CB Chief to speak on ‘Sri Lanka – The Way Forward and the Role of Professionals’ at ICASL National C

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) will be holding its 31st National Conference from 28-30 October 2010 at Waters Edge, Battaramulla.

Aptly themed ‘The World sees Opportunity in Sri Lanka,’ the conference will feature six high profile speakers, including Governor of Central Bank Nivard Cabraal, who will speak on ‘Sri Lanka – The Way Forward and the Role of Professionals’.

His speech will shed insights into the Government vision to make Sri Lanka the ‘Miracle of Asia’ and professionals’ contribution towards realising this vision.

The session encompasses a panel discussion with an eminent panel including Jayampathi D. Bandaranayake – Chairman/Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Deva Rodrigo – former Territory Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Sri Lanka and Nihal Fonseka – Chief Executive Officer, DFCC Bank.

The last decade was one of significant challenges for the Sri Lanka economy. It began with economic contraction of 2001 (-1.5% of GDP) fallowing drought, terrorist attacks, the tsunami in December 2004 and finally the global financial and economic crisis of last two years while the three decade civil war came to a climax between late 2008 to May 2009. Sri Lanka is now faced with an unprecedented opportunity to finally fulfil the great potential of the economy.

During this session, Cabraal will examine ways to build a nation having rapid sustained economic growth which will result in the country having one of the most competitive economies in the region. Having such a strong economy will result in fulfilling the dream of the government of making Sri Lanka the next Asian miracle.

This session would seek to identify some of the key challenges and policy issues that will be faced in our attempts to realise the vision of becoming an Asian economic miracle and the strategies required to overcome these challenges and policy issues and the role of the professionals in the sphere.

Some of the issues, challenges and strategies that will also be discussed at this session will include brain drain/brain gain, creating a conducive environment for active participation of professionals, educational reforms, productivity and efficiency, macroeconomic stability, governance, transparency, and accountability, infrastructure, etc.

Cabraal will also address aspects such as inspiring and visionary leadership in the government and in the private sector, redesign of value framework of the nation – including mutual respect among diverse ethnic and religious communities, system of government which is consensual and intelligent, and creating a performance culture across the nation with emphasise on productivity and efficiency.

The CB Chief’s focal point will be to recognise and explore the role of the professional, business leader and the challenges in the voyage of the development of the country.

Cabraal is the 12th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Prior to his appointment as the Governor, he was the Adviser to the His Excellency the President on Economic Affairs, and the Secretary, Ministry of Plan Implementation. He also served as a Member of the Board of the Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA), and as a Member of the Government Team that participated at the Geneva Talks with the LTTE in February 2006.

In 2005, Cabraal was closely associated in the development of the ‘Mahinda Chintana,’ which currently serves as the Policy Framework and Development Plan of the Government.  Cabraal chairs the Monetary Board and serves as a Member of the Finance Commission, the National Economic Council and as the Chairman of the Inter Regulatory Council. He is an Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund, and the current Chairman of the SAARC Governors Forum.

Prior to his state appointments, Cabraal functioned as a management consultant specialising in business revival and turnarounds, planning and corporate governance. During such period, he served as Chairman and/or Director of many quoted and unquoted public companies as well. He was also an internationally recognised consultant in corporate governance and was the Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee which developed the first Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance in Sri Lanka.

He was the Founder President of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Sri Lanka, and a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, South Asian Federation of Accountants and St. Peter’s College Old Boys Union.

He has served on the Boards of the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Institute of Business Management, Post Graduate Institute of Management and the University of Moratuwa. Cabraal was also a Fellow in the 2000 Multi-Nation Program of the Eisenhower Foundation, USA. He is the author of the books, ‘Towards a Sri Lankan Renaissance’ and ‘Lak Mawata Muthu Potak’ (A string of Pearls for Mother Lanka).