ICMA International: Message from Shehzad Ahmed Malik FCMA President, ICMA Pakistan

TEXT: The ‘Best Corporate and Sustainability Report Awards (BCSRA) 2021’ is being organized jointly by ICMA and ICAP in Karachi. It is reassuring that this annual awards ceremony is being arranged physically after a respite of almost two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

ICMA and ICAP as the two pioneer professional accounting bodies of Pakistan have been arranging this annual feature for last many years. Today, these awards are considered as a symbol of pride and honor for the Pakistani corporate sector. They provide useful benchmarks and set guidelines for companies to ensure transparency in preparing annual reports by international best practices.

Both the Institutes deserve acknowledgment and appreciation for the consistent conferment of BCSR Awards which has created healthy competition amongst companies to disclose adequate financial and non-financial information. This has resultantly raised the standards of corporate governance in the country in accordance with the SECP’s Code of Corporate Governance 2012. I hope that they will continue their efforts and bring further improvement to the disclosure requirements.

Sustainability reporting is an essential management tool for enhancing accountability, transparency, and engagement, whereas sustainable development helps in meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet our own needs. I am confident that the level of reliance on Annual Reports will greatly enhance in the future along with the improvement in corporate governance.

It's good to see that every year more and more companies participate in this competition which signifies the importance of these awards. On behalf of ICMA, I would like to congratulate today’s winners of the BCSR Awards and hope that they would continue to excel and perform better by dint of their hard work, commitment, and professionalism. At the same time, I encourage those companies who could not receive awards this year to keep their morale high and endeavor to win next time. Who knows your company win the top award next year.

I would like to thank the members of the ICAP and ICMA Joint Committee and Evaluation Committee for their efforts in making his BCSRA a great success.

In the end, I wish ICMA and ICAP a future full of continued success in all professional pursuits.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022