ICMA remains helpful in improving business, industry image.

Byline: KHALIL AHMED

Doing best effort to adopt new technology tools for its education and examination systems

Interview with Mr. Zia ul Mustafa - Chairman, Strategic Board, ICMA

PAGE: Tell me something about yourself and ICMA, please:

Zia ul Mustafa: I currently hold the position of Chairman of the Strategic Board of ICMA International and am also a member of the National Council of ICMA. Before that, I served as the President of the Institute for the period from January 2021 to June 2022 and then voluntarily decided to relinquish the office of Presidentship to assume more significant and strategic roles for the betterment of the Institute.

I may add here that I remained the President of ICMA twice for three-year terms, i.e., 2012-2014 and 2018-2020, and also had the distinction of being the youngest President of the Institute since its inception in 1951.

I also served as the President of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) in 2020 and held the Chairmanship of the SAFA Committee on Governmental and Public Sector Enterprise Accounting.

Presently, I am a member of the SAFA International Committee. SAFA is a regional forum representing over 3,75,000 accountants having membership in the national chartered accountancy and cost and management accountancy institutions in South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

I have had professional exposure for almost twenty-five years in corporate and public sector organizations, i.e., manufacturing, construction, services, banking, and education. Presently, I am serving as the CFO and Business Administrator of Pakistan Expo Centers Private Limited, a corporate entity owned by the Government of Pakistan with a mandate to develop, operate, and promote Expo Centers in major cities in Pakistan. I have been performing duties in this company since its inception in 2005, and as its leading team member, I have played a leading role in developing project feasibility, project financing, project execution, organizational management, and the launch of successful business operations at Expo Centers.

I converted the idea of developing and managing expo centers into reality on a self-sustaining basis. In recognition of my services, I received an award from the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Earlier, I worked with Descon Engineering Ltd. as financial controller for the Mangla Dam Raising Project and Mirani Dam Project and with Rustam Group of Industries as GM of Finance and Administration. I also served as an elected board member of the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG) for three years and as a member of the board of directors of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited with the additional responsibility of Chairman of the Board Audit Committee for three years. Apart from having corporate and professional experience, I have traveled to over 20 countries and enjoy a good reputation as a corporate trainer.

As far as ICMA is concerned, it is a premier professional accounting body established in 1951 and enacted through an Act of Parliament (National...