Message from President CMA Sri Lanka
The “CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2021” was held for the 7th consecutive year to recognise and honour Sri Lankan companies preparing high quality integrated reports. With the challenges put forward by the Covid 19 pandemic, the awards ceremony was held as a hybrid event combining virtual and physical presence on 11th January 2022 at Taj Samudra, Colombo. The chief guest for the event was the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabral and the event was graced by the presence of distinguished guests locally and overseas.
The competition was open for public quoted companies, unlisted companies, state owned enterprises, government institutions, SMEs and organisations in the SAARC region. Amidst the challenges of Covid 19 pandemic, 41 organisations applied for the competition. We wish to congratulate all the companies that submitted their integrated report for this competition, and we are indeed pleased to reward them for their excellence and commitment.
Due to the tremendous improvements evident in the integrated reports entered into the competition this year, several new award categories were also introduced to recognise their commendable work such as Five Excellent Integrated Reports, Platinum Award and also an award to recognise the contribution of the CFOs who are at the helm of the journey of integrated reporting in their respective organisations.
The award winners were selected by a panel of judges chaired by Prof. Ho Yew Kee Associate Provost ( skills and future development) Singapore Institute of Technology assisted by Prof. Graham Terry, I n t e g r ated Re p o r t i n g Ambassador and Professor in Practice from South Africa, Prof. Samanthi Senarathne, Senior Professor in Accounting and Associate Prof. Luckmika Perera from Deakin Business School, Australia. Panel of judges were supported by an eminent panel of Technical Evaluators.
I wish to thank all the Judges and Technical Evaluators for their meticulous efforts put into make this event a success. And also, I would like to thank the Colombo Stock Exchange for being the Supporting Partner for this competition.
The hybrid awards ceremony was graced by the presence of eminent local and foreign dignitaries. The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Alan Johnson - President, International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), distinguished professional address was delivered by Prof. Mervyn King, Chair
Emeritus of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) London, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Amsterdam, former Judge of the supreme court of South Africa. Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO of Colombo Stock Exchange, Prof. Colin Higgins, Associate Dean International and Partnerships Faculty of Business & Law, Deakin Business School Melbourne, Australia, Mr. Hennayake Bandara, President South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) and the Vice President of CMA Sri Lanka, Mr. Viraj Dayaratne, Chairman, Securities & Exchange of Sri Lanka and Prof. Ho Yew Kee, Chairman, Panel of Judges – CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards, Professor of Accounting and Associate Provost (SkillsFuture) Singapore Institute of Technology and former Professor of Accounting, National University of Singapore (NUS) were among the distinguished speakers of the event. The Judge’s report was presented by Prof. Graham Terry, Professor of Practice, University of Johannesburg on IR & Integrated Thinking and Ambassador for the IIRC.
Over the past seven years, we could witness an overwhelming number of companies both quoted and unquoted, private and government institutions applying for the CMA Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards competition proving the fact that this competition is well received by the corporate sector of Sri Lanka. We are indeed happy to note that Sri Lanka is now in the forefront of integrated reporting in the Asian region although it is not mandatory yet to prepare IRs in Sri Lanka.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all the award winners and participants and look forward to their participation in year 2022 as well.