PwC Sri Lanka Advisory Leader Channa Manoharan appointed as Chairman of SLASSCOM

• Knowledge and Innovation Chamber holds first digital AGM

SLASSCOM, the Knowledge and Innovation Chamber, held its first digital Annual General Meeting on 30 June. During the AGM, SLASSCOM elected its new Chairman, Board of Directors and General Council for the year 2020/21.

The departing Chairman Ranil Rajapakse stated, “From small beginnings 10 years ago, today SLASSCOM, as the leading industry chamber for knowledge and innovation, plays a key role in promoting the IT/BPM industry and branding the country as a destination for top talent, expanding and upskilling the talent pool, and building a strong linkage between industry, academia, and government working together to drive the industry forward. While congratulating the new Chairman and team, I look forward to SALSSCOM’s continued role in contributing to the growth of the industry and positioning Sri Lanka as a global centre of excellence in knowledge process outsourcing, high-end product engineering and IP creation.”

SLASSCOM elected Advisory Leader of PwC Sri Lanka Channa Manoharan as the new Chairman. The rest of the elected Board of Directors include: Sandra De Zoysa – Vice Chairman, Ashique Ali – Vice Chairman, Shevan Goonetilleke – Operations Director, Jehan Perinpanayagam – Finance Director, Haridhu Abeygoonaratne, Nuwan Perera, Nishan Mendis, Shehani Seneviratne, Shiraz Lye, Boshan Dayaratne, and Anura Alwis.

Addressing the participants, the new Chairman Channa Manoharan said, “Serving as the Chairman of the SLASSCOM is a tremendous honour and privilege. As we navigate through challenging times, our focus will be on helping our stakeholders to build and grow the businesses and organisations of tomorrow. Our industry outlook remains positive and we are confident of growth in our industry due to opportunities arising from accelerated digital adoption in our key markets. 

“Our key focus will be on market expansion, accelerators to position Sri Lanka’s product engineering and IP creation capability, and supporting the startup eco-system to encourage the next generation of companies. We intend to partner with government and academia to attract global brands to set up operations in Sri Lanka and also to influence education reforms to create the right pool of talent to support our industry.”

Nominations to the SLASSCOM General Council from member companies were made. The general council is now: Sampath Jayasundara, Mudith Uswatta, Shanaka Fernando, Rohan Fernando, Chamil Jeewantha, Shehan Kumar, Sisira Kumara, Janith Gunasekera, Hasith Yaggahavita, Shehan Selvnayagam, Dileesha Rajapakse, Jagath De Silva, Mangala Perera, Tharindu Adikari, Rahal Jayawardena, Gehan Dias, Haresh Perera, Tharindra Jayamaha, Priyantha Bethmage, Ferz Cader, and Sanharsha Jayatissa.

At PwC Sri Lanka, Channa has over 20 years of experience in providing management consulting and advisory services to multi-nationals and diversified conglomerates in Sri Lanka. Channa has advised clients in business expansion, transformation including growth strategy encompassing organic and inorganic growth. He has facilitated expansion strategies to emerging markets including cross-border transaction advisory services.

Channa served as a Board member in SLASSCOM from 2015 onwards and was previously a member of SLASSCOM’s General Council, Marketing Forum, BPM Forum, and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Forum.

“Serving as the Chairman of the SLASSCOM is a tremendous honour and privilege. As we navigate through challenging times, our focus will be on helping our stakeholders to build and grow the businesses and organisations of tomorrow,” said Manoharan. “Our industry outlook remains positive and we are confident of growth in our industry due to opportunities arising from accelerated digital adoption in our key markets.”

“Our key focus will be on market expansion, accelerators to position Sri Lanka’s product engineering and IP creation capability, and supporting the startup eco-system to encourage the next generation of companies. We intend to partner with government and academia to attract global brands to set up operations in Sri Lanka and also to influence education reforms to create the right pool of talent to support our industry.”

SLASSCOM is the national chamber for the knowledge and innovation industry in Sri Lanka, active in facilitating trade and business, propagation of education and employment, encouragement of research and innovation, and supporting the creation of a progressive national policy framework in the interest of the IT-BPM industry. SLASSCOM drives the Imagination Economy: Sri Lanka’s Industry of the future, with the potential to become the #1 export revenue earner for Sri Lanka.