Indian chartered accountants, have been very business oriented and always try to look at new areas of improvement, said Bahrain’s Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro.

He was speaking at the opening session of the Bahrain Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (BCICAI) GCC regional conference last night (December 6), said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

The event was entitled "Chartered Account-ants: Expanding Horizons.

"I was happy to note that you have more than 400 members in your organisation in Bahrain," he said.

"As the leaders of your profession, chartered accountants from India are well respected and with your conduct share the best of your country with us. I am glad to know that my good friend Indian Ambassador Dr Mohan Kumar is also the patron of this organisation.

"I have worked with him extensively and know that we all have in our hearts the will to enhance the excellent and long-standing business and cultural relations shared between Bahrain and India," he said.

"The global economic outlook remains unusually fragile with the situation in the euro zone being the main source of uncertainty and the US facing mounting fiscal challenges, while growth is clearly slowing in the Asian economies," Dr Fakhro added.

"The GCC region is set for growth with buoyant oil prices boosting fiscal balances, and governments' planned infrastructure projects expected to underpin growth in many sectors.

"Bahrain is expected to see a clear improvement in its growth this year with the Economic Development Board forecasting growth of 2.4 per cent for the year, up from 1.9 per cent in 2011. Most sectors have by now experienced a clear rebound since last year, including mainstays such as construction, manufacturing, retailing, tourism and hospitality,” Dr Fakhro said.

"Despite the recent reversals, we expect oil production to increase in the second half of the year. The country's future economic prosperity relies on our ability to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by the world around us,” he added.

'The Economic Vision 2030 identifies three key challenges and opportunities and describes how Bahrain will respond to each. I believe that in the context of the challenges faced by Bahrain, the theme of the conference - Expanding Horizons - is very appropriate and timely.

"I am sure this conference will focus on the ways and means by which chartered accountants can contribute in the national building process by imparting training to the youth and enhancing their employability leading to overall improvement in the living conditions of the local population.

"The chartered accountants by virtue of their qualifications and experience can help in making Bahrain a competitive economy," he said.

"The chartered accountants' inherent affinity to ethics and fairness can play a big role in extending the culture of good corporate governance benefiting the cross sections of stakeholders of the nation, Dr Fakhro added.

"Given the global business challenges and the changes taking place within businesses, the role of the chartered accountant is facing challenges," MTI Consulting chief executive Hilmy Cader told delegates.

"Let's the take conventional functions performed by the chartered accountants and see how that is changing, Looking to the future, the role of the chartered accountant should focus on cutting across functions in a business organisation - given the changing boundaries," he said.

"They should focus on bold analytics that will force organisations to take hard strategic decisions based on numbers and not on opinions alone," Cader added. – TradeArabia News Service