The Doha Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) organised its 6th International Conference on the theme “Excellence through Innovation” at Hilton Doha in mid-November.
The two-day conference was attended by more than 350 members and other delegates from all over the world.  
Abdulla al-Misnad, Deputy CEO, Qatar Free Zone authority, who was chief guest, briefed about the benefits of the free zone that includes 20 years of corporate tax holidays, no individual income taxes and zero customs duty on imports. Logistics, chemicals and technology are the “focus factors” of the free zones. 
Indian ambassador P Kumaran greeted the members and congratulated Doha chapter for organising such an event and mentioned that Doha Chapter of ICAI has followed the highest standards of professionalism. 
He mentioned that “innovation not only requires ideas but also methods, and this is especially valid when it comes to developing new strategies to face uncertainties.” 
Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman said, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit”. 
He concluded by mentioning that “our future lies in integrity, honesty and excellence, and we all know how excellence can be achieved through innovation.”
Top executives Hassan al-Efrangi (QGIR), Abdulla al-Mawlawi, Qatar Rail and Sheikh Falih Ali al-Thani (Ooredoo) were the other dignitaries present.  
Rajendra Kumar P, ICAI Central Council member, said “innovation is change and the person who works along with change will alone be the winner CAs are trained to adopt the change.”
Chapter chairperson Rukkaiya Pachisa introduced the theme of the conference emphasising that every organisation should challenge every individual to be innovative within their respective spheres of influence. She enumerated chapter’s past activities along with the topics for discussion during the conference.  
“CA Dilip Thakkar Professional Achiever’s Award for the first time was given to two exceptional nominees — Kurian Kuriakose and Ravi Shankar.”
The awardees in their acceptance speech thanked their teachers and families for the constant inspiration and support. 
There was a highly informative and interactive panel discussion on morality, values, integrity and ethics, which was moderated by Rajeswar Sundaresan. The four panellists were Saumya Krishna, director, Deloitte Middle East, Mark Menton, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ali al-Shabibi, partner, KPMG and Julie Dill, ex chief communication officer,  Spectra Energy Corp. 
Marc Bertoneche, former professor, Harvard School, spoke on the “ways to humanise finance”. 
He said “financial innovation is not like technical innovation and as uncertainty is growing, we would be needing more financial innovation and more complex and sophisticated financial products.” 
Shailesh Indapurkar spoke about digital leadership and digital transformation.
Hisham Abu Nabaa, executive director operations Surgery — Sidra Medicine spoke about “Gaining competitive advantage with innovative analytics system.” 
M P Vijay Kumar, council member, ICAI spoke about how CFOs can be the Catalysts of change. 
Dr Ravinder Mamtani, professor, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, spoke on “how we must go about in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, mentally and physically and reverse the disease.”
Major DP Singh, India’s “first blade runner”, spoke about successfully facing challenges in life. 
Gulf Times was a media partner of the event. 
Chapter secretary Nirlep Bhatt welcomed the gathering and vice chairperson Sandeep Chowdhary proposed a vote of thanks.