The Inaugural CIMA World conference has been scheduled in Sri Lanka from 28 to 31 May, 2008 and this four day CIMA International event is expected to attract approximately 1200 delegates including around 200 from CIMA’s global membership, business and a diverse group of corporates, business leaders and professionals.

At a Press Conference held for the purpose of announcing the modalities of the event, Aruna Fernando, President, CIMA Sri Lanka division explained that the conference itself was unique as it was based on a focused theme of 4 pillars – peace building, innovagtion, global branding and leadership are highly relevant in today’s context.

Suthesh Balasubramaniam, Chairman, Conference Technical committee confirmed that the conference will feature eminent speakers who have specialized and gained world recognition in their respective fields and emphasized that the worldwide audience would gain insights for their future development.

The list of speakers include the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Gandhi Peace Prize and Martin Luther King Award - John Hume of Northern Ireland; Prof. Kader Asmal – Chairman: ANC National Disciplinary Council of South Africa and former Minister of Education, David Steward - Executive Director of the F. W. de Klerk Foundation of South Africa, Dr. Atta-Ur-Rahman - Federal Minister/Chairman, Higher Education Commission; Adviser to Prime Minister for Science and Technology of Pakistan, Samina Rizwan - Oracle Corporation’s Regional Director for SAGE (South Asia Growth Economies) West of Pakistan, Peter Vellappan - former Secretary General of the Asian Football Confederation Malaysia, CAO Yuanzheng – Chief Economist of the Bank of China, Norman Lyle –Director of Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong, Jehangir S. Pocha – Editor of Business World India.

This summit gives the opportunity to showcase Sri Lanka as a centre for international conferences and endorses the capabilities and skills within the CIMA fraternity in organizing and successfully implementing a world class event. Also the benefits of learning from some of the today’s most influential leaders, and witness them sharing their thoughts and views on areas most critical to Sri Lanka as with Peace, Innovation, Global Branding and Leadership.

The Platinum Partner for the Summit is Sri Lanka Telecom whilst the official airline for the conference is Sri Lankan Airlines.