Amsterdam was the perfect choice for the 12 th AGN World Congress, not only for its perfect location in Europe , but also because it has one of the largest historical city centres in Europe and it is both a financial and cultural centre in the Netherlands.

On Sunday 30 th of September, a city tour was organised specially for the attendees, which gave them the opportunity to enjoy a guided sightseeing tour of the city in coaches and then by boat along the famous canals. Even Dutch members were surprised at the amount of anecdotes about Amsterdam that were told!

In the evening the Welcome Cocktail was celebrated, that hosted over 140 attendees (delegates and companions).

Nicholas Blake Chief Executive

The Welcome Cocktail and the upcoming conferences were celebrated in one of the most unique conference sites in the Netherlands: the 17th century domed Renaissance Koepelchurch that still has one of the largest church organs in Europe. The Conferences started on Monday 1 st of October with a diverse range of subject matter, in particular, the Welcome to the Netherlands by the 2 AGN Dutch member firms (AGN Daamen & van Sluis and Rietveld Rosenberg Otten) and other presentations by external guests:

the Introduction to the Netherlands and it’s place in the World Economy (presented by the Economic expert Mr. S van Wijnbergen), Litigation challenges facing the profession (presented by Mr. V Knopp, from FirstCity Partnership in London) and a very special guest, Peter Faber, a famous Dutch actor that captivated delegates attention with his performance of “Defending the Caveman”. AGN corporate matters were also debated during the day. The next day AGN delegates experienced a long session about Leadership versus Management, lead by Chris Garratt and Olger Draijer, from Leadership Solutions Europe). Members had real fun trying to win different “games” they were asked to do, always on a team basis reinforcing the leadership and team work concepts.

At the end of the conference, the Chair of AGN International, Dr. Horst Schaffer, introduced the new International Chair: Ms. Esther Tan , chair of the ASIA & PACIFIC region. Esther holds many years of experience as Chartered Accountant. She was qualified as Chartered Accountant in the UK started her practice in 1984. She is now a partner of GEP Associates, an audit / assurance firm located in Malaysia with some 90 qualified staff. Esther is member of several institutes such as the Malaysian Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Malaysian Institute of Public Accountants, and she is also fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Institute of Taxation .

Esther Tan Chair of AGN INTERNATIONAL

Companions had a 2 day guided tour of Amsterdam and its surroundings.

The closure of the Congress was celebrated with a gala dinner in the Garden centre of Arendshoeve, a magnificent and original place to celebrate the end of the conference.

AGN will be celebrating the 2008 World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.