Family-run businesses in the UAE must ensure succession planning for business continuity and encourage second generation members to join the family business, a leading national businessman urged.
"Succession planning is not only important for consumers and the owners, it is crucial for the survival and continuity of the business," Mohammad Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, honorary chairman, Al Fahim Group, told a seminar of the Indian Chartered Accountants in the capital yesterday.
"We want more family members to take over the businesses in coming years, instead of taking up employment in some firm," he said.
Stressing that businesses are important for the UAE economy, Fahim called upon financial controllers and accounting professionals to advise businesses about continuity.
"Continuity matters can be provided for in the articles of association, and owners of businesses must be advised about the significance of such issues," he stated, adding that family businesses must also go public and secure listing on the stock markets.
Earlier, F.C. Kohli, a doyen of the Indian software industry, in his keynote address noted that although India is known wordwide for its software expertise, the level of computerisation in the country is, ironically, extremely low.
"Computers are yet to touch India and we need extensive use of computerisation," he said, adding that IT as an enabler can help solve the myriad societal problems in a vast country like India.
The low level of computerisation in the country is also due to the lack of a computer hardware industry coupled with the lack of software in Indian languages, he felt.
China, a late starter, has forged ahead in achieving a high level of computerisation and a higher penetration of personal computers.
"China wrote a lot of software in Cantonese and Mandarin while India was exporting software to the West. India must focus on developing IT and computerisation in the domestic market," said Kohli, who spearheaded pioneering efforts in creating a globally recognisable brand for the Indian software industry while he was with Tata Consulting Services (TCS), the largest Indian software company.
"While only $3 billion of software is used indigenously, India exports software valued at $12.5 billion now, and this is set to go up further. Going by the efforts underway, there will be enough software in Indian languages for use within the next few years."
