Suren Rajakarier, Partner and Head of Audit and Head of People, Learning and Development, KPMG Sri Lanka, was appointed as the Chairman, Member Network Panel of ACCA Sri Lanka for the year 2018/ 2019, at the Annual General Meeting of ACCA held recently at the JAIC Hilton in Colombo.
Suren has been instrumental in carrying out a wide variety of audit, regulatory, compliance and due diligence engagements, in Sri Lanka, UK, Oman, Dubai and Maldives.
Suren, a fellow member of ACCA, was awarded the national advocate of the year 2018 by ACCA. In his role as Head of Learning and Development, he was instrumental in KPMG being the first firm to get the platinum status recognition as an approved employer by ACCA in 2007 for training and professional development and in retaining this recognition with ACCA UK up to date.
Suren Rajakarier, Chairman, Member Network Panel, ACCA Sri Lanka |
In his acceptance speech, Suren said that ACCA has now reached a new landmark figure of 200,000 members. Outlining the key focus areas for ACCA in the year ahead, Suren said they comprised of working on professional judgment and ethics, to fulfill the requirements of public trust, playing a positive role in fighting corruption in the accountancy profession and in ensuring that ACCA remains in demand through developing the skills required to help produce strategic thinking finance professionals that will drive value for businesses in the future, where transformation is key.
He further explained that ACCA has introduced a market leading ethics and professional skills module to help support the high standard required to maintain public trust, which in turn has been instrumental in further enhancing the employability of ACCA qualified students.
He said that professional ethics, education and oversight must remain at the core of the accountancy profession and ACCA intends to play a positive role in this arena.
The selection of the executive committee for this year were chosen through an online election handled by Baker and Tilly, one of the world’s leading networks of independently owned and managed accountancy and business advisory firms.
The committee for the year 2018/2019 included Nandika Buddhipala, Vice Chairman, Nisreen Rehmanjee, Channa De Silva, Jehan Perinpanayagam and Ayoma Peiris, along with four new entrants, comprising of Dr. Dinusha Weerawardena, Thilina Ukwatte, Thumilan Sivarajah and Indunil Dayananda.
Ruchera Jayawardena Peries, Business Development Manager – Employers and Members, for ACCA Sri Lanka, presented the annual report of the year 2017/ 2018. Noteworthy achievements included celebrating the success of 3 world prize-winners, 53 local prize-winners, 4 top affiliates and 124 affiliates, and launching the Ethics and Professional Skills module at the Prizewinners’ Awards Ceremony in November 2017. Several strategic partnerships and MoU’s were signed, including two new learning providers, the Icon Business School in Colombo and GBS Academy in Kandy, two new accelerate agreements with Imperial College and NSBM Green Campus, along with the continuation of agreements with the Universities of Sri Jayawardenapura, Kelaniya, Wayamba and Colombo.
ACCA awarded five new organizations with the approved employer status, namely, WIS Accountancy Ltd, Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC, Icon Business School, Hayley’s Advantis Limited and Info Mate Private Limited.
Continuing professional development workshops were held on current topics of interest and value, comprising of Strategic Insights into the New IRD Act, Fighting Fraud, a CEO forum on the implications for Sri Lanka of the Belt and Road Initiative, Blending Insights, Technology & Psychology for Smart Decision Making and the Opportunities and Challenges of the Private Health Care Sector.
ACCA Sri Lanka also organized the country’s very first Finance Hackathon, as well as holding their annual flagship event, the sustainability reporting awards ceremony for the 14th consecutive year.
ACCA’s report compiled on “50 Drivers of Change in the Public Sector” was handed over to Minister of Finance and Media, Mangala Samaraweera by the ACCA Sri Lanka team and immediate past president of ACCA Global council Brian McEnery. Jayawardena concluded the report by thanking all members for their support.
Add new comment