ACCA Pakistan hosts Pakistan Leadership Conversation 2017

Lahore, 6^th February 2017: ACCA Pakistan hosted its inaugural Pakistan Leadership Conversation 2017 in three cities Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore from 31 January, 2017 to 3 February 2017 attracting 800 finance professionals across Pakistan.

ACCA Pakistan Leadership Conversation is a critical forum for thought leaders to discuss important public policy issues and in turn develop an actionable agenda to drive economic growth.

Two panel discussions were conducted in each city. The conference topics for Karachi included;

i)                    Global Business Services (GBS – i.e., outsourcing) and Robots

ii)                  FinTech - transforming business; are we ready? The chief guest for the conference in Karachi, Riaz Riazuddin - Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan spoke on “Pakistan - Creating opportunities for growth; Embracing change. Shaping futures.”

In Islamabad the two topics covered were ‘Strategic planning implications of CPEC’ and ‘The evolving landscape of sustainability reporting in Pakistan’. While conversations in Lahore revolved mainly around leadership and the qualities young professionals need to inculcate to benefit from the developments in the country. In addition to this ACCA’s research report ‘Fintech-transforming finance’ was the subject of discussion and its potential transformative effects on business in Pakistan.The chief guest at the conference in Lahore, Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, Governor Punjab inaugurated the ceremony and continued the conversation on growth and opportunities which finance professionals need to take advantage of in Pakistan. 

Representatives from ACCA included Helen Brand, ACCA’s chief executive, ACCA council members Ayla Majid, Phoebe Hao Yu who had joined us all the way from China and Arif Masud Mirza, regional head of policy MENASA.

Helen Brand, chief executive of ACCA highlighted, “We wanted to show ACCA’s firm commitment to the further development of the country’s economy, as Pakistan grows in strength and influence on the world stage. We see the ACCA Pakistan Leadership Conversation as a critical forum for leaders to discuss and advocate on important public policy issues and track the progress being made.”

Our panelists/conversation leaders were representatives from leading finance organisations in Pakistan with keen interest in the development agenda of the country. The keynote speakers at the three events in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore included; Mr. Faisal Qamar, Managing Partner - HRS Global BPO, Mr. Junaid Shekha, CEO – IT Minds Limited, Mustafa Haider, Executive Director -Pakistan China Institute, Malik Mirza, Managing Director - Finman Group, Roshaneh Zafar, Managing Director - Kashf Foundation and Dr. Muhammad Amjad Saqib, Executive Director - Akhuwat.

Crucial agenda items pertinent for Pakistan’s success were discussed and our conversation leaders across the three cities felt that it was imperative that we embark on this journey on transforming the finance landscape of this country as it is vital for all the projects ahead of us.