The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) Golden Jubilee Conference with the theme ‘Accountants and Social Responsibility’ was organised at a hotel on Tuesday.
On the occasion, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah congratulated the office-bearers and members of ICAP for organising the conference.
“ICAP has been upholding the standards and principles of accountability and transparency since the last five decades and this is the hallmark of good governance,” he said.
Lauding the role of chartered accountants, Shah said that they are dedicated professionals and with their sheer hard work, talent and by upholding ethical values, they have made this profession the benchmark for excellence at the national as well as the international level.
Emphasising the role of the private sector, he said that it is recognised for achieving sustainable success and it needs to give as much focus to corporate social responsibility as it does to profitability.
He said that the poverty and the escalating gap between rich and poor have significantly undermined the progress of our country and our province. “These problems cannot be resolved unless both the government and the private sector work together to address them,” he added.
He further said that due to limited resources available to the government for the uplift of poor segments of the society, the private sector entities need to realise the importance of their contribution to such efforts.
The chief minister said that the Karachi is a beautiful city, the capital of Sindh and also the financial capital of the country.
“For the growth of a country, it is essential to have common vision followed through by every individual, with good governance and love for the country,” he added.
Shah said that the wealth of any nation can be rightly judged through the potential of its professionals and the strength of its institutions. “And as such, we need to stand united in order to face current difficulties and challenges of terrorism faced by our country.”
Shah said that today we are passing through difficult times, which are the result of decades of bad governance due o repeated disruptions to political and democratic process.
The leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party, through its policy of national reconciliation, has tried to develop national consensus on certain fundamentals, and we are continuously striving for unity and consensus.
“There is a need to support technocrats and professionals in this process of national consensus, especially on some fundamental values, such as upholding the democratic principles, good governance, rule of law and improving the condition of large majority of poorer sections of this country,” he added.
The chief minister on the occasion warmly welcomed the delegates from SAARC countries.
Earlier, ICAP President Saqib Masood delivered the welcome address and highlighted the efforts of the institute since August 1961.
He stressed on the need to create human talent by using the advantage of audit profession and quality financial reporting.
Professor Atta-ur-Rehman and Javed Jabbar also spoke at the conference. The chief minister distributed shields to past presidents of ICAP, senior members and participating delegations from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. Saqib Masood gave a shield to the chief minister.
