Accounting professionals explore the future world of finance
KUCHING: Over 500 leading members of Malaysia’s accounting profession gathered at St Regis Kuala Lumpur last week to take a look into navigating the future world of finance and how to develop the required professional skillset to successfully lead business in the 21st century.
Organised and hosted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Malaysia, the ‘Navigating the Future World of Finance’ conference explored how accounting professionals can continue to remain relevant while traversing the new digital era and how their contributions will help the Malaysian economy optimise the opportunities presented by the latest technological and regulatory changes.
Developed based on ACCA’s ‘Seven Quotients for Success’, the conference featured a series of talks and panel discusssions which examined various topics including global trends for adoption of automation technology in the finance function, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and the rise of Digital CFO. As identified by ACCA, the ‘Seven Quotients for Success’ represent a blend of skills that is essential in driving the future of the accountancy profession to 2020 and beyond. The quotients are: digital, vision, creativity, intelligence, emotional intelligence, experience as well as technical and ethical excellence.
In his welcoming address, ACCA Malaysia country head Edward Ling said the new digital era holds boundless opportunities and possibilities for the Malaysian economy. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution will transform how businesses will operate in the 21st century: from artificial intelligence to autonomous vehicles.
“It is vital for the accountancy profession to recognise the crucial role it plays in preparing organisations for the change ahead, by being at the forefront of anticipating and equipping our profession with the necessary skill set that makes them effective and relevant leaders of tomorrow.
“It is therefore very exciting to be able to call upon the expertise and insights of ACCA’s global network of business leaders to ignite a discussion on the future world of finance and how creative solutions explored can lead to helping Malaysian accountants develop their competitive edge now and in the future.”
Additionally, delegates benefited from a sharing session by global expert Jenny Gu who is also the Vice President of ACCA and COO of Richemont China, who imparted her professional and personal experiences in the finance industry spanning across China, US, Singapore and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, ACCA’s Head of Business Insights Narayanan Vaidyanthan discussed the recent global report on The Race For Relevance – which touches on how finance professionals should and can adapt to the changes and opportunities from new technological innovations.
Other notable speakers and panellists at the ACCA Annual Conference 2018 inlcuded George Aveling, CEO of TMI Consultancy Malaysia; Dr Choong Kwai Fatt, tax specialist and advocate, Kwai Fatt & Associates; Chiew Chun Wee, Head of Policy – Asean ANZ, ACCA and Dato’ Amiruddin Abdul Satar, President & Managing Director of KPJ Healthcare Bhd.