50 years as Sri Lanka’s leading accountancy body is a great achievement. I take this opportunity to wish the Institute on its 50th anniversary. It’s a privilege to be a member of the Institute, which in the last five decades contributed immensely to the economic and social development of Sri Lanka. It can be argued that our contribution has not only been to Sri Lanka but to many countries too, as we continue to grow our members outside Sri Lanka. There have been many challenges during the past 50 years but the Institute and the profession has faced them with courage, delivered true value to the nation whilst its maintaining credibility. A fantastic effort, “well done to all”.

The next 50 years

With the end of the 30-year-war, Sri Lanka is looking forward to a brighter future. It’s the dream of all Sri Lankans. My dream is to see Sri Lanka similar to what Malaysia is today (2009). After living the past eight months in Malaysia, I dream every day that in the next 10 years (by 2020) Sri Lanka will at least be a Malaysia today. There are many similarities between the two countries. The culture, people, weather patterns, lifestyle, landscape, food etc., etc. are similar to Sri Lanka (I should not forget the all those nice fruits from rambutan, durian to jack fruit we have in Sri Lanka are available here in plenty) but more importantly three communities (Malays, Chinese and the Tamils) live in harmony in Malaysia. There is no reason why Sri Lanka can’t be the same. We can make it happen.

We have a challenging decade ahead of us. Political stability and economic development will be key drivers that will improve the wealth and social wellbeing of all Sri Lankans. The next 10 years will generate high investments in all sectors of the economy although in my view there will be more focus on Infrastructure, Transport and Information Technology.

Key challenges due to rapid economic development 

I consider the following key challenges will have a direct impact on our profession with more focus on the last two.

• Funding
• Good governance
• Attracting and developing good people (leadership and technical skills)

Preparedness as a profession to meet these challenges

Good governance

Although, as a profession we have made good progress, I believe there is enough space for improvement in supporting and helping practice of good governance. In addition, the profession has a bigger challenge in “walking the talk”. Lack of good governance in my view generates waste. We cannot any longer waste, we have wasted enough on arms and ammunition, other non-productive activities is the past 30 years. Recent comments in the media challenging the profession highlight the importance of good governance not only from a good business practice, but also as a social responsibility. The society depends on the profession to be ethical, honest and open, and lead by example. Although, the current environment in Sri Lanka is not hostile towards the profession when compared with many developed nations, it may not be so for long. We have to be ready and be able to perform the role that the key stakeholders expect from us. If not, we will fail in one of our key responsibilities to society.

Attracting and developing good people

 Talented people with good leadership and technical skills are key to the success of any country or organisation. Success of our profession, business enterprises and the country will depend very highly on people. Our profession has to attract the best of the best. However, it is not easy as we have to compete with other professions such as medicine, engineering, IT, etc. Success in attracting and retaining good talent depends on the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the profession. Do we have a USP, if so, have used it to attract talent?

Developing our people is equally important to attracting them. With a rapidly changing external environment we have to seriously review the examination structure and training programmes. These should cater to meeting the stakeholder needs, especially the governance, leadership and other important requirements. It should not stop with the examinations but instead continue to focus through continuous professional development post qualification. The challenge is highlighting the importance; and motivating the membership to prioritise professional development as an important aspect along with family, business and other social commitments. 

Stakeholder dialogue as key process tool identify our key challenges

Stakeholder dialogue is an excellent process used by many organisations around the world to understand the expectations of key stakeholders, to prioritise and develop plans that meet those expectations. One of our challenges will be identifying our key stakeholders and engaging with them effectively, and more importantly delivering their expectations. The Institute has to lead this and allocate sufficient resources ensure success but the profession should not leave this entirely to the Institute, it is our credibility that is at stake if we fail in this process. This should not be a one-off exercise; instead it should be an ongoing process with both stakeholder expectation and our commitments being published. Regular progress updates are a must to ensure credibility.

Conclusion

The Governance and the People challenge will not be successfully resolved if we adopt an internal solution by the profession only and by ignoring key stakeholders input which will be mostly external and valuable. Let’s get out and hear the views of others and consider their concerns and thoughts too. This will help our profession to effectively meet the future challenges, perform the role expected from it, and deliver expectations of the wider society.

Finally, almost all issues are driven by people behaviour. Selfishness and Greed are key motivators that drive irresponsible behaviours; therefore, I acknowledge supporting good governance will be a great challenge even if we have the best people. We should not run away from challenge, we can make it happen. Let me conclude with a quote from the book ‘Why Worry’ written by late Ven K.S. Dhammananda: “Mind is the architect of our fate. It can make us sick, or it can cure us”.

Looking back ‘another lost decade’ of Sri Lanka: We cannot afford another