CA Sri Lanka’s Annual Awards recognises trailblazing members

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) presented awards to three distinguished Chartered Accountants for their remarkable contributions to the world of business, locally and globally, recently.  
On the first day of the technical sessions of the 45th National Conference of Chartered Accountants, held at Monarch Imperial, on October 15, 2024, CA Best Entrepreneur of 2024, Best Rising CFO and CA Business Leader of the Year 2024 were awarded to three exceptional members, who demonstrated the ability to take a business and transcend it to the next level.
Olu Jayasooriya won the award for CA Best Entrepreneur for 2024. Olu is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in financial and management accounting, fund management, budgeting and forecasting, internal auditing, financial reporting, business planning and restructuring of business processes. She has served as CFO and Group CFO in reputable companies before she co-founded BRISCA.

Olu has earned multiple awards for her contributions to the business landscape, including Most Outstanding Export-Oriented Service Sector Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 Gold award for the medium sector from the Women’s Chamber of Industries and Commerce. A fellow member of CA Sri Lanka, she holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Kelaniya and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. She is a visiting faculty member at several private universities.
Pramitha Ranshika was awarded as Best Rising CFO for 2024. Pramitha is Director Group Finance of one of the largest multi-billion-dollar transportation and logistics groups in Australia and New Zealand – Team Global Express. Pramitha has over 20 years of work experience across five countries across three continents. This includes a Big4 financial consultancy firm, one of the largest power generators in the world and one of the Big4 power companies in Australia. 
With numerous governance experiences as a board member and a board committee member, Pramitha has been a regular speaker and resource person in webinars and workshops as well. Pramitha is a winner of multiple global awards and prizes in professional exams, including Chartered Accountancy and CIMA. 
CA Business Leader 2024 was awarded to Vajira Premaratne. Vajira, who is a Fellow member of CA Sri Lanka, is also a CPA (Australia), ACMA and holds an MBA from USQ Australia. He joined Tanmiah Food, the second-largest poultry producer in the Middle East, as an accountant and progressed through the ranks to the c-suite. 
He was instrumental in transforming the business, which led the company to a successful IPO. Partnerships with the world’s largest protein producers, setting up a KSA retail chain and a UAE processing facility are some of his other key achievements. One of Vajira’s significant contributions has been attracting foreign investment to Saudi Arabia. 
He was instrumental in forming the KSA CASL Chapter and was the founding Vice President and subsequently, President. Vajira received an Honorary Doctorate for his significant contribution and standing in the field of Strategic Management from an institute in the USA. Vajira is involved in philanthropic initiatives, including establishing an NGO with his friends to support underprivileged students in Sri Lanka.