ACCA acknowledged as qualification that inspires leadership, entrepreneurial skills

Monday, 14 July 2014 01:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ajith E. Tudawe the Chairman of Ceylon Hospitals PLC (Durdans Healthcare Group) and Group Director of Tudawe Brothers Limited and its associate companies is an Accountant by profession. Ajith holds a BA (Hons) degree in Accounting from the UK. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA – UK), a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, and a Fellow of CPA Australia. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK). Ajith’s accounting background along with his entrepreneurship prompted him to initiate and implement several Strategic Business Units (SBUs) at Durdans Hospital from 1994, and this played a pivotal role in the transformation process of the Healthcare Group. By adopting the M&A strategy at the outset of the restructuring process, he was able to leverage on this initiative to take the organisation strategically forward. One of his greatest challenges was the restructuring of Durdans Hospital which was required to achieve greater operational efficiency and to

broaden the capital structure, which then enabled him to successfully guide the Company towards a listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange over a decade ago. In 1996, he initiated to setup the Durdans Heart Centre which became operational in 1998. The first of its kind, it has revolutionised coronary care in Sri Lanka. Today it provides world-class technology and services in cardiac care to the people of Sri Lanka. The concept to setup the Durdans Hospital sixth lane wing was another significant project initiated and guided by him in 2008. The sixth lane wing which became operational in 2011 offers many core disciplines which have helped to enhance the Tertiary Healthcare facilities available to Sri Lankans. Deriving great personal fulfillment from the varied aspects of his work, Ajith says: “I enjoy the challenge of achieving continuous improvement and growth, which is a constant phenomenon in a dynamic business like ours.” Outlining his reasons for choosing ACCA as one of his preferred qualifications, Ajith says he selected ACCA because he wanted a career that gave him the widest range of opportunities that inspired logical thinking, leadership and innovation. He noted thattoday, the ACCA qualification is highly regarded amongst employers in both the corporate and public sectors. He pointed out that ACCA is the fastest-growing accountancy body in the world, and is recognised internationally – in the UK, the European Union, the entire Asia-Pacific region, Africa and South America. In fact, the United Nations has endorsed its syllabus as the benchmark for a global curriculum. ACCA is also the only professional accountancy body to introduce a purpose-built MBA with a British University (Oxford Brookes University). Ajith who assumed the post of president in ACCA’s 100th year of operation (2003-2004), announced some notable initiatives during his tenure that includedthe launch of the national sustainability reporting awards scheme for the first time in Sri Lanka, as well as enhancing the Enterprise Governance Framework in the country. The ground-breaking awards scheme, which has recognised and promoted the best practice in environment reporting since 1991, now covers wider sustainability issues. Today ACCA is a world leader in social and environmental accounting, auditing and reporting and has played a significant role in the Global Sustainability Reporting Initiative. In fact, it continues to stand as the vanguard of efforts to encourage business, government, the media and academia to recognise the impact on business performance of sustainability issues. Believing strongly in giving something back to society, Ajith stated, “My hope is that we can create an environment where all businesses, from the largest conglomerates to the smallest micro enterprises, take responsibility for their actions, and are aware of the effect these have on society and the nation as a whole.Accountants have a great deal to contribute to environmental accounting, in particular, in the mainstream areas of financial reporting and managerial accounting.” Reflecting on the role of accounting professionals, he said: “Compliance with relevant accounting standards, Enterprise Governance Framework and ethical codes is crucial. It is vitally important that new generations of accountants receive thorough training in all these aspects, as well as assurance, financial reporting, strategic and risk management, information systems and e-business. We must also think ‘out of the box’ and be high performance achievers.The ACCA syllabus encompasses all of these factors. Hence, I could confidently recommend it to any student who is aspiring to make a mark in a career in business and finance.”