Bold initiatives critical for resilience during global uncertainty, says Shaikh Nahyan

Dubai - Role of accounting professionals assumes greater significance during a crisis, says the minister

Bold initiatives by governments and companies are critical for economic resilience in the face of uncertainty in global financial markets, Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister for Culture and Knowledge Development, said.

In his inaugural address at the 34th annual international conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI-Dubai Chapter) in Dubai on Thursday, Shaikh Nahyan said global financial markets, businesses, governments and industries have experienced deforming crisis during the past decade. "I see no reason for the next decade to be notably different. It is virtually impossible to insulate anything from misfortune and damage. We will all be subject to future turn of events that will disrupt our plans and could diminish our assets."

Shaikh Nahyan acknowledged the huge contribution made by finance professionals towards supporting the regional economy and for showing the courage to offer solutions to overcome the downturn.

"The role of the accounting professionals assumes greater significance as they assist and protect their clients and companies from crisis, strengthen their presence in the circumstances and offset the financial difficulties when they occur. People will depend on you as they try to recover. They will look to you as the experts on being resilient. You are the experts who can inspire a way to continue [in the crisis scenario] and chart a way back to success courageously," he said.

The two-day event featured international academics, policy makers and industry professionals and provided them the platform to meet and share their research and interests in banking and finance in addition to hosting more than 1,000 finance professionals.

Speakers underscored the need to make financial stability more robust and laid out their views on risk mitigation and stronger legislation.

Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey, vice-president of ICAI, said ever since the global financial crisis broke out in 2008, a number of regulatory policies have been discussed, proposed and sometimes implemented to address shortcomings in the regulatory framework.

"This conference has helped to provide a critical overview of alternative measures and ask whether we are any closer to a financial system that is both appropriately stable and efficient in fulfilling its functions to the wider economy."

Nimish Makvana, ICAI Dubai chairman, said speakers reiterated the need for a joint effort towards risk mitigation.

- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com