conference website and digital marketing media campaign for the CAPA conference, CA Sri Lanka will use the upcoming event to propagate Sri Lanka and the institute amongst the targeted audience worldwide. “The website and the social media pages will certainly provide a platform for this and these tools will be the interface between the institute and the prospective participants in terms of information sharing, registrations, promoting tourism, brand propagation,” he said. 

Technical Committee Chair Anoji De Silva delivering an overview of the theme noted that  ‘unfortunately’ over the years in the pretext of a better world for living and profit maximization, we have deforested our lands, polluted the air and contaminated our oceans – the results of which we are reaping at present across the globe. “Therefore, we feel that our profession too needs to pay attention to how we as accountants can contribute to preserve our heritage,” she said. 

De Silva highlighted that the conference could be used as a platform to make the accounting profession aware of the gravity of climate change and members of the profession to re-think how they can help build sustainable businesses whilst adding value to the economy.  “Another area we want to deliberate on is how we as a profession can enable and promote technologies that will disrupt the world for the better and not just for quick economic gain. We also feel that we need to re-look at how we as a profession can rebuild and reform our ethics, governance and trust agendas,” she added.  The CAPA Conference will be inaugurated at Shangri-La hotel, Colombo on 20 October and will conclude on 22nd October 2020 following technical sessions of both the 41st National Conference and the CAPA Conference.