Treasurers proving their worth, celebrating success with their peers.
In the words of the song, ‘there’s nothing a little moonlight can’t do’, or, in our case for the ACTME Annual Dinner and Treasury Awards, the lovely surroundings of the Four Seasons Jumeirah Dubai! For the second year running the ACTME brought together dinner guests from across the regions, treasury and finance communities to celebrate the only treasury awards in the region for treasurers, judged by treasurers.
The ACTME Chair, Matthew Hurn, Executive Director – Finance, Emerging Sectors at Mubadala Development Company, kicked off the evening with a welcome address commenting, ‘I am particularly pleased that this dinner and our awards process are a fixture in the social and business calendar in the region. The past 12 to 18 months in the Middle East have of course seen some volatile economic conditions and I have no doubts that treasurers have had to focus on their risk management skills and we will see that in our winners tonight.’
He was followed by a ‘Fireside Chat’ between ACT Engagement Director Peter Matza and Etihad Airways CFO James Rigney who gave us a light-hearted view of the CFO’s world and the importance of teamwork between the boardroom and the treasury team. Mind you, treasurers need to keep on their toes and keep their teams professional (and professionally qualified), up to date and to show real commitment to growing their organisations. When asked about which figure in history he’d most like to be, James gave us a very amusing tale of his resemblance to…who? Well, you had to be there! A really entertaining 25 minutes (even if I say so myself!)
The dinner and the awards presentations that followed are of course the focus of the evening and our winners (and others nominees who just missed out) all represented the rapidly changing face of contemporary treasury in the region. There’s no doubt the quality is dramatically improving year in, year out! You can find out about all the winners and the whole awards process in the latest edition of the Middle East Treasurer.
Photos of the evening can be found at the ACT Facebook page
