4th Saudi-Pak Accountancy Symposium held in Riyadh

Karachi, May 21, 2015 (PPI-OT): Under the patronage of His Excellency The Minister of Commerce and Industry Saudi Arabia and supported by Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) KSA Chapter held their 4th Saudi-Pak Accountancy Symposium recently at Ritz Carlton Hotel, Riyadh.

The theme of the event was “Technology – CFO’s New Best Friend”. Over 300 accountancy professionals with a large participation of Pakistani and Saudi nationals as well as select female professionals attended the Symposium. Business leaders, CEO’s and CFO’s of leading corporates, senior partners of audit firms, and members of ICAPKSA chapter and SOCPA were in attendance to further cement the prestige the Symposium continues to attract year on year.

Speaking on the occasion, His Excellency, The Ambassador of Pakistan to KSA, Manzoorul Haq mentioned that “It is heartening to note that the ICAP KSA Chapter has been recently awarded the Best Overseas Chapter by ICAP Pakistan and is a tribute to its performance and makes me further proud of the Pakistan Embassy’s patronage of ICAP KSA Chapter and its activities”.

He also said that “I am confident that the ICAP KSA Chapter through its professional activities and engagement with the finance professionals in KSA would further help solidify the bridges between finance professionals of the two brotherly countries of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan”. Other speakers on the occasion included Yacub Suttar (President ICAP) and Muhammad Iqbal (President ICAP KSA Chapter).

Mutlaq Al Morished, CEO of Tasnee, delivered a very interesting keynote address after H.E. Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah’s Chief guest address which was read out by Dr. Ahmad Al Meghames (Secretary General of SOCPA).

An innovative addition to this year’s agenda were the lightning talk sessions in which the presentations made by Abdul Mohsen Al-Fares (CEO Al-Inma Bank) and Ahmar Azam (CFO Leejam) were extremely well received by the audience. This was followed up with a panel discussion on the topic of IFRS transition in KSA as moderated by Muhammad Asif Iqbal and included participants from Big 4 audit firms and CFO of Acwa Power, the main sponsor.

The key take away from the Symposium was well articulated in the video address of Ms. Olivia Kirtley, President IFAC, that Technology is not an IT function anymore; it truly is a global financial business function and it continues to broaden the role of the CFO’s across organizations and showcase our leadership capabilities.

In continuing with its tradition, ICAP KSA Chapter also announced the recipients of ‘Most Valued Contribution to the Profession’ Awards. In recognition of their exceptional services, awards were given to H.E. Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah (Minister of Commerce and Industry), H.E. Hamad S. Al-Sayari (former Governor SAMA), Noor Abid (Board member AAOIFI) and Mudassir Zubairi (Senior Partner, PwC Bahrain) for their contribution to the Profession of Accountancy. The Symposium ended with a vote of thanks by Shahid Murad, Vice President ICAP KSA Chapter.

For more information, contact:
Muhammad Rafiq
Media Coordinator
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP)
Chartered Accountants Avenue, Clifton
Karachi-75600, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-111-000-422
Fax: +92-21-99251626
Cell: +92-300-2128185