KARACHI (December 15, 2009) – As part of its Managing Human Capital international series of events, ACCA Pakistan organised a conference “Accountants for Business” at the Marriott Hotel Karachi.
The conference provided an opportunity for senior finance and human resources professionals to deliberate over the hallmarks of a strong finance function of a sustainable enterprise, explore the new value-value-adding agenda for accountants in whatever roles they are employed, and position the role of accountants as promoters of sound business practices, champions of sustainable business development and identifiers of value drivers which lead to high-performing organisations.
Opening the conference, Mr Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan stated that our global theme “Accountants for business” aims  to highlight considerable value that accountants bring to business.Mr Tony Osude, Head of Professional Development of ACCA outlined the main conclusions of ACCA research report. He identified the roles, capabilities, knowledge and skills that accountants needed in order to maximise performance and create organisational value.
Mr Khalid Aziz Mirza, Chairman, Competition Commission of Pakistan highlighted the role that accountants can play in the medium to long term for ensuing globally competitive organisations. The regulators are looking towards accountants for playing a proactive role as custodians of professionalism and ethical standards. Ms Khursheed Kotwal, Corporate Finance Director of Unilever gave an exploratory overview of the proactive role that a CFO can play in the challenging economic conditions by creating a culture of prudence financial management, effective and efficient risk taking and transparent financial reporting. Newer challenges like sustainability reporting, corporate governance, Islamic Finance and climate change will have to be keenly considered as opportunities for future growth. Mr Kamran Iqbal Yousafi, Partner KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co laid down the challenges that today’s auditor faces. Mr. Mohammad Shafi, Accountant General Punjab delineated the changing role of accountants in the public sector. Mr Ahsan Javed Chisti, Head of Institutional Equities BMA Capital presented the economic prospects for businesses in 2010. He stressed on the need for businesses to think ingeniously by creating opportunities in the national and international markets.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion featured in the CEO Forum. The panellists included Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan, Mr Ebrahim Sidat, Country Head Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder, Mr Abrar Hassan, CEO National Foods and Mr Ghalib Nishtar, President Khushhali Bank Limited. The panellists contemplating the future value adding role of accountants in Pakistan concluded that if the accounting profession of Pakistan was to assume a leadership role in the region, the knowledge, skills and experience gaps will have to be bridged, leadership skills acquired, emerging challenges converted into opportunities and innovative thinking developed. The conference was widely attended and highly appreciated.
