End of the war, begins opportunities

By Quintus Perera – Asian Tribune

Colombo, 08 April, (Asiantribune.com): A discussion at the CEO Forum organized by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) was held at the Hilton Hotel Colombo on the topic ‘Beyond the war’ – Building: Human capital, organization and economy.

The discussion was carried out considering the imminent end of the war that ran for nearly three decades and cost the country billions of dollars and thousands of lives.

Mourad Mankarios, Principal Coach, SIM raising a question at the forum asked whether they are ready when the guns cease to fire, making the keynote address. He emphasized on the importance of ready to take charge of the controllable factors in pursuit of utilizing the opportunities by development of the talent pool of people and constant innovation to give the extra edge in taking the organization and the economy beyond the spheres of war. He also focused on inculcating strong values and exercising transparency, as two vital aspects of leadership in establishing a sustainable eco system.

Mr Mourad as the former Chairman and CEO of Philips Electronics Singapore Pte Ltd drew invaluable insight through his varied experience in areas of operations, IT and regulatory framework working in the Middle East, Africa, Netherlands and East Asia.

The panel discussion that followed was headed by eminent persons and it was moderated by Nihal Fonseka, Chariman, Colombo Stock Exchange. He noted the importance of Foreign Direct Investments in achieving the required level of development and expressed that there’s a higher possibility of attracting the necessary capital flow given the endCIMA CEO Forum of war.

A panelist, Rohantha Athukorala, Director Economic Affairs, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process provided insight pertaining to the current economic impact of war. He indicated that the war has cost approximately US $ 20 bn to the economy.

Another panelist, Jeevan Thiagarajah, Executive Director, Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Colombo with his experience in the arena emphasized on the vitality of reconciliation and healing the hearts of people to avoid best laid efforts being derailed.

Dr Gamini Wickramasinghe, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon another panalist brought insight relating to development of livelihood in the north and east via an agricultural and a knowledge based economy by promoting professional education and industries such as Business Process Outsourcing.

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