Address by Hon’ble Dr. George Joseph, Ambassador of India to

Address by Hon’ble Dr. George Joseph, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain

Hon’ble Dr. George Joseph, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain, addressed the 287th Council Meeting of the ICAI held on 17th & 18th April 2009.

During his address he recognised that the Institute has been set up even before the country became Republic and appreciated that the chartered accountant fraternity has been significantly contributing in the growth of the Bahrain since last 50 years and the Chartered Accountant are named as first among other professionals who are holding some of the senior positions in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He also apprised the members of the Council about the growth potential of Chartered Accountants in Bahrain and the acceptability of the fact of adaptive nature of Indians to the changing environment. He appreciated the CA community’s role in the development of the Bahrain in multifarious capacities ranging not merely from the auditors but also managing the acquisitions, mergers, IPOs etc, thus assisting in not only doing business but expanding the same too. He further added that the Islamic Banking is one of an important area for chartered accountants in the Bahrain and there is further scope in this respect. He also noted the Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) entered by the ICAI with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales & CPA Australia are significant steps taken by the Institute in global recognition of qualification . He also appreciated the efforts of the Institute in launch of the Accounting Technician Course and added that the course will be very beneficial in creating and sharpening the accounting skills in the country. Dr. George Joseph had interactions with the CA. Uttam Prakash Agarwal, President, ICAI and other Central Council Members on various issues concerning the development of the accounting profession in Bahrain and the significant role which the Institute can play in institutionalisation the accounting profession .

Shri S.S.N. Murthy, Chairman, CBDT while speaking at the 287th Council Meeting appreciated the ICAI’s role as a regulator of accounting & auditing profession. He said that the ICAI in its continuous endeavour to uplift the quality of education and profession has been continuously updating the accounting & auditing standards to the International Level. He appreciated the efforts of ICAI as a Institution of prominence in the global arena to promote the Corporate Governance & professional excellence. He emphasised the role of ICAI as a mediator between the Direct Taxes deptartments and tax payees. He showed the department’s reliance put on the Chartered Accountant Fraternity for certification of various documents submitted by the assessees. He apprised the CA. Uttam Prakash Agarwal, President, ICAI and other Central Council Members regarding the e-governance initiative of the CBDT so as to make it more convenient to the assesses in filing returns . In this aspect he briefed about the e-filing of Tax Audit report. Various other issues such as peer review, annual information return were also discussed.