Roundtable on finance and accounting outsourcing on 2 August

‘Readiness to succeed by breaking barriers’, a roundtable on the opportunities and challenges facing Sri Lanka’s Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) industry, will be held on 2 August at King’s Court, Cinnamon Lakeside. Sri Lanka, with its pool of qualified accounting professionals second only to the UK’s in size, is in an ideal position to capitalise on the finance and accounting niche in the outsourcing industry.

Organised by SLASSCOM and CIMA, the aim of the roundtable is to promote the growth of this industry by sharing the insights and best practices of experts in the field.

Setting the tone for the event, Accenture India Chairman and Managing Director Avinash Vashistha will deliver a keynote address titled ‘Evolving face of globalisation: What do clients consider when choosing an outsourcing destination and partner’.

Simon Bell, an international investor and consultant, will discuss Sri Lanka’s competitive advantage in the field, assessing the capabilities of the country’s workforce and infrastructure as discussed in A.T. Kearney’s report, ‘Competitive benchmarking – Sri Lanka knowledge services’.

Also lending his expertise to the forum is Hayleys Business Solutions International (Pvt.) Ltd Managing Director Dr. Arul Sivagananthan who will examine Sri Lanka’s success in FAO.

HSBC Security Services Operations Head Richard Milner will present a case study on government support for the development of the BPO sector and CIMA, Middle East, South Asia and North Africa Regional Director Bradley Emerson is to address the skill capacity challenges faced by the Sri Lankan FAO industry.

 A case study on the issues when developing a home-grown FAO business will be presented by Telida (Pvt.) Ltd. Director Operations Mohamed Hisham providing useful insights to potential entrants into the industry.

Discussions between eminent industry leaders encompassing Sri Lanka’s position in the FAO industry and how best to overcome the country’s barriers, will also be held, creating excellent opportunities for knowledge-sharing and networking amongst key stakeholders in FAO markets.  The panel discussion titled ‘Sri Lanka as an FAO destination: readiness to succeed’ will be moderated by Infomate CEO Jehan Perinpanayagam; and Amba Research Lanka Ltd. Country Head Dr. Kemal de Soysa will moderate ‘Breaking barriers in the Sri Lankan FAO industry’.

The principal sponsor for ‘Readiness to succeed by breaking barriers’ is Orion Development (Pvt.) Ltd.   The silver sponsors for the event are SA Knowledge Services (Pvt.) Ltd and LankaBPO, ETV is the exclusive electronic media sponsor, digital media partners are LBR and LBO, and the exclusive print media partner is Wijeya News-papers Ltd.