Tech, ethics take centre stage at Annual International Conference of Bahrain Chapter of ICAI

By Naila Barakat Manama, Dec. 5 (BNA):Over 300 chartered accountants from around the region and as far as India and the UK – CEOs, CFOs, COOs– will gather in Bahrain for the 14th Annual International Conference of the Bahrain Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (BCICAI). The conference will be held on December 9-10 under the patronage of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The conference is designed under the theme "New Horizon Beckons" and a roster of star speakers will examine topics impacting professional change-management, personal lifegoals, and lessons in entrepreneurial success. "This year’s conference is special because we have 17 speakers who will address topics as diverse as Corporate Frauds and Mistakes and their implications on Governance, Auditors and Accountants, the concerns over Privacy and Cybersecurity," BCICAI Chairperson Sharmila Shet said. "There will be lessons from the success stories of the likes of Kanika Tekriwal, Sudha Chandran, actor Padmashree Manoj Joshi and Major General Vikram Dev Dogra, the ‘Ironman of India Army’, motivational & leadership coach and TEDx speaker." The conference inaugural session will be addressed by Duaa Abduelah Almuallim, Chief of Financial Analysis and Economic Information, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, a representative of CBB, along with Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Piyush Srivastava, KPMG Bahrain Managing Partner, Jamal Fakhro and Abbas Ali Radhi, Chairman of the Bahrain Accountants Association, who will join luminaries from the global CA fraternity. The conference is valuable to participants who will be credited 12 CPE hours (continuing professional education) towards their mandatory annual requirement. "When we started our tradition of annual conferences, Bahrain’s reputation as a MICE destination was just emerging. Today, we have so many professional conferences, workshops and seminars taking place and the Kingdom’s exhibitions and conferences infrastructure has grown impressively," said the chairperson. "The BCICAI is proud to have played a part in the growth of the Bahrain MICE eco-system and we owe a lot to our sponsors and supporters." Among the key speakers is India’s Minister for Roads and Transport, Shri Nitin Gadkari who will address the conference virtually, CA (Dr.) Debashis Mitra -President of ICAI, CA Aniket Talati Vice-President, CA Ajay Seth - CFO of Maruti-Suzuki India Ltd., Dr. Narendra Jadha - Former Advisor to the IMF and Former Chief Economist of the RBI and Kanika Tekriwal - CEO of JetSetGo, India’s foremost private jet charter service and Forbes 30 Under 30 business leader. Other speakers of note are Ravi Lahoti, Chief Audit Executive of India’s Bandhan Bank whose topic is money laundering; Roberto Mancone, CEO of Beyon Money whose talk will focus on Bahrain’s burgeoning digital economy; Adib Ibrahim, Managing Director (Protiviti UAE), and Jose Thomas, Director (Protiviti Bahrain) – they will speak on cloud services in the context of emerging tech trends. India-based CA Veni Thapar will analyse the profession of chartered accountancy in the Artificial Intelligence Era; Nishith Saxena, Grant Thornton Bahrain will highlight concerns and opportunities in cybersecurity. Seema Kasat, Director KPMG, Bahrain and Camille Geadah, Director, KPMG, Bahrain will be exploring New Horizons in an Evolving Marketplace.