KARACHI: Farrukh H. Khan, MD and CEO of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday May 17, 2022 said Pakistan going through poorer period as compared to the last 15-20 years.
Talking as guest speaker at the CFO Conference 2022, he said that the role of corporate has changed throughout the decade.
“Pakistan is going through yet another tough period, which has been poorer as compared to the last 15-20 years,” he added.
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Speaking about the economy, he said that what’s true at the micro-level is also true at the macro level as well. He further said that organizations need to be cognizant of ESG standards and sustainability strategies.
“This conference makes us realize that it’s not enough to be a CFO, but now it has become vital to become a CVO. It’s significant to understand the impact of globalization, accelerating technology, and the requirement of different skill sets for new businesses and startups.”
Khan emphasized that it is no longer sufficient to be a gatekeeper, and one must anticipate and guide change; be aware of who, how, and when someone will disrupt your business.
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The company needs to understand ESG, both customer and capital providers, leadership, communication, empathy, and skill set requirements, which, in the knowledge economy are vital roles.
The Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) organized CFO Conference 2022 on theme ‘Embracing the role as Chief Value Officer’.
Ashfaq Yousuf Tola, President ICAP in his address welcomed the guests and congratulated the organizing committee, council members, sponsors and the participants.
He said this event is worthwhile to attend as it gives 500 years of experience in a single day time. Tola emphasized that the entire world is moving very fast due to the technology advancement, owing to the Covid-19 crisis.
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He said that the economy is the key pillar of sustainability, and in order to have the value of ascertaining, one needs to be updated and make appropriate decisions towards sustainability.
Paul Papadimitriou Founder & CEO of Intelligencr delivered a keynote speech on “A Peek into the World’s Financial and Economic Landscape”.
He said that technologies always had a faster effect irrespective of whether a country is rich or poor as these are the opportunities to create value in an organization. Another asset that we have is our youth.
Around 2.5 billion people are entering in middle class and around 1 billion women are new emerging workforce. Pakistan has a great potential to benefit from these faster dynamics as many rural areas is Pakistan are shifting into cities.
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Pakistan being a high potential country despite of the high inflation, is an opportunity for companies looking for outsourcing. CFOs need to be a transcendent leader who empower others in order to get maximum quality output. CFO should take younger people on board as they are looking at them for inspiration to bring value into an organization.
Dr. Ahmad Junaid of KSBL, presented the CFO Survey 2022 result, the survey entailed collective insights from 300+ CFOs, Finance Directors, and Financial Controllers of diversified industries from within Pakistan. It will help businesses understand macroeconomic expectations, capital availability, tech perspective, workforce requirements and other pressing concerns in Pakistan to make informed decisions.
The reason to conduct this survey is to reduce lack of communication among finance professionals. Some important facts shared are the figures of expected GDP of 4.1 per cent in the next year, inflation rate at around 11.5 per cent, Interest rate 12.5 per cent, and Exchange rate 192.6.
Macroeconomic Expectations includes USD Open market rate will be around 200 and up. The survey also includes different aspects of industries like Cost factors, Industry-specific expectations, etc.
The first panel discussion was held on CFOs role in ESG Led Value Creation. The panel discussion was moderated by Saad Faridi, FCA, CEO Tenaga Generasi Limited. The panelists of the discussion were Dr. Imran Ahmad Khan, CEO & MD, Bayer Pakistan, Shazad Dada, CEO UBL and Zubair Anwar Bawany, Deputy Executive Director SDG Country Lead, UN Global Compact Cities Programme.
The session focused on ESG and its implications on the industry. The panelists were of the view that the CFO plays a very important role and sits in most of the committees of building strategy and it’s their responsibility to do something for our future generations.
The session concluded with the message that we all will leave this world one day, so why not we start giving back to society today.
The second panel discussion was held on Agile Organizations. The panel discussion was moderated by Tahir Sharif, FCA, Partner A F Ferguson & Co. accompanied by the Session Chair Khalilullah Shaikh, FCA Past President ICAP. The panelists of the discussion were Mr. Aamir Ghaziani FCA CFO, K-Electric, Atif Kaludi FCA Director Finance & CFO, Lucky Cement, and Ms. Nausheen Ahmedjee, FCA Head of People and Organization, Siemens Pakistan.
The panelist shared their insights on what an agile organization should do for its employees in particular and society in general. The session concluded that Agile organization are more customer-focused and employee oriented. In such companies, employees feel empowered to make the decisions.
Samiullah Siddiqui FCA Chairman PAIBC & Council Member ICAP in his address welcomed all the key note speakers, dignitaries and guests. He also thanked all the sponsors for coming forward in supporting CFO conference 2022 on much needed topic “Embracing the role as Chief Value Officer.
An important session on ‘Becoming a Transcendent Leader’ was moderated by Irfan Chawala, FCA, Director/ CFO, Archroma. Syed Muhammad Taha, MD and CEO of Pakistan State Oil, was the guest. Taha stressed that the journey of becoming a successful leader starts from being an individual to someone who honors the whole team. He added that to become a successful CFO and later transform into a CEO, a good knowledge of technology and changing trends is mandatory.
Eminent speaker with global recognition Kevin Dancey, CEO International Federation of Accountants, spoke virtually on CFO’s Agenda for Sustainability and Integrated Value Creation. He applauded the efforts of ICAP and stated that the commerce industry holds an important place in any country’s advancement.
Iftikhar Hussain Arif, renowned Urdu Poet and Scholar litterateur was graced the occasion in Unwind session. He touched the participants with his thought provoking and soulful poetry and was given standing ovation by the participants.
