Dear members,
Summer is over, and as we celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with our families, attention turns towards the cooler and dryer days ahead.
I hope you and your family saw Typhoon Mangkhut pass by safely. The typhoon was the worst storm to hit Hong Kong in almost 40 years. We should be thankful that our city is resilient and built to handle such violent storms without too much disruption.
Just one day after the typhoon was the President’s Dinner, featuring guest of honour Norman Chan, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. My thanks to the Institute staff for successfully organizing the event, even with the disruption the typhoon caused. The President’s Dinner celebrated the achievements of the Institute’s past presidents and current Council and committee members for the profession. In his remarks, Norman discussed Hong Kong’s strategic position as the conduit between the Mainland and the rest of the world – and how this is likely to develop as the Greater Bay Area takes shape. You can read more about the Greater Bay Area, and the profession’s expectations for it in this month’s accounting feature A Greater Role in the Greater Bay Area.
At the beginning of September, we co-hosted the annual National Day Dinner Celebration for the accounting profession with the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors. Over 700 representatives of our profession, Mainland and Hong Kong governments, businesses and other stakeholders gathered together for the celebrations at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
“The future of Accounting Plus will mean more CPAs becoming entrepreneurs and it is vital that the Institute supports all our members – whatever path they are following.”
I always enjoy spending time with the next generation of accountants, and this month I had the pleasure of meeting some of the top Qualification Programme students from the last two exam sessions in June and December, who were receiving awards from the Institute for their examination achievements. At a ceremony, I spoke to the audience on their future in the age of Accounting Plus, and the wide career opportunities ahead of them. I was so happy to see that the future of our profession is as dynamic and eager for new challenges and the opportunities ahead as they were. Four of the awards winners were also interviewed for A Plus this month, sharing their motivations and experiences in the article The Future.
More and more people are becoming entrepreneurs nowadays, including accountants. This is why I am happy to see the Institute has developed a series of seminars called the Business Startup Series running until November. The events focus on the details of starting up your business, including funding, legal issues, and how to ensure your business is sustainable. The future of Accounting Plus will mean more CPAs becoming entrepreneurs and it is vital that the Institute supports all our members – whatever path they are following.
Have you been following the Accounting Plus video series? The first series of interviews featured accountants under the age of 35 who are chief financial officers and the second, featuring accounting firm partners, are being released now. Check out the videos on the Institute’s YouTube page to learn how these groups of young – and successful – Accountants Plus see the future of the profession developing.
I wanted to end by offering my congratulations to a Past President, who is also a fine example of Accounting Plus – Tim Lui. Tim was recently appointed Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission and demonstrates the extent of roles available to accountants (and former accountants) and the contributions we can make to society as a whole. Best of luck Tim with the role of helping our financial markets remain competitive and maintaining the trust in the markets.
Eric Tong
President
