PIMA President Ramesh Dassanayake, PIM Director Dr. Senaka Kelum Gamage, PIMA Vice President Shantha Katipearachchi, National Development Bank PLC Director/Chief Executive Officer Dimantha Seneviratne and Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe at the head table
PIC BY KITHSIRI DE MEL
Makes open invitation to state and corporate sector offering support and contribution to shape strategic policies
The Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) and Postgraduate Institute of Management Alumni (PIMA) held a joint press conference recently, marking a strong collaboration of two of the stalwart professional bodies of Sri Lanka towards a nationally significant purpose.
The PIM is Sri Lanka’s premier professional education body, offering postgraduate degree programmes in the field of management, which has garnered the respect among both academics and professionals as one of the most rigorous, focused and empowering postgraduate programmes in the country.
The PIMA is the member body of all the PIM graduates, representing a strong base of over 6,000 professionals serving in the country’s private as well as state sector.
PIMA President Ramesh Dassanayake made the opening remarks, setting out the twin objectives of the press conference, highlighting the incredible value and potential the PIMA possesses and the need to collaborate with the Government of Sri Lanka in leveraging the collective knowledge and skills the PIMA possesses towards driving the nation’s revival from the current crisis towards prosperity.
He expressed his firm belief in the PIMA’s capacity to create a significant impact on the economic and social landscape of our country via such partnerships with the Government of Sri Lanka.
National Development Bank PLC Director/Chief Executive Officer and PIMA Executive Council Member Dimantha Seneviratne mentioned that the PIM has chartered a new course in professional management education in Sri Lanka by offering dynamic, contemporary and pragmatic contents exceeding the traditional realm of management.
He said the stature of the PIM is reflected in the profiles of the PIMA members, who demonstrate not just managerial skills but the agility to respond to rapidly developing contexts, empathy towards connected stakeholders and the ability to see the big picture. This is the very reason why over 350 top positions in the Sri Lankan corporate and state sector are held by the PIMA members. A classic example being half of the CEO positions of the top 10 banks in Sri Lanka being held by the MBA holders produced by the PIM.
“We are inspired by our own strengths and at this pivotal moment in the future of our country, we remain committed to further our efforts, by offering our expertise to the country’s revival,” Seneviratne said.
“The true spirit of professionalism, intellectual capabilities in driving organisations and versatility of the PIMA members in adapting to any industry or sector have been the hallmark qualities of the PIM Masters holders, which differentiate us from the numerous other professional qualifications on offer. The industry when recruiting new talent has seen a marked difference between a PIM MBA holders from several other MBA programmes that have mushroomed in the recent past. The strength of the PIM and PIMA and their wide acceptability are demonstrated in the year-on-year increase of enrolments, with significant interest shown by the relatively younger professionals in the country,” he commented.
“The collective intellect, prowess and insights of the PIMA are mammoth. We would like to make an open invitation to the state and corporate sector in reaching out to us for any form of support and contribution from us in shaping the strategic policies or in any one of its significant initiatives. We strongly believe that a professional body with the intellectual strength of the PIMA can be catalysts in Sri Lanka’s growth journey,” Seneviratne added.
PIM Director Dr. Senaka Kelum Gamage stressed that the PIM is one of the 11 postgraduate institutes in the university system of Sri Lanka and it has the largest student population among postgraduate institutes and it is the only self-financing higher learning institution in the university system of the country.
Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe, another distinguished PIM alumni spoke of how the state sector has benefited through programmes conducted by the PIM and how the PIMA can further the approach via collaboration within the state sector.
The PIM is a semi-autonomous body affiliated with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Its objectives are to promote advanced education and professionalism in management in Sri Lanka through the provision of postgraduate instruction, training, research and development in the various branches of management and the PIM is also in the process of getting double accreditation from two international accreditation bodies – the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and South Asian System of Quality Assurance (SAQS). The PIM also has the ISO 9001:2015 certification for all its academic programmes.
