CFO Club Indonesia: Achieve Opportunities Amid Uncertainty

Photo: Special

JAKARTA - The year 2024 presents new challenges for Finance Directors (Chief Financial Officer) around the world. The role of CFO is no longer just managing the company's finances, but also has to adapt to rapid global economic changes, technological innovations, and increasingly complex regulations.

CFO is also expected to be able to lead the company's financial transformation and ensure sustainability and business growth amid uncertainty. Global economic uncertainty is one of the biggest challenges for CFO this year.

A number of factors, such as high interest rate trends, currency exchange rate fluctuations and commodity prices, changes in international trade policy, and geopolitical tensions can have a significant impact on the company's financial stability. For this reason, CFO needs to have an appropriate and responsive strategy in managing these risks, including diversification of business portfolios and careful risk management.

In the midst of uncertain market conditions, effective liquidity management is certainly very crucial. CFO must ensure that the company has enough cash to support daily operations and deal with emergency situations.

In addition, access to capital is also a challenge in itself, especially for companies that want to develop and expand. Therefore, CFO needs to establish a strong relationship with financial institutions and capital markets to obtain the necessary funding at an efficient cost.

In the 5th year of its establishment, CFO Club Indonesia held a 5th Year Anniversary event in the form of talk shows: Becoming a Public Company: Understanding The Market and IR Best Practices with Mylene Kok speakers, Executive Director of JP Morgan and Mrs. Listyorini Dian Pratiwi, Head of Listed Company Development Division from the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The event will be opened with a keynote speech by Mr. Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, Deputy Minister of SOEs.

Along with the event, CFO Club Indonesia held a General Member Meeting, including the replacement of the Indonesian CFO Club management. Yuanita Rohali, Finance Director (CFO) of PT Petromine Energy Trading was appointed President of CFO Club Indonesia replacing Dasrul Chaniago who has led the CFO Club Indonesia since 2019.

In the new management arrangement, the position of Secretary General is occupied by Alvin Christian, Director of Finance Indonesia Healthcare Corporation (IHC) and the position of Treasurer is occupied by Hendry, Managing Partner of KAP Hendry, Ferdy & Partner.

In his speech, Yuanita Rohali said that Club Indonesia's CFO has an important role in encouraging the birth of CFO which not only has strong financial expertise, but also leadership capabilities that are able to direct the company through change and uncertainty. In facing the future, adaptive, innovative, and visionary CFO will be the key to the company's success in achieving opportunities amidst uncertainty.

"At the same time, technological innovation cannot be separated from today's business world. The rapid development of technology, especially in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and automation, offers both opportunities as well as challenges for CFO. The use of this technology can improve operational efficiency and provide more insight through sophisticated data analysis," explained Yuanita.

However, he continued, CFO must also overcome challenges related to the integration of new technology, data security, and work culture changes. The ability to lead digital transformation is also the key to success.

"For this reason, we at CFO Club Indonesia have collaborated a lot with several technology companies to conduct workshops, training, business collaborations aimed at increasing the knowledge and capabilities of CFOs in the field of digital technology," continued Yuanita Rohali in an interview with the media crew in the middle of the 5th Year Anniversary CFO Club Indonesia event.

Next, the Secretary General of CFO Club Indonesia, Alvin Christian added that an increasingly complex regulatory environment is also a challenge for CFO. The company must comply with various new regulations related to financial reporting, taxes, the environment, and social responsibility.

"CFO is then required to ensure that the company has adequate systems and processes to comply with all these regulations, as well as establish effective communication with stakeholders. Failure to comply with regulations can result in significant fines and reputation for companies that have been tarnished. We at CFO Club Indonesia have a Regulatory & Accounting Standard department which regularly updates our members about the following new regulations to hold discussions and seminars on this matter," he explained.