ACCA Pakistan gives scholarship certificate to Syeda Arooba Zaidi at ACCA Scholarship announcement ceremony.

ACCA’s Foundation Diploma awarded equivalence to HSSC Commerce in Pakistan

The news that it has become the first international professional accountancy body to have its entry level qualification officially recognised as being equivalent to a Higher Secondary School certificate has been welcomed by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

In a notification issued on 24th February 2015, Inter Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) has announced that ACCA’s Foundation Diploma in Accountancy is now equivalent to Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) Commerce group of Pakistan.

Following this announcement, the graduates of the ACCA Foundation Diploma, passed out of 2014 and onwards, will only be required to pass three additional examinations of Business Mathematics, Statistics and Principles of Economics from Board of Technical Education and concerned Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (in case of Baluchistan), after which they will become eligible to claim the intermediate equivalence certificate from IBCC.

Sajjeed Aslam, Head of ACCA Pakistan said: “We are delighted to have become the first international professional accounting body to have achieved IBCC equivalence on its foundation level qualification. We extend our thanks and appreciation to Mohammad Ramzan Achakzai, Secretary IBCC, all members of IBCC Forum and IBCC equivalence committee in providing their support during its rigorous and meritocratic process of evaluation and in awarding the equivalence to ACCA for its Foundation Diploma qualification.

ACCA works hard to ensure that its qualifications meet the needs of employers and that its students are ready for the world of work and the fact that it has passed IBCC’s rigorous assessment means that young people who pursue the course can be assured they will have a valuable and recognised qualification to their name.”   

Rehan Uddin, Head of Education, MENASA comments: “This recognition provides a huge opportunity to the youth of Pakistan with Secondary School Certificate / matriculation or GCE O level certificate, to start their career in accountancy, finance and management at an early age and build a strong foundation. These students will be able to pursue the ACCA Qualification, which itself is officially benchmarked as being equivalent to the UK Master’s Degree, after completing their Foundation Diploma and obtaining the HSSC Commerce certificate.”

Warid appoints Farid Ahmad as Chief Strategy Officer

Warid Telecom announced today the appointment of its new Chief Strategy Officer, Mr. Farid Ahmad. Farid will be primarily responsible for overall Corporate Strategy, Pricing & Segments, Business Intelligence & Analysis, International Business and New Business Revenue Streams/Projects.

Farid has experience spanning over 20 years in telecom, IT and fertilizer companies. He was associated with Mobilink for over 10 years and his last assignment with Mobilink was as VP Business Analysis & Planning. During his association with Mobilink, Farid served the organization in various roles such as VP Marketing, Head of Business Analysis & Planning and Head of Marketing Strategy & Planning.

Prior to joining Warid, Farid was serving Telenor in the capacity of Director Marketing. He is an MBA gold medalist from LUMS and he has done his Bachelors in Engineering from UET, Lahore.

WARID TELECOM AND ERICSSON EXTEND MANAGED SERVICES AGREEMENT FOR THREE YEARS

Signing the contract (Sitting from right) Mr. Adeel Bajwa, Chairman Board Executive Committee, Warid Telecom with  Victoria Strand, President Ericsson GCC and Pakistan. Standing at the back Ms.Rafiah Ibrahim, President Ericsson Region Middle East with other senior  Warid Telecom & Ericsson Official’s.

Three-year deal includesefficient management of Warid Telecom’s 2G and LTE network

This new phase will include additional benefits including field services efficiency as well as first and second line support

Partnership will ensure superior network performance and an optimised seamless end-user experience

Lahore: 12^th March, 2015: Warid Telecom&Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)have announced,during the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, a three-year renewal of their managed services partnership. As a result, Warid Telecom will have access to a number of additional benefits, including enhanced network performance, an optimisedseamless user experience, field service efficiency, as well as first line and second line support.

Mr. Adeel Bajwa, Chairman Board Executive Committee, Warid Telecom while commenting on the agreement said“Given our ten year long history with Ericsson, the company is well placed to understand Warid’s needs and growth requirements. Warid successfully launched its LTE services commercially in Pakistan end of last year and continued to provide high quality telecom services to the customers enabled by spectrum re-farming with Ericsson. A recent industry report declared Warid the best in terms of customer experience and the quality of service once again. Our prime focus for 2015 is to further our commitment to excellence. As our technology partner, Ericsson is also working to expand our network coverage and capacity for both GSM and LTE services nationwide which will help us achieve our goals.”

Rafiah Ibrahim, President Ericsson, Region Middle East and East Africa,said “Our longstanding partnership with Warid Telecom achieved significant milestones in the field of managed services throughout the years. Through this extended collaboration, we aim to provide Warid Telecom users with a differentiated network performance and all-encompassing end-user experience which in its turn will help us realize the Networked Society in Pakistan.”

Worth mentioning, Ericsson and Warid Telecom first joined forces in 2005 with signing the first Managed services agreement.

ACCA’s Executive Team Applauds High Achievers and New Members

ACCA Pakistan held a celebratory evening in Royal Palm Golf and Country Club to celebrate the success of new members from 2014 and to recognize the achievement of the position holders from the December 2013 and June 2014 sessions. These were the students who had performed on top of the class in the ACCA and Foundation Diploma papers.

It was the first time that the executive team of ACCA including its Chief Executive Helen Brand; Executive Director Markets, Steve Heathcote; Executive Director Governance, Peter Large; along with Arif Mirza, Regional Head of Policy MENASA, and Head of ACCA Pakistan, Sajeed Aslam participated in ceremony.

The customary ceremony is part of ACCA’s global tradition to welcome their new members and reward the high achievers. Expressing her views at the ceremony, Helen Brand, Chief Executive of ACCA said: “We are very excited to be here and commemorate among the CFOs, Accountants, and Finance Experts of the future. Pakistan is very talent rich when it comes to the finance industry that is on the global rise.”

The high achievers were also awarded and appreciated for their accomplishments by Helen Brand and the highlight of the event was new members donning their ACCA lapel pins proudly at the event.

ACCA signs an MoU with FAST University

The MoU is aimed at furthering collaboration and partnership between the two esteemed organisations to support students pursuing an education in finance and accountancy, and to build capacity in the profession to support Pakistan’s economic growth.

The MoU was inked by Stephen Heathcote, Executive Director-Markets, ACCA and Dr. Anjum Ali, Campus Director, National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences (FAST). Speaking on the occasion, Stephen said; ‘ACCA is very pleased to partner with an esteemed higher education institution such as National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences. The MoU aims to provide future young leaders with professional accounting qualifications that are recognised globally. Students of FAST will also get an opportunity to study ACCA alongside their university degree through ‘ACCA embedded programme.’

“The University has equality, opportunity and social justice at the heart of its vision. We want to provide best-in-class services to our students and partnering with ACCA puts us in the right direction.” Said National University of Computer &Emerging Sciences.

ACCA has awarded the university with seven exemptions for their BS Accounting & Finance students. The ceremony was attended by Stuart Dunlop, Regional Director-MENASA, ACCA, Sajjeed Aslam, Head of ACCA Pakistan, Raymond Jack, Executive Director Finance & Operations, Dr Hamid Hassan, Head of Department, FAST School of Management, Aamer Allaudin FCCA, Assistant Professor, FAST School of Management and other senior representation from the two parties.

ACCA Pakistan and Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan (CCBPL) Co-Host the Corporate Dinner

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited (CCBPL) co-hosted a corporate dinner with the ACCA executive team based on the theme ‘Education to Employment’.

The corporate dinner was aimed to enlighten the prestigious employers and educational institutes about the development plan of ACCA for the students and members through capacity building and greater prosperity by enhancing the finance profession.

At the event, Helen Brand shared that “ACCA is a diverse organisation, and we want to keep it that way. Our members work across the public and non-profit sectors, in public practice and in the corporate sector. They add value across the whole spectrum of business activity”.

Further she added that “Constant consultation with employers is important. We work to ensure the qualifications our members work so hard to attain are respected and valued wherever they may wish to work. We keep up-to-date with your needs through dedicated staff across our markets that develop better links with and support for employers. ACCA being a global professional body is closely aligned with employers’ requirements and aspirations for your businesses”.

Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited (CCBPL)Public Affairs and Communications Director Zafar Abbas Jafri delivered a key note address highlighting CCBPL's contributions to the economy and its extensive community welfare projects. He said, “I take great pride in sharing with you that sustainability is deeply embedded in our business. We have a simple belief that if we cannot help create sustainable communities where we operate, we won’t have a sustainable business. Our focus areas are water, women empowerment and promoting active and healthy lifestyle amongst the youth, education and broader societal development,” he added.

The dinner was attended by Helen Brand, Chief Executive, ACCA; Barrie Jackson, Non-Executive Advisor to the Chief Executive, ACCA; Steve Heathcote, Executive Director-Markets ACCA; Peter Large, Executive Director, ACCA; Raymond Jack, Executive Director Finance & Operations, ACCA;  Stuart Dunlop, Regional Director-MENASA, ACCA, Sajjeed Aslam, Head of ACCA Pakistan and other senior representation from the education and sector and the two organisations.