KPMG MESA Conference concludes in Colombo

The 18th KPMG MESA Conference was held in Colombo conference held in Colombo with the theme ‘Reinventing to meet clients.

The event brought together more than 100 partners from 13 countries in the Middle East and South Asia (MESA) sub-region and the wider KPMG network. Growth in the region is driven by factors such as expanding economies, demographic growth, introduction of new tax systems and state initiatives, including efforts by oil-dependent nations to diversify their income sources.

Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was the chief commended KPMG for its drive to become even more client-focused – and talked about the wider community benefits resulting from client-centricity. To demonstrate this, he highlighted examples of infrastructure projects across Sri Lanka which are set to provide greater accessibility, encourage foreign investment and provide more opportunities for futuristic Sri Lanka.

The Governor- Central Bank, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, was the key note speaker for the Conference. Supporting the Prime Minister’s message, he highlighted the economic opportunities, the initiatives being taken by the Central Bank to strengthen the banking sector stability, and emphasized the vital role professional services firms like KPMG can play.

Managing Partner of KPMG Sri Lanka and Chairman of MESA, Reyaz Mihular, spoke about the role played by KPMGin automating the company registration process, a move which is expected to help the country advance in the Global Ease of Doing Business index andworking in conjunction with Sri Lanka CERT the regulating body for Cyber Security in the country to assess the cyber security readiness of the State sector. Mihular, provided an overview of the MESA region’s performance and future focus, highlighting that the MESA region is among the fastest growing regions in the KPMG network.

Other speakers included KPMG Global Chairman, Bill Thomas and KPMG EMA Chairman, Sikander Sattar. Bill Thomas spoke to the partners on the importance of the Conference theme – “Reinventing to meet Clients Agenda”, focus on Growth with Quality and benefits of the Collective strategy. Topical presentations covered areas of emerging client needs, changing regulatory requirements, importance of collaboration across the network, new technologies and alliances.

An interactive client panel discussion followed (pictured below), with CEOs providing their perspective on how professional services firms could enhance propositions and better support clients through their digital disruption journey.

A millennial panel discussion with Jeevan Gnanam, Entrepreneur and Technologist, Prajeeth Balasubramaniam, Director, BOV Capital, Hardy Jamaldeen, Co-Founder, Steradian Capital, focused on enhancing the experience of the 4,000+ millennial which make up more than fifty percent of the KPMG MESA region’s workforce.

These were followed by a panel discussion with the KPMG MESA Board members who provided perspective on growth, talent, quality, collaboration and investments in the Region.

The conference concluded with a motivational speech by former Sri Lankan cricket captain, Aravinda De Silva who compared the way a cricketer needs to change his style on the field to meet the different styles of bowling, with the way businesses need to change to meet the changing customer requirements.