- Speaker panel designed to make international expertise accessible to Bahrain’s exciting growth story
- Nearly 350 delegates from diverse industry sectors to attend annual conference
Former Indian cabinet minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sherpa for the G7 and G20 summits, CA Suresh Prabhu, also a chartered accountant, will be one of the lead speakers at the upcoming international conference of the Bahrain Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (BCICAI). Mr. Prabhu has held several cabinet ranks in his political career spanning over two decades, which include Commerce & Industry, Power, Railways, Civil Aviation, Environment and Forest. Mr. Prabhu will address the topic of disruption and growth at the annual conference to be held on November 29 and 30, built around the theme, ‘Disruption, A Catalyst for Growth’.
At a press conference held 18th November 2019, BCICAI Chairperson CA Maheshkumar Narayan announced that over 350 delegates are expected to participate in this conference. This conference will explore the technological changes and workplace structural progress that have disrupted old ways of working and living lifestyle. The quest of the conference is to tap into disruption as a means for growth. Held under the patronage of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, H.E. Zayed R. Al Zayani, the conference will be held at the Diplomat Radisson Hotel, Manama
CA Maheshkumar said “Chartered accountants are increasingly seen globally as harbingers of change management in large establishments, companies and also in government policy-making. We seek to create a platform to share ideas and update our members and delegates about how they can stay ahead of the curve in professional developments that are shaping their workplace and also their lifestyle in these annual conferences. This year, 2019 is our 11th consecutive annual conference, which was started in 2008.”
BAHRAIN PERSPECTIVE
With the BCICAI strongly affiliated to the Bahrain Accountants Association, CA Maheshkumar said, the event has been designed to make international expertise accessible to Bahrain’s growth story. He said that the group is keen to reach out to Bahraini business leaders and intellectuals too.
“Particularly relevant to Bahrain, where the leadership is actively encouraging a start-up culture, will be the talk of Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of Axilor Ventures, a company supporting and funding startups. Also, given Bahrain’s fast-growing restaurant and food truck industry, delegates will find a very relevant story of Venkatesh Iyer, founder of a Rs. 3.5 billion (50 Million Dollar) turnover franchise operation, that transformed the humble street food favorite of Mumbai into a food industry star.” added CA Maheshkumar
The BCICAI Annual Conference will be attended by the Who’s Who of the Indian accounting fraternity in the region. This event also attracts CEOs, CFO and Chartered Accountants who have made their mark as entrepreneurs and have business lessons to share.
The line-up of speakers this year will discuss a wide-ranging list of thought-provoking topics. They include A-listers who helped to change society, their community and the world by being unafraid to manage growth through disruption. From the powerful parent body in India, the conference is expected to see the presence of the ICAI President CA Prafulla Chhajed and ICAI Vice-President CA Atul Gupta, addressing delegates and putting professional changes in perspective.
Bipin Shete, Regional Partner Advisory BDO, Lyth Al-Khazrage, Head of Governance & Assurance Digital Hub, KPMG, HE Abdulnabi Al Sho’ala, erudite scholar, Founder and advisor to the Board of AlFanar Investment Holding Co. B.S.C. © and Mr. Khalid Saad, CEO, Bahrain Fintech Bay will add regional depth to the speaker panel.
Event will feature best-selling authors Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai (author of ‘Corporate Chanakya’ & ‘Chanakya and the Art of Getting Rich’) and life coach Shalini Kamath who has written ‘Breakthrough: Secrets of growth, happiness, success and bounce backs’.
Other star speakers will include current Chairman of Manipal Global Education, a Padma Shri Awardee, educationist and thinker CA Mohandas Pai. Star feature includes Academy and Oscar winner Resul Pookutty who will share how disruption helped him to succeed.
SPONSOR SUPPORT
Annual Sponsors are UAE Exchange & Tally. Title sponsors for the event are GFH Financial Group and Al Hilal Life BSC(c) ©. Event sponsors for the conference include top accounting and consultancy firms, KPMG, BDO, Grant Thornton, MMJS VATeGenie and leading real estate developer Diyar Al Muharraq. ICT sponsors are Kalaam Telecom. Day sponsors are Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company, Trafco Group and Automotive Sponsor is Ebrahim K. Kanoo B.S.C (C).
“Delegates include key decision-makers, C-level executives, entrepreneurs, finance and investment professionals representing various work sectors like insurance, banking, retail, manufacturing, advisory, real estate and technology. They will be a witness to participative discussions on significant developments and trends, which has disrupted the status quo and how these factors have in turn become a Catalyst for Growth” said Vice-Chairperson of BCICAI, CA Sandeep Shah.
