Sunday Leader

CIMA, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) officially launched the new designation-Chartered Global Management Accountant-CGMA in New York and London simultaneously for its members.

CIMA Sri Lanka broke several records last year, chief among those being achieving a 10% year on year growth in registrations to 4.057 and for the first time beating UK by achieving the highest pass rate of 68% as opposed to London’s 64% in the May 2011 exam.

Twenty years of excellence that won customer trust, Celebrating 20 years in business excellence is not a matter that can be taken lightly in today’s highly competitive business environment. Having followed a path that provides the best and “moderate” IT solutions at an affordable price, Sala Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd. has become a trusted name in local households as well as in the business sector.

IFS, the global enterprise applications company recently announced that Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) has chosen IFS Applications as its new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

BMD enabled the issue of birth, marriage and death certificate within a few of minutes thanks to computerisation. This was said by ICTA Re-engineering Government Programme Head D.C. Dissanayake at a function in Polonnaruwa recently.

Knowledge has outstripped character development, and the young today are given an education rather than an upbringing. -Ilya Ehrenberg 1891-1967 

What I have Learned

This column dedicated to the  notion of making Sri Lanka the wonder of Asia turns its spotlight today on the prevention of cyber crime in Sri Lanka as Sri Lankan society would aspire to be free of such sophisticated criminal activities.

IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announced that it has signed a frame agreement with Ericsson.

Eighty per cent of Sri Lanka’s software professionals are from rural Sri Lanka, an industry source claimed.

The Labour Ministry Secretary Mahinda Madihahewa says that though unemployment percentage is down to under 5%, that of the educated unemployed was however as high as 20%.

In early days the only method that a student had to receive higher education in Sri Lanka, was to study hard and sit for the very competitive G.C.E. Advanced Level examination and get in to a state university.

The belief that ‘Knowledge is Power’ has constantly been proven time after time over the years. Today, the demand for quality higher education remains an ever growing necessity. Apt teaching, attention to detail and the ability to elevate students towards reaching their maximum potential are among important traits that a higher education provider should possess.

IFS Applications has been ranked in the dominant zone for mixed mode manufacturing (MMM) enterprise resource planning (ERP) software by third-party analyst group Technology Evaluation Centres (TEC).

Softlogic Information Technologies (Pvt) Ltd., local agents for Dell Computers USA, on Thursday introduced “Connected Classroom” where hundreds of students could be computer linked with their teacher simultaneously in contrast to a similar project launched by a peer company where the numbers connected don’t go beyond a score!
“We are promoting IT in education as opposed to IT education,” Roshan Rassool, Softlogic Information Technologies’ director/CEO told this reporter. Explaining further, he said that not only IT but all subjects, whether they be maths, science, languages or any other discipline could be taught this way.

Aeturnum Lanka, an enterprise software development services and solutions provider based in Colombo, celebrates its fifth anniversary this year.

In the absence of the arts and humanities faculties of local universities churning out employable graduates, the ball has been thrown back to the graduate’s court by the private sector to get a professional qualification as an addition to strengthen his chance of obtaining employment in the corporate sector.

Sri Lanka’s single digit IT penetration coupled with the fact that IT is now no more a luxury but a necessity in life in Sri Lanka is driving computer sales, a computer component manufacturer representative said.

Jayantha De Silva, IFS Vice President (South Asia) and Managing Director Sri Lanka recently won the ICT Lifetime Achievers’ Award/Most Outstanding Contribution award for the part he has played in the development of the island’s software industry.
The competition, known as the National Best Quality Software Awards is as a result of a joint partnership between the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka, a Government of Sri Lanka institution to promote ICT here and the British Computer Society of Sri Lanka (BCS).

Etisalat, the island’s pioneer mobile phone company is steaming ahead in broadening and widening its 3G customer base due to its superior IP (HSPA+) broadband offering.

As Sri Lanka strives to meet its economic potential, it is faced with a looming crisis in hiring and retaining talent needed to power its transformation.

In the next 10 years 3.8 million Sri Lankan workers will reach retirement age, a demographic factor that could curtail Sri Lanka’s growth. Policymakers, industry leaders and educators agree that if the nation is to reach its economic targets for the next decade it is essential to train the next generation of Sri Lankans not only to replace retiring workers but, more importantly, to create new value to the economy.

Recognizing the importance of small and medium scale entrepreneurs for the economy’s growth, Hatton National Bank plc (HNB) & the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote a range of financial services to Sri Lankan SMEs.

Hard on the heels of the London Times featuring an article about the potentiality of Sri Lankan accountants catering to the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry globally, the New York Times too carried a similar article recently.

Sri Lankans need to break that barrier of shyness that precludes them from speaking in English, Sri Lanka Association of Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) Chairman Sujiwa Dewaraja told reporters recently.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) continues to gain rapid acceptance locally with new markets opening up in the North and East as well as the Southern and Central Province areas. It is the only international accountancy body with a sole focus on business; a world leading professional institute that offers an internationally recognized qualification in management accountancy, focusing on accounting in business, in both the private and public sectors. This week, Regional Director of CIMA for the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa, Bradley Emerson spoke to The Sunday Leader about CIMA’s importance as a professional qualification in today’s global context.

The Education Ministry is to present the new Education Bill to parliament by the end of the year with the aim of implementing it by next year.

There is a chartered accountant on the boards of at least 60% of the listed companies in the island and that number is growing. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL) President Sujeewa Mudalige told reporters that 30% of Sri Lanka qualified chartered accountants are serving abroad.