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Perera first got involved with the CIM Sri Lanka Branch as a volunteer to the Education Sub Committee in 1999. Over the years he has been actively involved as a Management Committee Member, Board Member and an Office Bearer of the Institute prior to his appointment as Chairman. He chaired the CIM Annual Conference; the flagship event of the Institute, for two consecutive years during his term as the Senior Vice Chairman and Vice Chairman of CIM Sri Lanka Region.
Perera is an experienced marketer who commenced his career in sales and then moved to marketing, and now to general management. His career spans over 20 years with the last 10 years being in leadership roles. He is presently employed as the Director of Business Development and Projects at Serendib Leisure Management Ltd. (a subsidiary of Hemas Group).
He returned to Sri Lanka in 2012 after four years relinquishing his duties as Director – UK and Ireland for Sri Lanka Tourism. During his tenure, Sri Lanka Tourism UK office was selected as one of the top 10 Overseas Tourism Offices in the UK for two consecutive years by the prestigious Travel & Trade Gazette (TTG) UK. He also brought honour to Sri Lanka by steering the Sri Lanka Tourism UK office to win the CIM Marketing Excellence Award 2011 for the Leisure and Hospitality Sector in the UK. Perera served as an executive committee member of the PATA UK Chapter and was a member of the Tourism Society of UK during his tenure.
Prior to his assignment in the UK, Perera was the Country Manager for Eastman Kodak overseeing the territories of Sri Lanka and Maldives. Before that, he served as the Head of Sales at HSBC Sri Lanka where the sales culture was first introduced to the banking sector in Sri Lanka. As a CIM student Perera started in sales at Metropolitan Computers and honed his knowledge and skills at Browns and Hayleys during his illustrious career. He is a product of D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo where he excelled in debating and basketball, which he still pursues with passion.
Perera commenting on his appointment said: “I am honoured to be appointed as the Chairman of CIM Sri Lanka at this vital juncture, where our marketing body is going through a global strategic re-alignment. I look forward to working with the newly appointed Board and the Regional office to deliver value to our membership where the institute and the qualification will grow even stronger.”
The new CIM Sri Lanka Region Board will consist of the following office bearers: Sanjika Perera – Chairman (Director – Business Development and Projects at Serendib Leisure Management Ltd.), Shantha Katipearachchi – Immediate Past Chairman (Consultant/Trainer – E.B. Creasy Group of Companies, Brian Selvanayagam – Vice Chairman (Country Head – The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Sri Lanka), Amal Fernando – Secretary (Head of Marketing – Triumph International); and Hasrath Munasinghe – Treasurer (DGM Marketing at Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC).
The rest of the Board Members include: Sumudu Thanthirigoda (General Manager – ACL Cables), Sujith Silva (Managing Director – Inspire One), Charaka Perera (General Manager – Stafford Motor Company Ltd.), Rajiv David (Marketing Manager – Union Assurance PLC), Keith De Silva (Director – Corporate Affairs Ltd.) and Chris Daly (Director Customer Experience – CIM UK) as the UK representative.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the largest community of professional marketers in the world with 100 years of heritage in delivering education, membership and insights to the marketing and sales profession.
As the world’s largest Institute for professional marketers with over 35,000 members globally, CIM places great emphasis in maintaining high standards of quality and integrity and as such, develops and sets standards within marketing landscapes of UK and other regional countries in which it operates. The CIM qualification is the only international qualification recognised by the Royal Charter in United Kingdom.
The CIM Sri Lanka Region is the first international branch of CIM UK and comprises of the largest number of members, both professional and students, of CIM outside the UK; 1,800 student members and over 1,000 professional members, respectively. The Regional Institute has always campaigned for greater recognition and excellence in the marketing profession in Sri Lanka, through education, training and professional development.
