AP_COM_Pres_1


This article was first published in the April 2020 China edition of Accounting and Business magazine.

The best test for any organisation’s resilience arrives when crisis strikes.

That word, crisis, is over-used and you hear it uttered in connection with relatively trivial trials. Yet there has been nothing trivial about the outbreak of Covid-19 (coronavirus), which has resulted in many deaths all around the world and has disrupted everyday life for millions.

As a Chinese person living in Shanghai, and as the leader of a company employing 3,000 people across China, this has been a cause of acute concern. The welfare of all my staff has been at the front of my mind every waking moment. So too has the welfare of all our members, students and ACCA staff across the region.

I’ve been disappointed to cancel a number of trips around the world that I had planned to make on behalf of ACCA. But life goes on, and I was able to contribute to our new members’ ceremony in February in Dhaka virtually, by recording my speech and sharing it with our friends at the event. We also faced a number of logistical issues with exam sittings in some of the regions that have been most affected by the spread of the virus. I would like to thank all our students for their patience and fortitude as these challenges have been tackled. And I also pay tribute to our staff around the world for the skill and ingenuity they have shown in finding solutions to these problems.

Despite the daily difficulties created by Covid-19, ACCA members and staff have responded superbly – and that fills me with pride as your president. It is easy to lead and work in an organisation when the sun is shining, the road is clear, and the wind is at your back. It is far harder when adversity strikes, and the path ahead is strewn with uncertainty.

As I write this in early March, I am confident whatever happens in the long term, everybody at ACCA – members, students and staff – will continue achieving great results, and supporting each other in every way we can.

Of course, my final message, wherever you are, is to wish you and your families all good health, and to thank you for everything you do, under any and all circumstances.

Jenny Gu FCCA is chief executive officer at Richemont China.