Experts urge CFOS to be multi-dimensional

ABL Group chief says Chief Financial Officers should work proactively on economic front

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of public and private sector organistaion should perform much better by training themselves on multidimensional line as partner of any business concern.

Senior banking sector CFOs and other experts including Allied Bank Group Chief Zia Ijaz and Meezan Bank Group Head Finance and CFO Shabbir Hamza Khandwala, Abdul Aziz, Shahzad Hussain, Vincent Tophoff, Amer Tufail, Mohsin Naqvi, Farid Uddin Ahmed, and Mohammad Almas reached the unanimous conclusion during annual CFO Conference organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) here at a local hotel.

ABL’s Zia Ijaz told the participants of the conference that CFOs have to work proactively on all fronts of their respective concerns keeping in view the emerging busi- ness trends in order to attain growth.

He said the conference has extended a unique opportunity to CFOs to share their experiences with each other and learn to conduct their jobs effectively for the development of private and public sector organization to ultimately strengthen the economy of the country.

Meezan Bank Group Head Finance said that the responsibilities of CFOs are not limited to the financial matters but overall planning, understanding, vigilance and control. He said that they have to change their mind set to be the financial managers only and extend their experience and service to the entire set up.

In his welcome address, President ICAP Ahmad Saeed stated that the CFO Conference over the years had emerged as a strong platform where professionals in business and industry meet to explore, confront and thrash out solutions to meet the challenges and issues. He further spoke of the multifaceted dimensions of the emerging CFO and its four faces’- steward, operator, strategist and catalyst, citing the challenge to balance and achieve excellence in all the roles.

Asad Umar, former president of Engro Corp said the role of the CFOs are not just limited to figures and calculations, they have to think beyond in terms of product under- standing, people skills, designing future strategies, competitor knowledge & political environment awareness.

Assad said the CFO’s role is crucial in arranging funds for future growth projects of a company. “CFO should spend 40% of his time inside his office and 60% interacting with the employees to understand the functional processes of the company which will strengthen him in making decisions for the betterment of the organization”, he added.

Saquib H. Shirazi, Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Honda Limited expressed himself on ‘The Critical Analysis on Economy and how it Affects the Performance of Business’. He started his note with a noble statement of commitment which, according to him, is the first step towards performance. He explained that challenges we face are parallel in nature nowadays, the ones which we are paid for as professionals and the others which are beyond our control. Chairman Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee Yacoob Suttar thanked the ICAP team and Terrabiz for managing the conference. He also introduced the winners of the Professional Excellence awards in his speech.

IFAC Senior Technical Manager, Vincent TopHoff spoke on ‘Strategic Risk Management in the Face of Uncertainty and Unexpected Risks’, in his highly interactive presentation, Vincent listed out the crucial factors for strategic management.

Chairman of Karachi Stock Exchange Munir Kamal apprised the participants of the scope and the status of the public private partnership on ‘ How are Public Private Partnerships Faring in Today’s Tough Environment’. Kimihide Ando, MD Mitsubishi Pakistan & President, OICCI described Pakistan as a Land of Opportunity.

Nauman Asif Mian CFO, Bayt.com in his session ‘Regional Challenges & Opportunities for Finance Professionals in the Middle East ‘outlined the picture of the region.