Khalid Rahman, chief operating officer at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), has been appointed managing director of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), effective 2 January.

Rahman will lead Pakistan’s top gas distribution company. SSGC is listed in the Karachi Stock Exchange and has authorised shares worth PKR10bn ($980,000).

SSGC’s outstanding shares are worth PKR6.7bn, the majority of them, 70%, are in the hands of the government.

Rahman has held several managerial positions within the oil and gas industry in the past.

As well as an ICAP member Rahman is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, like Minister of Finance Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

Corporate governance
In a recent interview prior to his appointment at SSGC, Rahman told The Accountant that one of ICAP’s main focuses is corporate governance.

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"It’s what our country needs: good governance in the corporate environment and in the conduct of the government," he said.
In 2012, the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan revised the Corporate Code of Governance, opening the internal audit function of listed companies to be outsourced to professional services firms.

In 2013 the Public Sector Companies Corporate Governance Rules were also revised. The Rules apply to public sector companies, such as SSGC, which are defined as those being directly or indirectly controlled by the government.

Rahman said there’s still a big gap as far as good governance in public finance management is concerned.

Pakistan has adopted international standards in the private sector, but not the public sector equivalent, known as IPSAS.

"Accrual accounting, transparency, disclosure on debt management; that’s very serious business with a lot of political ramifications and it’s a journey that will take a few decades," Rahman said.

He added: "Our aim is not to cause problems for the government, but we want transparency because everybody should know about the government’s wealth and how it’s being utilised, and what the government is doing, in order to improve the life of the country’s citizens."

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