ACCA Pakistan organised Accountants for Business Global Forum Pakistan 2011 on Thursday. The event aimed to surface the challenges facing businesses and in particular the accountancy profession through an exciting mix of three discussions on Risk and Reward - shared perspectives, Maximising People Power - effective talent management in finance and The eProfessional - embracing learning technologies. These innovative discussions were moderated by prominent industry experts.
In his opening remarks, Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan commented about the three sessions of the conference saying that businesses should monitor their impact on climate change and also mitigate the risks the organisations face as a result. There needs to be full commitment from companies to identifying and managing all material risks facing them, both in the short-term and the long-term.
Arif Mirza also appreciated the sponsors of the event namely ICI Pakistan Ltd, Pepsi-Cola International Ltd, Philip Morris (Pakistan) Ltd, CIPE, Telenor Pakistan Ltd, PTCL and Servis Industries Ltd. He added that these sponsors and partners have not only endorsed the event with their logos, they share the same values that ACCA has.
Muhammad Uzair, director internal audit, Tourism Promotion Services (Pakistan) Ltd opened the discussion on risk and reward - shared perspective. He said that investment culture in Pakistan should change. Instead of making short-term investments, investors should make more informed decisions taking into account the various environmental, social and governance risks faced by businesses. The panellists of this session were Muhammad Farid Alam, CEO, AKD Securities Ltd, Ayla Majid, director, Islamabad Stock Exchange and Zeshan Afzal, executive vice-president and group head strategic investments, Arif Habib Corporation Ltd.
The speaker of the session on maximising people power - effective talent management in finance was Tahir Jawaid, vice-president human resource and public affairs, Engro Corporation Ltd. In his address, he said that there is a gap in the perceived importance versus the perceived success of talent management programmes. A majority of the professionals consider access to talent management programmes as important while organisations place it low on their priorities.
Commencing the discussion on the e-professional-embracing learning technologies, Jehan Ara, president P@SHA recommended that learning technologies should be a part of a wider, integrated approach to learning and assessment. Companies should invest sufficient resources in planning and design. Moreover, technology must be user-friendly and intuitive".
The panel included Shabbir Yunus Khairullah, partner assurance, Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder, Professor Dr Naveed A Malik, founder-rector, Virtual University, Amer Sarfraz, partner and vice president, Bramerz and Arif Masud Mirza, head of ACCA Pakistan. Professor Dr Naveed Malik said that many educational bodies and institutes use e-learning tool in one form or the other. Students benefit from this technical intervention not only in terms of distance but also comprehending the content more effectively, he added.-PR
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