Lankan Chartered Accountant appointed to top UN Audit Committee

Chartered Accountant Lakshman Athukorala was recently appointed to the Independent Audit Advisory Committee of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in Vienna, Austria as recommended at the 45th session of the Industrial Development Board. 

This is the first time a Sri Lankan has been appointed to the top UN audit committee. Athukorala is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) and, currently serves as an Advisor to CA Sri Lanka.  The Independent Audit Advisory Committee is an advisory committee established to advise the Board and the Director General on issues within the Audit Committee’s mandate. Athukorala will represent the Asia-Pacific group and will serve in this capacity for a period of three years, alongside four other members; Elmar Vinh-Thomas from South Africa, Fernando Nikitin from Uruguay, Nikolay V. Chulkov from Russian Federation and Yuko Keicho from Japan.  An eminent professional with over 40 years of experience, Athukorala was also the first Sri Lankan Chartered Accountant to be appointed to the international staff of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Philippines. During his 14 year tenure with ADB, he served across various capacities, including that of Senior Financial Specialist and Financial Management Specialist. 
Athukorala who works as an independent Management/Financial Consultant, chairs three Audit Committees at Hayleys Group of Companies and is also an independent Director of four companies at the Hayleys Group.  

With a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Warwick Business School, University of Warwickshire, UK, Athukorala  fields of expertise covers; Business and Project Administration and Management, Finance & Financial Management, Corporate Structuring and Restructuring, as well as Human Resources and Audit. He is also a fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Australia. 

In the past, he has served in various management level capacities, including that of Director – Corporate Structuring at Mercantile Merchant Bank (MMBL) Group - Sri Lanka, Partner at WD & Co (Chartered Accountants) and Director of M & A Consultants in Sri Lanka. He was also the Principal Auditor at the Auditor General’s Office in Papua New Guinea.