Individuals gathered to celebrate the achievement of 145 new members that had reached the membership landmark in 2011. The ceremony was held at PC Crystal Halls and was attended by employers from the public and corporate sector.
The ceremony was graced by the presence of many distinguished guests who were representing leading organisations and top employers in Pakistan, including ICI Pakistan, MCB Bank Limited, Crescent Bahuman, Millat Tractor, Millat Equipment, A.F. Ferguson, KPMG TaseerHadi and Co , Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes SidatHyder Chartered Accountants, Packages Limited, Descon Engineering Limited and Kansai Paint Co Ltd and many others.
The chief guest of the ceremony was Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Finance, Government of the Punjab and the keynote address was delivered by Atif Fayyaz, Chief Financial Officer, Mitchell's Fruit Farms Limited.
The ceremony began with a welcome address by Head ACCA Paksitan, ArifMasudMirza. He discussed how existing members had been given greater exposure and access to better employment opportunities through the growing ACCA networks.
A message from Helen Brand the CEO of ACCA was also played at the ceremony. Keynote speaker Atif Fayyaz, Chief Financial Officer, Mitchell's Fruit Farms Limited gave an inspirational address. He encouraged students to go ahead with ACCA without worrying about employment opportunities, quoting that all his batch fellows had made it to the top with this qualification. He said the important thing was for them not to get frustrated, and focus on long terms success achieved through learning, hard work and patience.
The Chief Guest Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Finance, Government of the Punjab said that the placement of ACCA's on the AGP project had been a success and the public sector was looking to hire more ACCA's. He said that the ministry would extend further support to ACCA's under the vision of their existing project PEEF. He said that the provincial Govt. is trying to bring improvements within the accounting cadre, and he sees ACCA's playing a vital role in increasing accountability and transparency in the system. Acting under such a strategically important role, and having such exposure will be a great learning experience for ACCA's.
Khurram Raza Bakhtayari who works at Packages Limited said their company has ACCA's employed right now that are being trained. Based on the quality of the existing batch they would be looking to hire more ACCA's under the ACCA trainee and recruitment and development program in place. The existing ACCA's are being trained under this program as well.
Syed Zamant Abbas, Director and Chief Financial Officer, Descon Engineering Limited said that the company fully supported the ACCA qualification, and would be looking to hire ACCA members immediately.
Kamran IqbalYousafi, Partner KPMG Taseer Hadi &Co Chartered Accountants said "ACCA is not only a professional organisation to certify accountants, but also a partner to help employers improve professional skills, conduct business networking and optimise corporate management."
The ceremony was highly appreciated by the new members. It not only acknowledged their achievement, it also provided them a platform to interact with current and prospective employers.
-PR