The First Annual Conference of the OPA
We are on the verge of holding the 37th Annual Conference of the OPA on the 26th and 27th of August at the Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo graced by the President of Sri Lanka, Hon Ranil Wickremasinghe as Chief Guest. Therefore, it is appropriate that we remember the first Annual Conference held by the OPA which was a trailblazing event in the professional landscape of Sri Lanka.
In October 1988, OPA conducted its first ever Annual Conference at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The first Annual Conference was the brainchild of Architect Deshamanya Dr. Surath Wickremasinghe, who was the President of the OPA at the time. The Conference Chairman was Dr. Gamini Corea, the former Secretary General of UNCTAD and former senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
In his introductory remarks at the event, Dr. Corea noted that he had been asked by the then President of Sri Lanka, Mr. J. R. Jayawardena, to begin a study on the long-term prospects and options that were available to Sri Lanka and the direction that the country should pursue. He explained that the theme of the conference – “Sri Lanka’s future, the year 2015” – had been chosen as a result of a number of factors. They included advances in in the field of statistical projections as well as the growing view that the country should take advantage of new and revolutionary developments in the areas of science and technology.
Following several meetings held by Dr. Surath Wickremasinghe and Dr. Gamini Corea, the technical sessions that were scheduled for the next day were structured and some of the foremost figures in Sri Lanka were sourced to appear as guest speakers. The guest speakers included international experts such as Prof. C. Timothy McKeown of USA and Prof. Yoichi Masuzoe of Japan.
The highlight of the Inaugural events was the presence of His Excellency J. R. Jayawardena, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as Chief Guest, while the distinguished guests included Mr. Stanley Tillekeratne and Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali.