Daily Times

LAHORE: ACCA President Brian McEnery hosted an event at Islamabad Serena for the World Bank Pakistan auditor general and the provincial governments to demonstrate its commitment to enhance transparency, accountability, reporting and capacity building in the public sector of Pakistan.

ACCA also recognised the outgoing auditor general, Rana Assad Amin, for his efforts in improving accountability by auditing and reporting on the country’s operations.

Present at the ceremony was ACCA President Brian McEnery, Pakistan ACCA Head Sajjeed Aslam, MENASA Regional Policy Head Arif Masud Mirza, and MENASA Regional Head of Member Affairs Haroon A Jan.

Representatives from Pakistan Auditor General included Additional Auditor General of Pakistan Imran Iqbal, Deputy Auditor General – Policy Dr Talat Imtiaz, Director – Special Sector Audit Local Rana Obaid Ur Rehman, Director IRV&MT Local Dalila Shakil.

Representatives from the World Bank included Financial Management Specialist Syed Waseem Abbas Kazmi, Senior FM Specialist Akram El-Shorbagi, Senior FM Specialist Akmal Minallah, FM Specialist QuratulAin Hadi and Financial Management Specialist Abdul Muneem Khattak.

Arif Mirza, Regional Head of Policy MENASA, highlighted ACCA public sector’s initiatives to cognise the audience of the work that has been undertaken for the capacity building of the public sector workforce.

ACCA’s president Brian McEnery deliberated on corporate governance and the importance of making sure that companies do the right thing for their various stakeholders: from investors, to those affected by their products or actions, to employees.

He also pointed out that ‘corporate governance’ is an area where there are still huge variations in requirements, and critically in how they are applied. So it is important to understand the detail of what is really happening in order to understand where progress is needed in Pakistan when we are addressing corporate governance.

He added, “Essentially, ACCA has a role to play in training our future leaders in the basics of corporate governance. We cover not just technical training, but also equip our students and members with a broader set of skills which enables them to make ethical decisions and follow the tenets of good corporate governance.”

The ceremony concluded with remarks by Imran Iqbal, Additional Auditor General of Pakistan. He said, “On behalf of the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan, I offer the highest level of commitment to ACCA for all ongoing initiatives.”