ISLAMABAD: South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) has announced its new leadership for a period of one year.

According to an announcement of the SAFA, a prominent and well-recognised body of accountants in South Asian Region, has appointed Ashfaq Yousuf Tola of Pakistan as president and Mohammed Humayun Kabir of Bangladesh as vice-president of SAFA.

Mr Ashfaq is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP). He served as the vice president SAFA in 2024. He has been an active member in various committees/task force of SAFA and has significantly contributed to the activities of the federation.

Mr Tola was previously the minister of state and chairman of Pakistan’s Reforms and Resource Mobilisation Commission. He also served as the president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and has been a member of the ICAP’s Council since 2017.

Mohammed Humayun Kabir is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), with over 42 years of professional experience. Currently, he is the chief executive of a leading ceramics tableware manufacturing and exporting company.

South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), a network partner of IFAC, comprises 11 accountancy bodies in South-Asian Region namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Afghanistan.

Bhutan, where no accountancy body exists has been given an observer status. SAFA has undertaken the leadership role in providing a new direction to the accountancy profession within the region and this apex body has over 4,75,000 members affiliated with its member bodies.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is one of the founder members of SAFA and also hosts its permanent secretariat in New Delhi.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2025