LBR LBO Debrief – “Business Climate Outlook of 2016” – Tuesday, 8th December 2015

Eteri Kvintradze Resident Representative IMF        

Ms. Eteri Kvintradze is Resident Representative for Sri Lanka and Maldives. Before her current assignment, she was Resident Representative  in Bangladesh, where the Fund has successfully engaged in its largest Extended Credit Facility program. A national of Georgia, Ms. Kvintradze joined the Fund as a mid-career economist. She worked on designing new IMF lending facilities and debt limit policies, worked on Mozambique and Sri Lanka programs. Before joining the Fund, she served as Deputy Minister of Finance in Georgia. She also worked as an advisor to the Executive Director for Netherlands Constituency at the World Bank Board. Ms. Kvintradze studied international economics at Tbilisi State University, holds MA in Development Economics from Williams College, and PhD in Economics from Georgetown University.

Ralph van Doorn Senior Country Economist for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Global Practice for Macroeconomics & Fiscal Management World Bank        

Mr. Ralph van Doorn is the World Bank's senior country economist for Sri Lanka and Maldives. His work focuses on analyzing macroeconomic developments and the drivers of growth, and providing technical assistance to the government, with a specific focus on fiscal policy and public debt management. Previously at the World Bank he worked on fiscal policy, debt and growth issues in African, East Asian, Eastern European and Central Asian countries. Before joining the World Bank he worked at Credit Suisse in London analyzing developments in Egypt, Kazakhstan and the Gulf countries. He has published analyses on the impact of the global financial crisis on developing countries and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. He holds a Master of Research degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a Master of Science degree in applied physics from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Gunjan Gulati Economist IFC        

Gunjan, currently works as a Regional Economist, Asia for International Finance Corporation (IFC), based out of Mumbai. She joined IFC from JPMorgan, where she closely monitored the macroeconomic dynamics of the Indian subcontinent. Her work involved analyzing economic trends, forecasting key economic variables, writing research reports and active interaction with clients, government officials, policymakers as well as media. Prior to JP Morgan, she worked with CRISIL, a Standard and Poor’s company, working on diverse advisory and research opportunities involving, state level economic advisory and macro-economic advisory. She joined CRISIL as a campus placement after completing her Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi.

Paulius Kuncinas MA (Oxford) Managing Editor, Asia Oxford Business Group        

As head of a team of analysts who produce Oxford Business Group’s flagship reports on Asia’s leading growth economies, Mr. Paulius Kuncinas frequently addresses public and private sector stakeholders in regional conferences. Honed by his experience as a research economist and writer, he is recognized as an expert in macroeconomics, industrial development, banking and telecoms.

Nishan de Mel D.Phil. (Oxford) Executive Director and Head of Research Verité Research        

Nishan de Mel, Executive Director and Head of Research, is an economist with extensive academic, policy and private sector experience.

Nishan taught and researched economics at Oxford and Harvard universites. In the 1990s, he sat on multiple Presidential Task Forces in Sri Lanka, playing an instrumental role in designing national policies on Health Sector Reform, Social Security and Tobacco & Alcohol. He also served as the Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. He sits on multiple private sector boards and consults regularly as a strategist for some of the region's largest firms. Nishan has a A.B. from Harvard, an MPhil and a D.Phil both from Oxford Univeristy, where he was a Chevening Scholar. He is fluent in English and Sinhala.

Session Chair Dilshan Rodrigo COO HNB      

Dilshan Rodrigo is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC and an appointed Director of Acuity Securities Ltd. He is a senior banker with extensive experience in Retail Banking, Finance, Institutional Banking and Risk Management in leading local and foreign commercial banks operating in Sri Lanka.

He is a member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors, Alternate Director for Credit Information Bureau and holds several Directorships in subsidiary companies of the bank. He was elected Chairman for a two year period of the Asian Banker’s Policy Advocacy Committee, a forum for advancing the cause of banking and finance in the region and promoting regional co-operation. ABA’s membership comprises over 100 lending banks from 23 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. He holds a MBA from Cranfield University, UK and is a fellow of CIMA and ACCA UK Accounting bodies and has actively served on both councils in Sri Lanka, particularly in the latter where he was elected President for a two year term.

  Panelist Ralph van Doorn Senior Country Economist for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Global Practice for Macroeconomics & Fiscal Management World Bank       Mr. Ralph van Doorn is the World Bank's senior country economist for Sri Lanka and Maldives. His work focuses on analyzing macroeconomic developments and the drivers of growth, and providing technical assistance to the government, with a specific focus on fiscal policy and public debt management. Previously at the World Bank he worked on fiscal policy, debt and growth issues in African, East Asian, Eastern European and Central Asian countries. Before joining the World Bank he worked at Credit Suisse in London analyzing developments in Egypt, Kazakhstan and the Gulf countries. He has published analyses on the impact of the global financial crisis on developing countries and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. He holds a Master of Research degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a Master of Science degree in applied physics from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.   Panelist Paulius Kuncinas MA (Oxford) Managing Editor, Asia Oxford Business Group      

As head of a team of analysts who produce Oxford Business Group’s flagship reports on Asia’s leading growth economies, Mr. Paulius Kuncinas frequently addresses public and private sector stakeholders in regional conferences. Honed by his experience as a research economist and writer, he is recognized as an expert in macroeconomics, industrial development, banking and telecoms.

  Panelist Nishan de Mel D.Phil. (Oxford) Executive Director and Head of Research Verité Research      

Nishan de Mel, Executive Director and Head of Research, is an economist with extensive academic, policy and private sector experience.

Nishan taught and researched economics at Oxford and Harvard universites. In the 1990s, he sat on multiple Presidential Task Forces in Sri Lanka, playing an instrumental role in designing national policies on Health Sector Reform, Social Security and Tobacco & Alcohol. He also served as the Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. He sits on multiple private sector boards and consults regularly as a strategist for some of the region's largest firms. Nishan has a A.B. from Harvard, an MPhil and a D.Phil both from Oxford Univeristy, where he was a Chevening Scholar. He is fluent in English and Sinhala.

  Panelist Shiran Fernando Senior Analyst and Product Head: Economic and Equity Research Frontier Research      

He overseas Economic and Equity Services at Frontier Research and leads Macro Economic presentations catering to senior level management team and plays an instrumental role in building strong business relationships with Top and Middle level management.He has been instrumental in building up new products such as the Trader’s Edge reports, focused on Short Term Trading of Local Government Securities while contributing to the continuous innovation and improvements of Frontier Products. Shiran loves Manchester United, International economics and international relations in that order.

  Panelist Gunjan Gulati Economist IFC       Gunjan, currently works as a Regional Economist, Asia for International Finance Corporation (IFC), based out of Mumbai. She joined IFC from JPMorgan, where she closely monitored the macroeconomic dynamics of the Indian subcontinent. Her work involved analyzing economic trends, forecasting key economic variables, writing research reports and active interaction with clients, government officials, policymakers as well as media. Prior to JP Morgan, she worked with CRISIL, a Standard and Poor’s company, working on diverse advisory and research opportunities involving, state level economic advisory and macro-economic advisory. She joined CRISIL as a campus placement after completing her Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi.

Session Chair Nishan de Mel D.Phil. (Oxford) Executive Director and Head of Research Verité Research      

Nishan de Mel, Executive Director and Head of Research, is an economist with extensive academic, policy and private sector experience.

Nishan taught and researched economics at Oxford and Harvard universites. In the 1990s, he sat on multiple Presidential Task Forces in Sri Lanka, playing an instrumental role in designing national policies on Health Sector Reform, Social Security and Tobacco & Alcohol. He also served as the Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. He sits on multiple private sector boards and consults regularly as a strategist for some of the region's largest firms. Nishan has a A.B. from Harvard, an MPhil and a D.Phil both from Oxford Univeristy, where he was a Chevening Scholar. He is fluent in English and Sinhala.

  Panelist Reyaz Mihular Managing Partner KPMG in Sri Lanka      

Reyaz has been with KPMG Sri Lanka for over thirty years and during this time his contribution, both to the firm and the field of accountancy, has been phenomenal.

In addition to holding a number of leadership positions within the KPMG network, he was also the Regional Executive Officer of the KPMG Middle East & South Asia Region, a member of KPMG’s Global Corporate Finance Board and served a term in the London office of KPMG. Reyaz most recently served as the Head of IFRS for the KPMG MESA Region and was also the Head of Advisory and the Chief Information Officer for the KPMG Sri Lanka office. Reyaz is a Past President and Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and currently serves as the Deputy President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) – Sri Lanka Branch.

Reyaz was also the first Sri Lankan to serve as a Board Member of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), a position which he held for 5 years and during that time he chaired the Steering Committee which developed International Accounting Standard IAS 41 – Agriculture and was a member of the Steering Committee which developed IAS 19 - Employee Benefits. Subsequent to this appointment he served on the IASC’s Standing Interpretations Committee for a year and as a Member of the IFRS Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board. He also presently serves as the Chairman of the Accounting & Auditing Standards Committee of the South Asian Federation of Accountants.

Reyaz has also held a number of directorates including serving as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Independent Television Network and the Post Graduate Institute of Management. Further, his knowledge of industry and accountancy has made him a key speaker at numerous local and international forums.

Reyaz Mihular takes office from Nirmal Fernando, who retires from service after an illustrious career which spanned over four decades.

  Panelist Nandalal Weerasinghe PhD Deputy Governor Central Bank of Sri Lanka      

Dr. P Nandalal Weerasinghe has over 20 years of experience in the Central Bank especially in the field of Economic Research. His wide experience spans in the fields of Economic and Price stability, Economic Growth, International Finance, International Trade, Fiscal Policy, Reserve Management and Global Economic Issues. Currently he is working as an Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC representing Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. He also held the position of Assistant Governor in-charge of Economic and Price Stability.

He holds a PhD and M.Sc from the Australian National University and B.Sc General degree from the University of Kelaniya. He has authored many articles in reputed international and local journals in the areas of inflation, monetary policy and economic growth. He has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Colombo, visiting research Economist at the SEACEN Research and Training Center and a resource person for high level courses in Economics conducted by the Bank. He has also addressed both local and international seminars and conferences to represent the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Dr. Weerasinghe immensely contributed on recommending appropriate economic and monetary policies on time to maintain the economic and price stability of the country as the Director of Economic Research. He has served in many committees appointed by the Central Bank including committee to Study Commercial Viability of CEB and CPC, Financial Sector Monitoring Committee/Ministry of Finance, Petroleum Refinery Project Coordinating Committee, Uma Oya Multi-purpose Development Project Committee, Committee to Evaluate Swap Arrangement with Malaysia and various Cabinet appointed committees including Economic Development and Management, Power Generation Expansion, Hedging Risk Management. He has also served as an observer on the Boards of Directors of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Board of Investments. Dr. Weerasignhe is a regular speaker at various forums in different capacities, especially in the area of economics.

  Panelist Deshal de Mel Economist Hayleys      

Mr. Deshal de Mel presently works for the Hayleys Group as its Senior Economist. Prior to joining Hayleys, he worked for the Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka. His research has been published in a number of books and journals. Along with policy research, Mr. de Mel has also represented the Government of Sri Lanka in inter-governmental trade negotiations. He has a degree in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics from the University of Oxford, UK, and a Master's in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics, UK. He serves on the Board of Directors of Sampath Bank PLC as a Non-Executive Director, and also serves on the Economic, Fiscal and Policy Planning (EFPP) Committee and Export Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

  Panelist Amal Sanderatne, CFA Founder/CEO Frontier Research and Frontier i      

 Amal is an alumni of the London School of Economics, and is a CFA® charterholder. He previously worked at Jardine Fleming HNB Securities Sri Lanka as Head of Research. Following the takeover of Jardine Fleming by JP Morgan Chase he was transferred to Singapore where he led JP Morgan’s Asia Pacific ADR research and also managed the research of Hong Kong based Access Products Group. Amal founded Frontier Research in 2001 with a vision of creating a firm that does great work whilst offering a choice driven culture to its employees.

  Panelist Eteri Kvintradze Resident Representative IMF      

Ms. Eteri Kvintradze is Resident Representative for Sri Lanka and Maldives. Before her current assignment, she was Resident Representative  in Bangladesh, where the Fund has successfully engaged in its largest Extended Credit Facility program. A national of Georgia, Ms. Kvintradze joined the Fund as a mid-career economist. She worked on designing new IMF lending facilities and debt limit policies, worked on Mozambique and Sri Lanka programs. Before joining the Fund, she served as Deputy Minister of Finance in Georgia. She also worked as an advisor to the Executive Director for Netherlands Constituency at the World Bank Board. Ms. Kvintradze studied international economics at Tbilisi State University, holds MA in Development Economics from Williams College, and PhD in Economics from Georgetown University.

 

Session Chair Peter D'Almeida CEO N*Able      

Peter is the Managing Director and Chief Executive of N-able (Pvt) Ltd, an IT venture he founded in 2008 with the Hemas Group, and counts for 25 years in the IT industry. Starting his career at East West Information Systems, he moved to ComputerLand to launch Sun Microsystems in Sri Lanka and led the pioneering efforts to introduce open systems and client server computing to the country. Prior to joining Hemas, he served as the Chief Executive of Millennium ESP, the Enterprise and Service Provider business of Millennium Information Technologies. He is also a member of the Cisco Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) Channel Advisory Board and the APJ Advisory Board of Palo Alto Networks.

  Panelist Steven Enderby Group Chief Executive Hemas PLC        

Mr. Steven Enderby joined Hemas in March 2013 to head the Group efforts in Mergers and Acquisitions. He took up the Office of Deputy CEO and Director of Hemas Holdings PLC in November 2013 and was appointed the CEO on 1st April 2014. Mr. Enderby has had a successful track record in the private equity space with Actis, a leading global emerging markets fund until his retirement in 2011 as an Actis Partner. Some of the most successful private equity transactions he led include South Asia Gateway Terminal, Ceylon Oxygen and Millennium Information Technologies in Sri Lanka.

He has also served on the Boards of leading companies in Sri Lanka and India such as John Keells Holdings, Lion Brewery and Punjab Tractors. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, he holds a Degree in Economics and Accounting from Queens University Belfast, and a Masters Degree in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne.

  Panelist Suresh Shah Director/CEO, Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC & Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC Director, Carson Cumberbatch & Co PLC      

Director and Chief Executive Officer of Ceylon Brewery PLC and Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC. He is also a Director of Carson Cumberbatch PLC and The Sri Lanka Business Development Centre. Mr. Shah serves as the Deputy Vice Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and is a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors and the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce & Industry (CACCI).

He also serves on the council of The Employers Federation of Ceylon and The Mercantile Services Provident Society. Mr.Shah is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

  Panelist Jim McCabe CEO, Sri Lanka Standard Chartered      

Mr. Jim McCabe has been the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka since January 2015. Mr. McCabe joined Standard Chartered in 2000 and besides having led the operation in Bangladesh, has functioned as Group Head of Operations for Singapore, Chief Executive Officer of Taiwan, Chief Executive Officer of The Americas and Risk Head for North East Asia, Wholesale Banking. He served as the President of Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Limited. He served as Country Chief Executive Officer of Taiwan of Standard Chartered Bank and Chief Executive Officer of United States of America Standard at Standard Chartered PLC.

He also served as the President of Bank of America, Mexico. His service and experience span diverse geographies ranging from the Americas, South East Asia and South Asia. Prior to joining Standard Chartered, he served as the President of Bank of America in Mexico. He served as Chairman of the Board at Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Limited from July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2009 and as its Director from December 13, 2006 to December 31, 2009. Mr. McCabe holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona, USA.

Panelist Tania Polonnowita Wettimuny Managing Director / Hellmann Worldwide Logistics Chairperson Sri Lanka Logistics & Freight Forwarders Association      

Managing Director of Hellmann Worldwide Logistics (Pvt) Ltd, a German based family owned logistics company currently ranked 10th in the world in Freight Forwarding & Logistics with an annual turnover of of3 billion euro's has 457 offices in 157 countries worldwide.

She is an active member in a number of professional and trade organizations such as: Council for Business in Britain (CBB), Sri Lanka Italy Business Council (SLItBC), Women’s Chamber of Commerce (WCC), Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association ( WISTA) and Women in Logistics & Transport (WiLAT)