The World Congress of Accountants - Day 4 continued post lunch to invite many more dignitaries to address sessions that sprung insights into integration of mindset for investment solutions in international countries, sustainability, positive thinking, cyber security and many more.

The afternoon started with an address by Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance, about the trust industry in accountancy. He said “Over the past years I have seen the world face crisis, amidst this, Accountants have acted as enablers, problem solvers, changemakers and are a resilient force for every business across the world. I applaud each one of you for your contribution during the pandemic. Accountants have always held a position of trust in the entire value chain. I believe trust is going to be a currency of all human beliefs and relationship especially in business, in the coming decades. When it comes to sustainability it is about embracing the 3P’s – people, planet and profits and it is essential to establish a culture of sustainability and the ones to drive this effort are the ones who know about every aspect of the business such as yourselves.”

Following this encouraging address, the event moved on to a session on how to ‘Transform your life with positive thinking’ . World-renowned Bollywood actor and motivational speaker, Mr. Anupam Kher who taking experiences from his life and teachings from his ancestors gave us a powerful message “Positive thinking comes with dreaming, a dream to achieve something, to reach somewhere, and to reach success. Every man’s success is a summation of positive thinking. Along with that one must approach every problem with optimism and at the end of this, positive thinking needs to be backed by major hard work done with honesty. In the last 50 years I have earned and lost a lot of money but I have never been dishonest and that is because of my Chartered Accountant, who has taught me how to stay honest.”

The event was concluded with a closing ceremony honored with the presence of Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ms. Asmaa Resmouki Incoming President, IFAC, CA. (Dr.) Debashis Mitra, President, ICAI, CA. Aniket S. Talati, Vice- President, ICAI and CA. (Dr.) Jai Kumar Batra, Secretary, ICAI.

Ms. Asmaa Resmouki Incoming President, IFAC expressed “I’m very honoured to be a part of the WCOA in India and am delighted to see the arrayed sessions that have been held in the past 4 days. Our profession overall should be a home for people with purpose. The next WCOA’s destination is yet to be decided but will be decided shortly.”

Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra addressed the audience “I am honored to be a part of this gathering. As politicians we are either on the right side or the left side but Accountants are always on the centre of the balance sheet. You as Accountants are the ambassadors of the business community. Today India is moving towards a stronger infrastructure pioneering 6G in our speed of data which will put India one step further than the rest of the world. It’s an exciting time to invest in India because we in India boasts of having Accountants and Auditors of bright minds, best human resource, and transparency. I congratulate you all today for making this happen. You have built a trust in the country which has created a tax compliant society, a society that asks their CAs to plan their taxes and not evade their taxes. Therefore, today in GST numbers are at an all-time high. Only those economies and countries have progressed who have the best of Accountants.”

Quoting Honourable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, Mr. Fadnavis says “The signature of a Chartered Accountant on your document is more important than the signature of the Prime Minister of the country.”

CA. (Dr.) Debashis Mitra, President, ICAI, appreciated Shri Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and recalled his key contribution to the organisation of WCOA ’22 in the form of swift permissions and unending support and encouragement.

CA. Aniket Sunil Talati, Vice-President, ICAI thanked Shri Fadnavis for sparing his precious time to be amidst us. He thanked the president of ICAI for dynamic leadership through this event and he thanked the Secretary of ICAI for his tremendous effort in putting WCOA’ 22 together. In his parting words he addressed all the foreign delegates with the sentiment of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ saying “I thank all the foreign delegates, speakers, and attendees for joining us physically and virtually. There were many sessions that we had planned for this event but we had to make sure to adhere to the ones which matched the international expectations and we hope that all of you had a comfortable and thrilling experience. Thank you.”

And with a cultural programme celebrating ‘Unity in Diversity’ brought the 4-day Olympics of Accountants in India came to an end.

About ICAI -

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, viz. The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (Act No. XXXVIII of 1949) for regulating the profession of Chartered Accountancy in the country. The ICAI is the one of the premier accountancy bodies of the world, with a strong tradition of service to the Indian economy in public interest.

About WCOA -

The World Congress of Accountants is held once every four years and is popularly known as the "Olympics of Accountancy Profession". It is one of the most prestigious global events for Professional Accountants that is organized under the aegis of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the global organization for the accountancy profession. It is a matter of great pride not only for the accounting profession in India but also for the entire country, as the World Congress is happening in India for the first time in 118 years of its existence on the theme “Building Trust Enabling Sustainability.”