International quality confab to be held in Colombo

The 18th conference of the Asia Pacific Quality Organisation (APQO) will be hosted by the Sri Lanka Association for Quality (SLAQ) in October 2012 at the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall (BMICH).

This conference will coincide with International Standards Day and National Quality Week in Sri Lanka.

The event is expected to reactivate the quality movement in Sri Lanka after 30 years.

The theme of the convention will be "Sustainable economic development through quality, environment and safety".

With many international initiatives made in these areas, this conference is expected to stimulate organisations to focus on sustainable development using international standards on quality, environment and safety. Availability of natural resources becoming increasingly scarce and costly, focus is now made on energy usage as a key factor in economic progress.

Emphasis on workplace safety will be given recognition during the conference.

During the opening ceremony, many APQO awards will be given.

These include the Global Performance Excellence Award (GPEA) which was earlier termed International Quality Award and the National Quality Award (NQA) Winners in the region are eligible to participate.

Many Sri Lankan organisations have won this award and three Sri Lankan companies are expected to receive this award at the 17th conference, which is to be held in Singapore.

SLAQ is planning to encourage many organisations to participate, so that they will receive awards in Sri Lanka in 2012.