Karachi - The first-segment of the CFO Conference 2015 organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) concluded here Tuesday with financial experts stressing on the importance of good governance and excellence through renewed strategic, operational and reporting roles in the organization. More than 800 CFOs, heads of multinational companies & state enterprises and business leaders attended the moot.
In his welcome address, President of ICAP, Yacoob Suttar, reiterated on 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, “Its purpose 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 a 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.
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 organization 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 organizations, profession and other allied stakeholders.
The chairman of Professional Accountants in Business Committee (IFAC) and Chief Executive Officer, CIMA, Charles Tilley who arrived in Pakistan especially to the attend the ICAP-CFO Conference 2015 dilated upon the challenges which face finance professionals 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.
The recipients of the ICAP Professional Excellence Awards 2015 included Muneeb Mufti of MTBC Pakistan received award  for Initial Public Offering (IPO) and Danyaal Jamal of K–Electric Limited received the award for KE AZM SUKUK. The members of the jury included Ruhail Muhammad, Feroze Jehangir Cawasji and Zafar Iqbal Sobani, respectively.
The session on “Family Enterprise” which covered highly structured discussions on empowerment through delegation, sustaining growth through diversification and decentralization, and myths and realities of succession planning, included prominent panelists from family-owned businesses: Abrar Hasan, CEO, National Foods Limited; Dr. Zeelaf Munir, Chairperson, Executive Management Board, English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt) Limited; Samad Dawood, CEO, Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited and Mr. Amin Hashwani, Businessman. The session was chaired by Ms. Roshan Mehri, FCA, CEO Family Office, House of Habib.