How to gain from opportunities of New Economic Model

Written by Tan Pin Ping
Monday, 14 September 2009 00:20

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) is organising its flagship event for the year — the National Accountants Conference 2009 (NAC 2009) — themed “The New Economic Model: Value Chain Transformation” on Oct 13 and 14.

In a statement, MIA said NAC 2009 would explore, debate and unravel the issues, opportunities and challenges for Malaysians in the effort to move the country into a high-income economy while enhancing the distribution of opportunities and wealth among members of society.

How would the new economic model look like? Where are the opportunities? What are our roles in making it happen? These are some of the questions which would likely be raised and addressed in the conference.

As in the past, international speakers and experts would also be sharing their views and ideas during the two day-conference at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

MIA said corporate leaders, policymakers, professionals and academicians would benefit from this event, which is recognised as the platform for the exchange of ideas, nurturing of new thinking and networking opportunities. More than 2,000 participants attended the conference last year.

It said the transformation into a high-income economy would open more opportunities for accountants and business professionals to move up the corporate ladder.

To be in the C-suite, MIA said professionals were expected to command strategic leadership ability, in addition to technical excellence that had been built throughout their career.

“NAC 2009 is an excellent opportunity to have more insights into how to think like a CEO,” MIA said.

It said participants would be able to choose the topics of their choice in the concurrent sessions covering the areas of professionalism, management and self-development. Among interesting issues to be discussed are curbing risks, performance measurement, financial leadership and reducing the risks of diseases.

“While the world is attempting to recover from the global economic crisis, those who are far sighted are planning ahead to seize the opportunities that would come along while ensuring there are adequate safeguards to hedge against the unexpected.

“The business environment of tomorrow would be full of uncertainties on all fronts, highly competitive, inter-connected and complex. However, opportunities for those who are creative, innovative and dare to take up the challenges would be plenty.

“Knowledge is now the epicentre of value creation. Different from tangible resources which are depleted when consumed, knowledge, in the present connected world, is abundant and grows in utility when shared and used.

“What worked in the past may not produce the same results anymore. Certainly, the way forward is about looking at things differently!” MIA said.

MIA said the issue of convergence with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) would certainly touch many hearts, especially when the convergence had been set for 2012 and the long-awaited FRS 139 would be operational in 2010.

“Apart from the impact on corporate earnings, other dimension of the challenges in adopting IFRS such as capacity building, roles of our standard setters, interpretation and system enhancement would be explored in one of the plenary sessions.

“One of the responses towards the impact of the recent global economic crisis is the enhancement of governance. Key to this is the effectiveness of directors in performing their functions and discharging their duties in ensuring the sustainability of companies under their care,” it said.

MIA said recent developments in the issue of boardroom excellence would be discussed at NAC 2009 to provide insights and ideas on how this could be achieved. “The ability to realise this will also help position Malaysia as a competitive destination for investment and raising of capital,” it added.