Oman: Muscat Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) recently held its 10th Annual International Conference in the city, themed “Future of Accounting Profession – Challenges and Opportunities” focused on the need to infuse creativity in our services and solutions in this fast-paced era of digitalisation.
The Chief Guest for the Conference was Her Excellency Sayyida Rawan Ahmed Al Said, CEO of Takaful Oman SAOG and Chairperson of National Bank of Oman.
The conference was also graced by the presence of His Excellency Munu Mahawar, the Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Nasser Al Mawali, Dean of the College of Banking and Financial Studies and CA Atul Kumar Gupta, Vice President of ICAI, as the Guests of Honour.
In the inaugural speech, HH Sayyida Rawan Ahmed Al Said, said, “Challenges and Opportunities are the two sides of the same coin. When you dare to encounter the challenges, the opportunities unveil one by one. Accounting professionals are always challenged by the new innovative business models and ever-changing technology in not only adapting to the changes, but also ensuring that the systems and controls are appropriately modified to meet the current challenges. I am sure, that in this context, the theme of the conference will stimulate healthy discussions and make valuable contributions to the Sultanate of Oman’s economics and social development. Events like these are important and essential to provide insightful perspective to the participants to accept the change, face the challenges and explore the opportunities. I congratulate the Chairman CA Bhavani Prasad and his Managing Committee team for arranging this mega event of knowledge-sharing and wishing every delegate and participants happy learning.”
HE Munu Mahawar, Indian Ambassador to Sultanate of Oman said, “It is my pleasure on behalf of the Indian Embassy in Oman to sincerely congratulate the Muscat Chapter the ICAI and CBFS being the sponsors for organising such mega annual international conference at Muscat. This is an outstanding achievement and great source of pride to all Indians at Sultanate of Oman. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and appreciate the hard work, commitment and dedication of all members of Muscat Chapter ICAI.”
Dr. Nasser Al-Mawali, Dean of College of Banking and Financial Studies said, “It is my pleasure on behalf of the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS) to sincerely congratulate the Muscat Chapter ICAI for organising such an event with a galaxy of speakers drawn from various parts of India and delegates from India and all GCC members. This is an outstanding achievement and great source of pride to all of us at CBFS. I would like to take this opportunity to thank and appreciate the hard work, commitment and dedication of all members of Muscat Chapter ICAI. CBFS strong relation with the ICAI will be further enhanced to keep satisfying the needs of all our stakeholders & society at large.”
CA Atul Kumar Gupta, Vice President, ICAI – who had travelled from Delhi, India for this conference, stated, “Muscat Chapter of ICAI’s 10th Annual International Conference and its very appropriate topic is an acknowledgement of the potential of innovation for Accountants, as a catalyst to greater progress. As we have embraced the technology, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technology, Crypto currency, Digitalisation, it is ABCD of new global era. We the Chartered Accountants are fully ready to learn and face these challenges. Innovation will be one of the crucial elements if we are to truly progress as a society. Creativity has and will always be a key ingredient of success in any industry. We at ICAI are very proud to have had such esteemed panel of speakers and performances this year, it was truly an event to remember.”
CA Bhavani Prasad, Chairman of the Muscat Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, addressed the gathering in his welcome note and stated that “We are glad to be hosting this 10th landmark conference on a very appropriate topic in the current world scenario characterised by technology changes, compliance changes, deadline changes and increasing changes form clients; which pose challenges to our profession.”
CA Bhavani specially thanked His Excellency Dr. Ali Al Sunaidy, Oman’s Minister of Commerce and Industry for posing his confidence in the Muscat Chapter of ICAI and making this Conference possible. He also shared with all the delegates the achievements of the Muscat Chapter during the year 2018-19, especially the fact that the Muscat Chapter received the prestigious Best Chapter Award (in category-II) from its parent Institute for the fourth year in a row.
H. E. Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and industry, H.E. Yahya bin Saeed Al Jabri, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SEZAD, H. E. RUWIYA SAOOD AL BUSAIDI, Minister of Higher education, H. E. Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Chairman, Oman Chamber of Commerce, H.E. Talal Sulaiman AL-Rahbi, Deputy Secretary General, Supreme Council of Planning, Sulanate of Oman, H.E. Dr.Nasser Hamood Al Rawahi, Vice-Chairman, State Audit Institution, H. E. Nasser bin Khamis Al-Jashmi, Under-secretary, Ministry of finance, Sultanate of Oman H.E. Tahir Salim Abdullah Al Amri, Executive President,CBO, send their greetings and best wishes to Chairman and members of Muscat Chapter ICAI on the eve of the international conference.
The conference began with the customary tradition of lighting the lamp ceremony done by the Chief Guest, Guests of Honour along with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Muscat Chapter. After the guest dignitaries’ address to the gathering, they unveiled the Souvenir and presented it formally to the members of the Chapter and other delegates at the Conference. The Souvenir is a compilation of past year’s achievements of the Chapter and also includes technical articles contributed by the local members of the Chapter in Muscat.
The Conference brought together experts from varied backgrounds and speakers from different fields, working in different countries; as they together explored the vitality of innovation in evolution as we move forward in our accounting profession, in the wake of the digital era. The conference commenced with a panel discussion on the topic titled after the theme of the conference. The panellists included Mr. Nasser Al Mugheiry and CA Davis Kallukaran and the discussion was moderated by CA Mubeen Khan. The conference also adorned by various esteemed speaker line up including the likes of CA Saumya Krishna, CA Sanjay Tiwari, CA V Pattabhi Ram, Mr. R. Narasimhan, CA Sathya Kumar, CA Pankaj Mundra, CA Ramnath Iyer, CA Mario Nazareth, CA Nalin Chandna and CA Niladri Roy. The various speakers brought their individual experiences to create a collective narrative that shed light on the theme. Unanimous in their support to building a sustainable future, the speakers discussed the ways we can encourage and harness innovation.
This conference was sponsored by M/s. Al Anwar Holdings and M/s. Bank Nizwa as the Gold Sponsors; whereas M/s. Omantel, M/s. Port of Salalah, M/s. Al Tasnim, M/s. Dhofar Insurance Company and M/s. FOCUS were the Silver sponsors for the event. The Managing Committee of the Muscat Chapter of ICAI honoured its sponsors as well as its volunteers. For the first time, students from the Commerce Stream of the Indian School of Wadi Kabir participated in the conference. With over 200 members, delegates, guests, speakers, gcc members attended the conference. CA Aswini Sawrikar, Secretary of Muscat Chapter compered the program, CA Shah Nawaz Khan, Vice-Chairman proposed the vote of thanks to all the sponsors’, delegates, members who directly or indirectly contributed to the success of the conference.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India also exhibited at the Conference venue, details of the 21st Conference of the World Congress Of Accountants (WCOA) to be hosted in Mumbai, India on 18th-21st November 2022. The CWOA conferences are generally attended by 5000-6000 delegates from across 130 countries in the world.
