Ca Sri Lanka Insights on Flagship Annual Report Awards

The ceremony of the 49th Annual Report Awards Competition organised by the Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka will be held tomorrow, 10 December, at 6:30 p.m. at Waters Edge Battaramulla. Following are excerpts from an interview with CA Sri Lanka President Sujeewa Rajapaksa and Annual Report Awards Organising Committee Chairman Tishan Subasinghe on the popular competition and CA

Sri Lanka’s flagship event

Q: What is the significance of an annual report and how does it contribute to the long-term economic development of a country?

A: The Annual Report is the single most important disclosure of an organisation’s performance. An annual report is today considered a strong communication tool that facilitates the decision-making process of an increasingly diverse group of stakeholders by establishing credibility and transparency through financial reporting. At a juncture when Sri Lanka is poised to make significant economic advancements, an annual report produced by a corporate can be an important contributing factor in Sri Lanka’s development oriented journey.

An annual report not only promotes transparency and good governance within an organisation, but it also contributes significantly in terms of capital market development and also gives that much-needed leverage for a foreign investor to make an informed decision on whether to invest in Sri Lanka or not, thereby significantly impacting our nation’s economic development.

Q: The Annual Report Awards competition is today a well-recognised event in the corporate world and this will be the 49th event. What made the institute continue this event for so long?

A: Transparency and good governance will always be of primary importance both in the public sector or the private sector. An annual report is required to make certain mandatory disclosers so that it gives a true and fair view of the organisation to its readers and there are certain disclosure made by organisations voluntarily which are of significance to its stakeholders. We realised the importance of recognising excellence in annual reporting there by promoting transparency; this is how the Annual Report Awards competition came into existence 49 years back.

Over the years, the competition has set high standards among organisations in line with global standards which promote transparency, corporate governance and excellence in financial reporting. In the recent years, we have also seen a remarkable improvement in company disclosures in comparison to several years back, and I believe the...