SWT Associates hosts IAPA Asia Pacific Regional Conference
Sri Lanka’s leading Chartered Accountant firm SWT Associates, successfully hosted the IAPA Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Colombo, bringing together 25 accounting firms from 20 countries.
The discussions for this year’s conference were focused on how firms ‘add value’ to clients through advisory services as well as other topics including new marketing strategies.
The conference connected senior managers and partners to network and strengthen business relationships around the world. It also featured presentations on how to improve services to clients operating both nationally and across borders, including latest insights in the accounting and business environment.
Martin Clapson, Global Chairman of IAPA International initiated the proceedings by welcoming all, including the new and prospective members.
He said, “This conference was designed to meet the future needs of our members in the Asia Pacific region. The knowledge and expertise presented during the conference will enable them to continue to deliver solutions not only to their clients, but also to their employees.”
Clapson also gave an account on what IAPA has achieved in the last 12 months and put forward the plans for future.
As well as insights from new IAPA member firms from India and Pakistan, the conference welcomed distinguished guest speakers including the duo Joseph Antony and Abhishek Madathil and Jairam Rajshekhar presenting on Case ware Working Papers and Case ware IDEA Analytics respectively. Representing the host country and SWT Associates, Wajira Kaluarachchi shared her views about Sri Lanka’s legal system and economy.
Lalit Valecha from Pune, India soon followed with his take on Global Focus on BEPS (Base Erosion & Profit Shifting). Vipul Kothari from the Uaepresented on Jurisdictional Updates, Challenges and Opportunities, while Paramnoor Singh, shared his views on Jurisdictional Updates in India. Representative of the UK based Price Bailey, Jay Sanghrajka also presented the Issues Relating to Taxation with Case Studies.
Kaluarachchi also offered insights into Sri Lanka’s trade and investment opportunities with a comprehensive update on ‘Doing Business in Sri Lanka’. “This has been a great platform for sharing inspiring new ideas and insights on current topics with the delegates,” she added.
The format of this year’s conference allowed for the first time a half day of networking excursion, along with two and a half days of knowledge sharing. The half day excursion to the Madu River left a lasting impression amongst the IAPA delegates and cemented trusted relationships, to help develop future global business opportunities.