The 42nd National Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and the 20th Conference of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA), a top regional accounting body, will raise the curtains on October 6, 2021 to unveil one of the biggest ever hybrid conferences ever to be hosted in Colombo, with the thought-provoking theme “Heritage: Many Businesses, One Planet.”
One of the largest regional accounting assemblies to be held in Sri Lanka next month will take on a unique perspective whilst moving away from conventional topics, to recognize the significant role finance professionals including Chartered Accountants can play in championing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and considering Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles in making investment decisions.
The hybrid conference is expected to attract over 2500+ global and local delegates who will connect with the event virtually, while over 40 speakers and session Chairman will steer the technical sessions to generate global thought leadership ideas for businesses during the conference.
The joint conference aims to explore the role and contribution accountants can make to mitigate and adapt to imminent risks and threats including climate change. During eight specialised technical sessions, speakers and panellists will deliberate contemporary and emerging issues impacting the accounting profession, alongside a rapidly changing social, economic, and technological landscape.
The technical deliberations will commence with a session on Stakeholder Capitalism. Carmine Di Sibio (Global Chairman and CEO, EY), will be the session keynote speaker and Ranel T. Wijesinha,(Immediate Past Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, Past President CAPA and Past President CA Sri Lanka) will serve as session chairman along with an expert panel.
As professionals sitting close to the nerve centre of an organisation, accountants can play an extraordinary role in promoting greener investments which will ensure a greener economy, and a greener planet. The session on Eco-investments and Sustainable Finance will help participants gauge the benefits of eco-investments and sustainable finance, opportunities for public-private partnerships and the responsibility of finance professionals in promulgating eco investments and sustainable finance.
There will also be a deliberation on Trust, IESBA Code with Technical Developments which will aim to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the accounting profession and how the profession can build relevant, ethical, and trusted finance professionals.
Raising Capital During Challenging Times, an area of focus during the pandemic, Mahek Vikamsey (Partner, Deal Advisory) and panel, Murtaza Jafferjee, (Chief Executive Officer, JB Securities and Chairman, Advocata Institute), Nandika Buddhipala (Chief Financial Officer, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, President of National Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of Member Network Panel ACCA SL) guided by the session chairman Sanjaya Bandara (Vice President of CA Sri Lanka and Board Member of CAPA) to deliberate on the bold steps which must be taken by companies to raise capital during these challenging times.
The Right Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help business leaders to harness AI for sustainable development as well as generate new service opportunities for finance professionals. Dr Kasun Amarasinghe (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Carnegie Mellon University) will deliver the session keynote.
The wellbeing of our workforce will be the area of focus in the session The Hidden Pandemic (Wellbeing). Prof. Andrew Noblet (Chair in Organisational Behaviour Deakin Business School, Deakin University), the session keynote speaker will focus on the importance of employees’ mental wellbeing, which has become a highly discussed topic since the pandemic.
The Red Flag (Fraud) will pay attention to the heightened risk of fraud in the global economy and the increasing reliance placed more than ever on finance professionals to identify and mitigate the risk of fraud. During the session, experts will help participants understand how to upskill themselves, use technology, and build controlled environments to mitigate the risk of fraud. The session keynote will be delivered by Jason Zirkle (Training Director, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners - ACFE) followed by a discussion chaired by session.
The conference will conclude with the Chronicles of Entrepreneurship which will focus on showcasing four inspiring entrepreneurs and their journey to cross the SME boundary and how the SME sector can continue to be an integral pillar of Sri Lanka’s growth.
The session keynote will be delivered by Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala. (President of CMA Sri Lanka and Past President of CA Sri Lanka)
The CAPA Conference has been held 19 times, in 12 countries, and is a key event in the CAPA calendar. The first CAPA Conference was held in 1957 in Manila, Philippines. CAPA is a regional organisation representing 32 professional accountancy organisations (PAOs) from 23 jurisdictions, and these PAOs have a collective membership of over 2 million qualified accountants.
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