Message from President, Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan

On behalf of the Institute Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan I would like to thank all the companies who are taking part in this years "Best Corporate and Sustainability Report Awards - 2010", all the members of Joint Committee of ICAP and ICMAP and Members of the Evaluation Committee who have made this ceremony possible once again.
Annual Reports play an important role in today's world. It is not only the usual stake holders ie shareholders, creditors, employees, regulators, investment community who are interested but the society at large is beginning to use Annual Reports as a Report Card of the Company. The reason of existence, it is said now, goes beyond creating value for the shareholders. The critical question remains, is the value being created at the expense of society at large?
A good report is one which disseminates all the information that is needed to be known to the stake holders in a plain and simple manner. One does not need to be qualified accountant to the read the financial statements. The Management Discussion and Analysis should be to the point, objective and contains forward looking statements which the management and the board believes to be true at the time of writing the report. Of course, there would be experts users of the Financial Statements who would put the data and information for professional use but a due and equal emphasis should be towards non-professional users. It is for this reason we value factors such as printing quality graphics, pictures and the reports.
The second area are which needs due consideration is quality of standards and disclosures and regulators compliance. With economic liberalisation and investment flowing through boarders, the financial statements have to be consistent and comparable with international standards. Finally, doing everything quickly is rewarded too. These Awards have been instrumental in improving the quality of financial statements over the years. It is heartening to see now contestants every year which clearly demonstrates the popularity of the awards. My facilitations to the organisers, contestants and evaluators for years event a success as well.