2009 ICAC Caribbean Conference of Accountants - Guyana

ICAC's 27th Annual Conference of Accountants was held in Georgetown, Guyana over the period June 25-27, 2009 at the Guyana International Conference Centre. The conference was hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG).

The conference theme, Reflection for the Future, drew attention to the urgent need for Caribbean leaders and members of the accountancy profession to critically reflect on the global financial crisis and to formulate strategies to effectively tackle the current challenges and to help rebuild the economic stability of the region.

On Thursday, June 25, 2009 over 300 delegates from the Caribbean, Canada, USA and the UK were formally welcomed to Guyana at the “El Dorado” Welcome Reception held at the Umana Yana, located next to the Pegasus Hotel Guyana.

The official opening ceremony was held on Friday, June 26, 2009 and was attended by Caribbean leaders, accounting and finance professionals from the region and internationally as well as the Presidents of ICAC regional institutes, Affiliate representatives and other special-invited guests.

At the start of the opening ceremony, representatives of Guyana’s scout troop carried the flags of ICAC regional institutes, which were escorted by the Presidents of the respective institutes.

After a full day of presentations and discussions, delegates were invited to relax at the President’s Dinner held at the Princess Buddy’s Hotel while being entertained by cultural performances. During the dinner, Angela Lee Loy formally handed over the baton of leadership to newly-elected ICAC President, Mr. Harryram Parmesar. She thanked the Board of Directors for their support during her tenure as President and pledged her continued support to the newly-elected President and members of the ICAC Board.

The technical session on Saturday, June 27th began with a presentation by Dr. Gobind Ganga, Deputy Governor, Bank of Guyana on Lessons from the Financial Crisis. This was followed by presentations on:

• Modernising Corporate Legislation presented by Kathryn Cearns, Consultant, Herbert Smith LLP & Ethlyn Norton-Coke, Legal Counsel, University of Technology, Jamaica;  and
• Going Green – The Future & Alternative Energy presented by Dr. Indra Haraksingh, Lecturer, University of the West Indies & Roger Adams, Executive Director, Policy, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

During the closing session of the conference, the 28th Annual Caribbean Conference to be held over the period June 17 – 19, 2010 in The Bahamas was officially launched by the 1st Vice-President of BICA, Ronald Knowles.

The conference’s closing address was delivered by outgoing ICAC President, Angela Lee Loy and newly-elected President, Harryram Parmesar, who both thanked delegates and sponsors for their support in making the 27th Annual Caribbean Conference a success.

Immediately following the closing ceremony, delegates were transported to Splashmin’s Fun Park and Resort located along the Linden Highway where they enjoyed the unique landscape of Guyana and competed at a number of sporting activities. The entertainment continued after the Lyme at the resort with an Early Check-in Party at a popular Georgetown night spot - called the Loft.

Opening remarks were delivered by Khalil Alli, President of ICAG and Angela Lee Loy, President of ICAC. This was followed by a presentation by Brendan Murtagh, President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, on The Role of SMEs/SMP in a Global Economy in which he addressed the challenges facing SMEs. His presentation was followed by the opening address delivered by the Hon. Prime Minister of Guyana, Samuel Hinds.

A major highlight during the ceremony was the signing of practice monitoring contracts by The Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean (ICAEC). These institutes have now joined the Institutes of Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago in implementing the ICAC/ACCA regional practice monitoring programme which seeks to improve auditing procedures and quality assurance review systems in the region. The contracts were formally signed by Daniel Ferguson, President of BICA and Frank Myers, President of ICAEC.

Presentations and speakers during the technical session on Friday, June 26, 2009 were:

• The Future Caribbean Economy – H.E. Dr. Compton Bourne, President, Caribbean Development Bank
• IT Governance – Gabriel Vitus, Vice-President, CGA-Canada
• Ethics Issues for Finance Directors – Cassandra Dorrington, President, Vale & Associates
• IFRS Developments – Garfield Reece, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers & David Raggay, Principal, IFRS Consultants
• Money Laundering Developments – Ernesto Lopez, Deputy Director, Caribbean Financial Action Task Force & Felicity Banks, Head of Business Law, ICAEW
• Change Leadership – Barry Eligon, Executive Director & Stacie Forbes, Consultant, Aegis Management Solutions Limited