On behalf of ACCA, the global body for professional accountants, I am delighted to welcome you to this year's Accountants for Business Global Forum Pakistan 2012. Over the years ACCA Pakistan has set the legacy of bringing tougher finance professionals and leading employers on a single platform to discuss and elaborate on global challenges faced by businesses and in particular the accountancy profession.
As a participant of Accountants for Business Global Forum Pakistan 2012 we seek to discuss the complex issues, particularly the ethical and behavioural factors, which must be addressed in the current business scenario. The themes for the Global Forum 2012 have been set around ACCA's Research and insights series and will deliberate upon critical drivers of the finance profession such as risk and reward: tempering the pursuit of profit, finance transformation: building a better business through finance diversity and access to finance: the rise of capital markets.
Making businesses accountable has always been a challenge. The pursuit and achievement of profit, whether motivated by individual or corporate ends, does not necessarily correspond with the notion of sustainable 'success'. The challenge for a responsible business is to find ways to ensure that the rewards it seeks are supported by sensible management of the risk that confront it.
Today's global business environment is shaping the future role of the finance function and how it best supports the business to drive value and shareholder return. Increasingly ACCA sees an evolving and broader role for the finance function, as they seek to transform the finance function to drive efficiencies in finance operations, ensure greater governance and control, and provide the organisation with financial insight to support superior business decision making.
The accountancy profession is instrumental to capital market development, which can be stunted or unbalanced without its support. As the preparers, users or auditors of financial reports, they have an interest in upholding confidence in the rules and educating investors where appropriate. The accountancy profession is just as global as the capital markets themselves; it is an established network well suited to the task of transferring good practice around the world. I sincerely hope that these discussion forums will not only help finance professionals who are here to hear experts share their insights but also contribute to the general uplift of the accountancy profession at large. I hope you have a great time being a part of this forum!