Workshops on Investment Outlook, English Communication and Transfer Pricing
The Association of Certified Public Accountants in Commerce and Industry (ACPACI) held workshops on Investment Outlook, English Communication and Transfer Pricing last May 16, 2013 at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila in Makati City.
Mr. Hans M. Sicat, President of the Philippine Stock Exchange, gave a lecture on the Philippine Economic Outlook during the luncheon meeting. According to him, our country remained to have a stable monetary environment and there was a renewed business confidence in us, hence foreign funds continued to flow in. Additionally, we scored a credit rating upgrade from Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch, and our GDP grew by 6.6% in 2012. With these, the Philippines has been elevated as a key investment destination and has chalked up a list of accolades like “world’s hottest markets”-- CNN Money; “top 20 emerging markets for investors” – Bloomberg Markets Magazines; and “the diamond of the region” – Royal Bank of Scotland.
He also added that the PSE outperformed other select Asian indices like Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand in terms of growth in 2012 and this 2013. Other PSE’s milestones include its increased liquidity, and as of May 15, 2013, the total market capitalization increased by 19.9% from P10.9 Billion in 2012 to P13.1 Billion in 2013. The favorable liquidity could also be attributed to the implementation of the whole day trading up to 3:30 p.m. Prior to this, the trading hours lasted only up to 1:00 pm. Also, PSE registered an all time high when its index closed at 7,392 points also on May 15.
The PSE executive discussed PSE’s vision for the future. He said that they planned to develop new products like the Personal Equity and Retirement Accounts (PERA) - this is the equivalent of US’s 40K plan, Exchange Traded Funds, expanded market data products and index options and futures.
The first technical session that ensued was a light subject, but nevertheless very important to ACPACIans, How’s Your English: The GAAPs of Good English Usage. The speaker was Mr. Fred Damian, Improve-Your-English coach and retired HR and Communication Executive of Punongbayan and Araullo. Mr. Damian gave ACPACI members and guests pointers on how to do a persuasive presentation and on how to electrify the audience. He urged the attentive audience to enjoy the “pleasures of the English language” and to “listen to your writing”. He said that you wield power when you have the “ability to organize and express ideas in writing and speaking,” and he opined that bad writing is not only bad manners, bad writing is bad business.
He suggested to the attendees to read the articles of New York Times columnists Gail Collins and Maureen Dowd, and take note of their writing styles. He also encouraged them to learn from the insights of management guru, Peter Drucker, by reading his article How to be an Employee, an ideal but undelivered college commencement address, written for Fortune Magazine in 1950's. One paragraph in that article was about the ability to express oneself well which is still appropriate today:
As soon as you move one step up from the bottom, your effectiveness depends on your ability to reach others through the written or spoken word. And the further away your job is from manual work, the larger the organization of which you are an employee, the more important it will be that you know how to convey your thoughts in writing or speaking. In the very large organization, whether it is the government, the large business corporation, or the Army, this ability to express oneself is perhaps the most important of all the skills a man or woman can possess.
Mr. Damian ended his presentation with a funny poetry by Peter Meinke entitled An Erotic Poem and a short quiz on the proper usage of the pesky prepositions, which the attendees enjoyed answering.
The last technical session was about Transfer Pricing with Ms. Lina P. Figueroa, Principal, Tax Advisory & Compliance of Punongbayan & Araullo, as the resource speaker. She discussed the complexity of transfer pricing and its impact in intercompany-domestic transactions as well as cross-border transactions; the audience was apprised with the different implementing BIR regulations, new transfer pricing guidelines/ issuances, transfer pricing methods, and actual cases related to the topic, among others.
Each workshop ended with an open forum after the speaker’s lecture and awarding of token of appreciation c/o Ms. Rebecca R. Arago, 2012 ACPACI President. Ms. Liza Glodoviza, Annual National Convention Chairperson, filled in the ACPACIANs and guests about the latest ANC updates. The Convention will be held at Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City on September 19 – 21, 2013. Ms. Gie Guillermo, Director for Meetings, was the session chair during the luncheon meeting, while Mr. Edward Roguel, Director for Professional Development, emceed the two technical sessions.