Building an economy starts with the human capital and leadership… attempts should be made to create the environment conducive for foreign investment with proper direction of national resources towards the development of the country.
The CIMA Sri Lanka CEO Forum was held recently in Colombo, in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM). The forum featured a valuable presentation by Mourad Mankarios, Principal Coach, SIM, on the topic, “BEYOND THE WAR – building: human capital – organisation – economy”. Mankarios was the former Chairman and CEO of Philips Electronics – Singapore, and has wide range of experience in operations, IT and regulatory framework, working in the Middle East, Africa, Netherlands and East Asia.
In his speech, Mankarios highlighted some of the crucial points that may come in handy during the rebuilding process of our nation in the aftermath of a decades-old war. Building an economy starts with the human capital and leadership. He suggested that attempts should be made to create the environment conducive for foreign investment with proper direction of na-tional resources towards the development of the country. Presumably, it will put a stop to the brain drain, with people who have left the country wanting to come back home, to play their part. Therefore, ‘…it has to start with taking your job seriously; taking responsibility and ac-countability…’ he said.
The Forum concluded with an insightful and interesting panel discussion with an eminent line of business leaders, moderated by Nihal Fonseka, the Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, supported by Dr Gamini Wickramasinghe, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon, Rohantha Athukorala, Director – Economic Affairs, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process and Jeevan Thiagarajah, Executive Director, Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies. Each pro-vided valuable input on areas of rehabilitation, reconstruction of the North and East, new business and investment opportunities in a post war situation.
CIMA organises these forums as part of its continuing effort to motivate business leaders by keeping them up-to-date on emerging developments in the corporate world and macro econ-omy.
