'Good governance, transformation big challenges for future financial managers'

The second-segment of the CFO Conference 2015 organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) concluded here on Thursday. Around 300 CFOs, heads of multi-national companies, public sector enterprises and business leaders attended the day-long event that focused on leadership skills for managerial role and facing future challenges.
Muhammad Zafar Ul Haq Hijazi, FCA, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) said that one of the foremost challenges in the future for financial managers and management leaders would be issues related to good governance and transformation.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President of ICAP, Yacoob Suttar, reiterated the importance of the theme of the ICAP-CFO Conference this year, "Sustaining Excellence, Shifting Gears" and its principal objective of moving towards the ultimate vision of excellence. He said that the objective is to reach out to members in industry and provide them with a platform to discuss debate and seek pragmatic solutions of emerging business and financial issues."
The world's public-speaking champion 2014, Dananjaya J. Hettiarachchi of the Toastmasters International gave an inspirational talk on "I see something in you" and eloquently engaged the CFOs in an interactive session. In latter afternoon session on "Communication with Impact", Hettiarachchi dilated on how communication strategies can lead to better relationships, increasing the power to influence and building leadership brands.
The Chairman of Professional Accountants in Business Committee (IFAC) and Chief Executive Officer, CIMA, Charles Tilley who reached Pakistan especially to the attend the ICAP-CFO Conference 2015 dilated upon the challenges which finance professionals face in the performance of their strategic, operational and reporting roles. In his presentation on "How Financial Leaders Pre-empt and Face Future Challenges" he stressed on the importance of good governance and elaborated on risk issues, big data and analytics as being crucial elements in their responsibility as finance heads.
Fakir Syed Aijazuddin OBE, FCA in his thematic keynote "Once a Finance Leader, Next the Leader of the Enterprise - Skills and Steps" opined that the decisive roles played by CFOs in an organisation were crucial in their professional development as future leaders. He was of the view that CFOs do not exist merely as regulators but also as facilitators, serving the best interests of their organisations, profession and other allied stakeholders.
The session on "Family Enterprise" which covered highly structured discussions on empowerment through delegation, sustaining growth through diversification and decentralisation, and myths and realities of succession planning, included prominent panellists from family-owned businesses: Mohsin Khalid, Executive Director, Ittehad Steel; Sen. Osman Saifullah Khan, CEO, Saif Textile Mills Ltd; Imtiaz Rastgar, Chairman, Rastgar Group; and Shahid Hussain, CEO, Service Sales Corp. The session was chaired by Asif Anwar Karim, FCA, Deputy MD, Finance & Admin Airblue.
A special interactive one-on-one dialogue, "Success Journey of a Visionary" featuring. Imran Afzal, FCA former President ICAP highlighted milestones, professionalism and commitments, tales which enabled the organisation to rise to glory. The discussion was conducted by Mukhtar Hussain Jaffery, FCA, Senior Partner, Naveed Zafar Ashfaq Jaffery & Co.
The Dean of Indus Institute of Management, Dr Rizwan Amin Shaikh while speaking on 'Talent Management - No Longer Just an HR Issue' informed the participants that the strategy for talented resource was to keep pace with business change and that top-performers remain engaged in management processes. An interesting feature of the conference was an enjoyable session on 'Strategic Humour' conducted by Danish Ali, Pakistan's renowned professional comedian and writer.
Till now, 10 CFO conferences have already been held across the country with participation of more than 5000 business leaders and finance professionals.