From June 14th through June 16th Integra members from across the world gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel, for our annual June summit. It was a weekend filled with exceptional opportunities for debate and networking, thanks to various internationally-recognized professionals leading sessions on key topics in today’s global landscape. Coming together to discuss and learn from one another’s practices is one of the pillars of being in such an international association as Integra.
The conference opened with remarks by our Global Chairman, Mr. Giuseppe Scibetta, and our EMEIA Regional Board President, Mr. Franz Schweiger. They underscored the growth of Integra in recent years and its strengthening as a true international association. In such a constantly-changing world, Integra aims at being the link that ties all its members together, regardless of geography and native language. Gathering in summits like the Tel Aviv one embodies the spirit of an organization that is connected in sharing relations, knowledge and skills.
As an association, Integra would not mean much without the people that make it. That is why several sessions where dedicated to welcoming new members (e.g. Mr. Cheslav Denissenko, Mrs. Olga Maximova, Mr. Gilles Thiéry) opening the floor to discussions on country-specific business considerations and projects led by the various firms.
This year, the Integra June conference took advantage of the best possible resources offered by its host country, Israel. The Middle Eastern nation, with its thousands of years of history and an incredible booming economy, offered our members the chance to hear from illustrious keynote speakers such as Mr. Shai Babad, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, who delighted our members with stimulating facts about the current financial and economic landscape of Israel and the impact Israeli companies have on the rest of global business landscape.
Moreover, Dr. Nimrod Kozlovski, Partner at the leading International Israeli law firm Herzog, Fox, Neeman (HFN) gave a lecture on tech Regulation and digital technologies, internet and cyber laws, underscoring the importance of cyber-security in a world where increasingly more often international conflict has moved to the cyber world, thus pushing for new technological advancements and legal tools to protect data and conduct business in a safer space.
Accounting is a job that doesn’t only require technical skills, but also some degree of proficiency in managing interpersonal relations to foster stronger business connections. For this reason, our summit also gave the floor to professionals such as Mr. Guy Yariv and Mrs. Dana Whitbrook, who offered interesting takes on themes such as the importance of mastering public speaking and the value of human connections. Building emotional trust among colleagues, partners and clients is often the key to improving the overall business, with higher employee retention, a better reputation and sustained growth – while always offering a superior client experience.
While sessions and business networking was certainly the driving essence of our June conference, Integra could have not ignored the incredible beauties of the country hosting us. Therefore, we made sure to include as many teambuilding and cultural activities as possible, touring Tel Aviv and other historically-rich destinations around Israel.
Indeed, our June conference was a great success in that it proved the strength of our association and the passion for the business sector behind each member’s attendance. We will be looking forward to our next event, the Integra Cross Border Tax Workshop 2018 that will be hosted in New York on September 22nd. More information can be found on our website.
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