Finance Conclave 2017 hosted by Jindal Global Business School with Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), USA

Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) in association with Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), USA hosted its highly-anticipated Finance Conclave 2017 on the 6^th of Febuary. Held at India International Centre, New Delhi, the conclave brought together many luminaries from the world of Finance including CMA Sanjay Gupta, Vice President, ICAI, India, and Dr. Raef Lawson, Vice President, Research and Policy, IMA, USA.

Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Professor and Vice Dean, JGBS, started the inaugural session discussing the changing requirements that organizations place on finance professionals. Later in his welcome address Dr. Tapan Panda, Professor and Dean, JGBS, stressed the importance of developing multi-domain knowledge for today’s managers. “Finance is not a domain independent of marketing. A marketing problem is a function of a finance problem. It should be treated as a business problem,” he added.

Dr. Panda then welcomed the special guests for the conclave to the dais. In his speech, CMA Sanjay Gupta said, “I have seen a change in image of India since Prime Minister Modi stepped in. With a growing IT field, opportunities have expanded.”  In his keynote address, Dr. Raef Lawson added, “Senior financial leaders are increasingly being called upon to apply their analytical and business skills to more strategically-oriented organizational values, increasing the value that they provide to organizations.”

After the inspiring inaugural session, panel discussions with experts followed. ‘Key Competencies and Capacity Building for Creating Future-ready Finance and Management Professionals’ was the topic of the first panel discussion. For this, Dr. Raef Lawson was joined by CMA Rajiv Malhotra, Chairman and MD, RITES, India, Mr. Varun Jain, National Instructor and Miles Professional Education – CPA & CMA Review, and Professor Ravi Agarwal, Vice Dean, JGBS.

Moderated by Dr. Pankaj Gupta, the panel discussed many interesting aspects of the topic. Mr. Varun Jain commented, “There is an increasing need for finance professionals to have a strategic view. Perspective needs to be more holistic.” According to Mr. Rajiv Malhotra, “It’s very important for finance professionals to understand taxation. Taxation is something that will live with you forever,” In addition he stated that the role of finance professionals is to bring money to organizations and handle internal and external relations. Professor Ravi Agarwal concluded the discussion by saying, “We need professionals who are ready for the day after tomorrow – not just tomorrow.”

The first panel gave the audience enough food for thought and raised the bar for the second panel discussion on Union Budget 2017. Dr. Rajesh Chakrabarti, Professor and Executive Vice Dean, JGBS, moderated the session with CA Himanshu Goyal, Chartered Accountant, India, Ms. Pallavi, Global Board Director, IMA, USA, Dr. Amir Ullaj Khan, Aequitas Consulting, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Mr. Subhomoy Bhattacharya, Business Standard on the panel. Together, they shed light on the new Financial Budget and its most significant features.

Dr. Amir Ullaj Khan’s view was, “Despite 4 years of strong advocacy by the government, nothing was done for health and education.” Dr. Brajesh Kumar, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, JGBS, who also offered the Vote of Thanks, claimed, “Sensex and Nifty have given the budget a green light. They have reacted in a positive way. The government is trying to reduce the transactional costs and taxes so that markets grow.” This very relevant topic engaged the audience and participants had many questions around the topic. The interactive session thus turned out to be the perfect finale to a stimulating Finance Conclave.