I have great pleasure in congratulating the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka on achieving signatory status in the Washington Accord at the International Engineering Alliance meetings in June 2014 as well as successfully undergoing a review as an authorise member of the International Professional Engineers Agreement. That IESL has now successfully benchmarked its accredited programmes on the world stage is a measure of its standing and achievement.

The Washington Accord signatory status not only represents the completion of a long and sometimes challenging journey for IESL but is also the commencement of a new journey. The engineering education system in Sri Lanka is faced with many challenges including maintaining adequate funding. This is reflected in the fact that while IESL and the engineering programmes accredited by it were judged to have met the standards required, the system is judged as being more vulnerable than some to anything that will affect the maintenance of standards such as lack of funding or any decline in investment in new equipment. The small size of the engineering education system in Sri Lanka and its vulnerability means that the WA members require IESL to undergo the continuous review process as is done in other small Washington Accord jurisdictions. This will provide more or less continuous monitoring of the status of the system.

I wish IESL and the engineering education institutions in Sri Lanka a long and mutually beneficial association with the Washington Accord and International Professional Engineers Agreement as part of the International Engineering Alliance and look forward to your contributions to the world wide standing of engineers.

Mr. Basil Wakelin
Institution of Professional Engineers NZ
NEW ZEALAND