The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) held a press conference on November 14 in Mumbai to share the insights about the 21st World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) being hosted from November 18-21, 2022, on the theme "Building Trust Enabling Sustainability" at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.
The WCOA 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 of professional Accountants that is organised under the aegis of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the global organization for the accountancy profession. It’s a matter of great pride not only for the accounting profession in India but also for the entire country, as the World Congress will be happening in India for the first time in the 118 years of its existence.
CA. (Dr) Debashis Mitra, President, ICAI addressed the media at ICAI Bhawan, Mumbai and shared the details about the preparations being made regarding the 21st World Congress of Accountants 2022. He said “The focus area of WCOA is centred around Sustainability and ICAI is making all efforts to make it a Carbon-Neutral event. With around 8,000 tonnes of carbon credits, WCOA 2022 aims to build a carbon neutral conference. There will also be a great deal of tech innovation at the conference with 3 robots deployed to welcome guests, coordinate sessions and much more.”
President, ICAI further added, “This is the first-of-its-kind Congress, with the highest number of participants in WCOA history. More than 9000 global think tanks (Professional Accountants, Economists, Global CEOs/CFOs, Academicians, Industry Leaders, Visionaries, and Delegates) from over 100 countries would attend the conference.”
The event will have 35+ insightful sessions addressed by galaxy of speakers and students and people from the profession can watch it virtually. Also, there will be a sessions addressed to robots, he said.
This WCOA will provide once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from more than 150+ global thought leaders and get priceless insights on emerging avenues, global practices, current and future paradigm of profession stressing on the need of protecting the Public interest and responsibility towards a sustainable World.
With registrations pouring in from across the world, WCOA 2022 in India has seen the highest number of registrations so far. There are delegates from cities across the world including France, UK and also Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka to name a few.
CA. (Dr.) Debashis Mitra, President, ICAI also addressed various developments at ICAI which will help strengthen the accountancy profession in India. He highlighted that ICAI is the 2nd largest accounting body in the world with 8 lakh students of which 44% are women. ICAI has 32 elected Council Members and 8 Government Nominees across 5 Regional Councils and 166 branches all over India. ICAI is also present in 77 cities worldwide and has 44 Overseas Chapters and 33 Representative Offices.
CA. Aniket Talati, Vice-President, ICAI also addressed the Press Conference and highlighted on the theme of the 21st WCOA and said “The WCOA, Olympics of Accountants is based on the theme “Building Trust, Enabling Sustainability” and has been developed keeping in mind the continuous engagement and role of the accountancy profession in building trust to support communities and businesses & to build the sustainable, resilient economies that we need for the future. Thereby the focus of the WCOA shall dwell upon professional enrichment in contemporary and emerging areas. This event is a celebration for India for its step towards becoming the accounting hub of the world.”
The 4 - Day event will have 35+ insightful sessions addressed by galaxy of speakers like :
Om Birla, Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha
CA. Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles
Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Minister of State for Finance
Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Girish Chandra Murmu, Comptroller & Auditor General of India
Kesavan Srinivasan, Deputy C&AG and Chairman of the Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board
CA. Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister
Padma Bharat Goenka, Co-founder and Vice Chairperson, Tally Solutions
Injeti Srinivas, Chairman, IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority)
Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
Harish Salve, Former Solicitor General of India
Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & MD, Reliance Industries Ltd.
Dinesh Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India
Deepak Parekh, Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation Mumbai
CA. Dilip B. Desai, Founder & Chairman, DHC International
Sanjeev Mehta, CEO & MD, HUL
Hitendra Dave, CEO, HSBC India
Sridhar Vembu, CEO, Zoho Corporation
Anupam Kher, Indian Film Actor
Yogrishi Swami Ramdev, Eminent Yoga Guru & Founder, Patanjali Ayurved Limited
CA. Sunil H. Talati, Chairman, Services Export Promotion Council
Deepak Bagla, MD & CEO, Invest India
Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, Director, Hamriyah Free Zone Authority, UAE
CA. V. G. Narayanan, Professor, Harvard Business School
Alan Johnson, President, IFAC (International Federation of Accountants)
Ian Carruthers, Chair, International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB)
Tom Seidenstein, Chair, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)
Ms. Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, Chair, International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA)
