President’s message

September is a busy month for the Institute with a number of high-profile events being held.

This was the first time the Institute organized Members’ Forums, creating a platform to interact with our fellow members and apprise them of the Institute’s latest developments. I, the two Vice-Presidents Johnson Kong and Nelson Lam and the Chief Executive and Registrar, Margaret Chan, greatly appreciated the excellent opportunity to meet with and listen to many of you at the forums.

The forums concluded with tremendous success with around 900 participants, and us spending a fruitful evening to discuss and explore areas that we can better serve you in the future.

We will take on board the issues raised and find ways to help our members to respond to the challenges they are facing and grasp the opportunity in the age of Accounting Plus.

Going forward, we will continue engaging with members and inviting views on the implementation of the Institute’s works and policies to safeguard the profession, and at the same time, promote members’ well-being.

Another major event this month was the annual National Day Dinner Celebration for the Accounting Profession. Jointly organized with the Society of Chinese Accountants and Auditors (SCAA) brought together over 700 accountants, officials from the governments of the Mainland and Hong Kong, business leaders, and other stakeholders in celebration. The event, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, was an enjoyable networking opportunity, and demonstrated the important role Hong Kong accountants play in our business and society.

I had an eventful Saturday in the middle of the month, attending both the annual professional accountants in business (PAIB) conference and the awards ceremony for top Qualification Programme (QP) students and scholarship recipients. These events offered me the opportunity to meet members of two important groups for the Institute.

In my introduction to this year’s PAIB conference on digital and virtual banking, I spoke on how virtual banking was an area of growing importance to Hong Kong’s business landscape, and raised the issue of the regulatory environment and how Accountants Plus have a role to play in its development. I also discussed how the new Professional Development Framework will help PAIBs respond to the challenges they face. Among the speakers were representatives from some of the banks granted digital licenses by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the Deputy Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.

It is important for all of us as accountants, be it in practice or in business, to ensure our skills are up to date and we are aware of important developments which are affecting or will soon affect our work lives. As the majority of our members are in business, the Institute must ensure it is offering training relevant to their needs.

In the afternoon, I then attended the awards ceremony for top QP students and scholarship recipients. These bright young students represent the future of our profession, and I had an enjoyable afternoon celebrating with them. The scholarship recipients will be some of the first candidates sitting the new QP, and I spoke to them about how the programme would ensure they have the skills to succeed when they face their own disruptive challenges, like digital banking for PAIBs.

Finally, as well as the formal events this month, I also took part in the Presidents’ Invitation Cup of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors’ Runderful Pro race held at Science Park. I enjoyed the race, but I enjoyed even more the performance of our three teams, who finished fourth, sixth and eighth, and especially the individual performances of Carman Tam, who finished second overall in the women’s 10 km, Wong Man Piu who finished fourth in his age category, and Lam Kwong Ki who finished sixth in his. Well done to all the racers.

And now we turn to October, with the weather cooling down, the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the Qualification Programme and the AC Fun Run co-organized by the Institute, the SCAA and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants on 3 November to look forward to.