Overall winner- (Gold) Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited Pakistan
PIC BY NIMALSIRI EDIRISINGHE

The South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) celebrated the region’s finest achievements in financial reporting at the 2023 Best Presented Annual Report Awards hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) in Colombo on November 11, 2024. 

This year’s theme, ‘Honouring Excellence’, captured the essence of the awards, celebrating the highest standards in annual reporting across diverse industries and recognising achievements in integrated reporting and corporate governance in South Asia. It also reflected the core values championed by professional accountants—clarity, transparency and integrity.

Pakistan’s Fauji Fertiliser Company Limited earned the prestigious Gold award as the Overall Winner, setting a standard for exemplary reporting. A total of 24 awards were won by Sri Lankan companies, highlighting Sri Lanka’s rising role in setting benchmarks for quality and precision in the field.  

The event at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo was held under the patronage of Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Board of Investment Chairman Arjuna Herath, SAFA and CA Sri Lanka President Heshana Kuruppu, SAFA Vice President Ashfaq Yousuf Tola, SAFA Committee for Improvement in Transparency, Accountability and Governance Chairperson Anoji De Silva as well as representatives from member bodies of the SAFA. 

Addressing the event, Kuruppu said that since 1996, the BPA Awards organised by the SAFA have recognised companies in the region that embody the highest standards of transparency and accountability. 

“Today, we honour businesses that go beyond numbers and financial performance, embracing values essential for a world increasingly focused on sustainability and responsible governance,” he said.

He also said that addressing information asymmetry through transparent financial and non-financial reporting is paramount for the healthy growth of capital markets. 

In the Integrated Reporting category, Bank Asia PLC from Bangladesh won the Silver, while Sri Lanka’s Softlogic Life Insurance won the Bronze and Diesel & Motor Engineering PLC won a Merit award. 

The SAARC Anniversary Award for Corporate Governance honoured Shahjalal Islami Bank PLC from Bangladesh with the Gold. Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC took Silver, while Hatton National Bank PLC received Bronze.

Delivering the keynote, Herath underscored the resilience of the South Asian region, as it has, time after time, gone through challenges but then overcome them, stabilised and kept moving forward. 

“The requirement of this region is to really up the game and leapfrog into the economic advancement that we all are expecting. I believe the strength and integration of the SAARC region can play a pivotal role in this and I hope this can be catalysed sooner rather than later.”