MD of ASDA'A speaks at ICAI

He was speaking on communication and public relations skills at the recent Continuing Professional Education Series of the Dubai Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Besides John, Andrew Robinson, Partner, KPMG also made a presentation on due diligence and valuation in mergers and acquisitions.

"Accountancy professionals have an important role to play in the development of their corporate brand image and by instilling a culture of transparency and taking up the challenge of open communication, CEOs and CFOs can contribute immensely to the increasing value of their company's brand," John said.

Abbas Ali Mirza, ICAI Chairman of the Dubai Chapter said: "The challenges that the profession faced in the West recently because of the accounting scandals should be viewed as an opportunity for the profession in the region to not only take lessons from, but also to chart out a cohesive path in terms of brand building. The Chartered Accountants for that matter are themselves a brand to reckon with," he emphasized.

"Twenty years ago International Accounting Standards (IAS) were not widely known. But today IAS has become a globally accepted standard and exceeds the acceptability of other standards including the GAAP of the USA. The fact that listed companies in the European Union are in the process of adopting IAS from the year 2005 bears eloquent testimony to this," Abbas Mirza added.

Andrew Robinson, partner at KPMG who spoke on due diligence in merger and acquisition valuation techniques said that often markets did not share the rosy opinion on the addition of value that managers often see as a result of the M&A process. "Sixty-six per cent of acquisitions fail to achieve their objectives. Our job is to bridge the gap between the market and directors' points of view," he said.