Sri Lanka Global Champions at CIMA Business Challenge 2014

Monday, 11 August 2014 00:03 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

  • Lankan team initially beat over 43 teams to become global champions
Corporate Consultants from the University of Colombo were crowned Global Champions at CIMA Global Business Challenge (GBC) 2014, a prestigious international business competition held in partnership with Barclays, which took place in Mumbai, India. Team Corporate Consultants triumphed over stiff competition beating 23 talented teams from universities around the world. The finale has been exceptionally difficult to judge with the striking levels of business skills portrayed by these young business leaders of tomorrow. According to the judges, Corporate Consultants was a clear standout from the crowd especially due to its consistent outstanding performance. The team Corporate Consultants comprised four passionate undergraduates from the University of Colombo, namely, Samanmalie Herath, Praveen Samarakone, Bhagya Awanthie and Sanka Abeysirigunawardena. These four individuals come from diverse backgrounds and have varying interests ranging from sports, voluntary work and entrepreneurship to emerging technologies. The team members were bound together by a passion for business and a drive to succeed. The Global Champions provided innovative and practical solutions that balanced attention to detail with the appreciation of broad strategic issues. Other winners of the night included Market Makers from the University of Auckland (First Runners Up) and Synergy Consultants from Wroclaw University of Economics, Poland (Second Runners Up) while Victoria Wang from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China was awarded the GBC 2014 Future Business Leader Award. During the global finale, Corporate Consultants presented a business case which was assessed by a panel of judges who were industry experts from organisations across the globe including CIMA and Barclays. The team initially beat over 43 teams to become global champions. Other competing countries were Australia, Bangladesh, China, Ghana, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Middle East, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zambia. CIMA Regional Director for Middle East, South Asia and North Africa Bradley Emerson sharing his views said: “To be challenged intellectually and succeed requires more than mere education. CIMA GBC is an arena where the best of the best put to test their ability to think to stand up on their feet. This is an excellent opportunity for students to successfully communicate their thoughts, convincingly articulate an argument and hold their nerve under pressure. This win is an indication what our students can become, when given the right opportunity and training. It is with a sense of national pride I congratulate the wining team for they have held the Lion flag high to be the top team from 3,500 number of teams from 23 countries across the world.” The GBC is indeed the most important student event in CIMA’s calendar as it gives the world an opportunity to discover the business leaders of tomorrow and gives these future leaders an opportunity to showcase their talent on a global stage. The competition has been a phenomenal success and each of the finalists should be truly proud of making it through to the global final. The GBC is an international competition designed to bring out the best in potential young business leaders and provide them the opportunity to showcase their talent on a global platform. The competition continues to go from strength to strength, and has evolved from eight regions and countries in 2009 to encompass 24 in 2014, demonstrating the ever growing success and reach of the event. The Sri Lankan team was mentored by top corporate mavens comprising Ravi Abeysuriya, Group CEO/Director, Candor; Senaka Kakiriwaragoda, Head of Capital Markets, NDB Investment Bank; Prince Lye, Head of Marketing, Colombo Dockyards; and Jayamin Palpola, Director, York Street Partners. CIMA Sri Lanka would also like to acknowledge Dr. Priyath B. Wickrema, Chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority, from the judging panel for his invaluable contribution rendered towards the CIMA Sri Lanka Country Finals.

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