Global financial issues and the economic outlook for Asia and Viet Nam will top the agenda of the 48th annual CFO World Congress to be held for the first time in Viet Nam next month.

More than 500 business leaders, chief financial officers (CFOs), financial directors and other finance executives are expected to take part in the meeting in HCM City from November 14-16.

Themed ’Transforming Finance in the Digital Age’, the congress is a platform for speakers to share expertise, assimilate new information, and delve into the future of the finance profession.

The congress will focus on policy considerations driving or hindering global and Asian growth, and the transformative potential of digital technologies.

Speaking at a press conference held in HCM City yesterday, Nguyen Ngoc Bach, chairman of CFO Viet Nam, said that digital technologies were affording finance professionals extraordinary competitive advantages while allowing them to manage risk much more proactively.

“There is no escaping the fact that today’s extraordinary digital revolution is impacting finance, and that the pace of change is accelerating at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “Looking at the contemporary economic themes, we must mention a moment of uncertainty being felt globally, caused by the effect of political problems on manufacturing activities, international trade and currency valuations.”

Bach noted that Vietnamese companies must improve financial and corporate governance to enhance their competitiveness.

To assist in that effort, the Viet Nam Association of Corporate Directors has set up the Viet Nam Chief Financial Officers Club to create a force of highly professional CFOs and financial executives who follow international rules and practices.

Topics of discussion at the congress will include critical policy, regulatory and business issues facing financial executives and business leaders in the digital age.

Cybersecurity, blockchain technology, analytics and artificial intelligence will also be discussed.

The congress is organised by the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes (IAFEI), a private nonprofit and non-political group, in collaboration with CFO Viet Nam and the Japan Association for Chief Financial Officers.

Founded in 1969, the IAFEI has 21 member institutes in the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with a total membership of more than 20,000 financial executives.

Launched in 2000, the Japan Association for Chief Financial Officers supports the training and nurturing of Japanese-style CFOs. — VNS