S VENKATESH

'ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL WITH A PENCHANT FOR SOCIAL SERVICE'

Good Samaritans from across India living in the UAE have time and again come to the aid of their compatriots in times of distress. One such personality is S. Venkatesh who was actively involved in community service and relief activities during the COVID-19 pandemic; together with the Indian Consulate in Dubai, he arranged groceries for the needy, food to labour camps, and medicine to the poor while also coordinating 18 chartered flights to various destinations in India for the repatriation of Indians stranded in the UAE.

He also played a key role in organising stationery for the pandemic affected – the largest such collection within 24 hours, which is a Guinness World record. Another Guinness World record to his credit was the largest donation of legumes in 24 hours. Venkatesh is no ordinary social servant who has plenty of time at his disposal.

As a Founder and Managing Partner of MCA, an audit firm in the UAE that provides multi-disciplinary services such as Audit, Assurance, Taxation, Corporate Services, Corporate Finance, Strategy, Accounting/CFO Services and Transformative Technologies for over 14 years, Venkatesh is a busy man who nevertheless devotes a good part of his time for social service.

He has served both public and private sector clients in the Middle East and globally in areas such as Advisory, Governance, Risk Management, Process improvement, Internal Control Evaluation, Costing Review, Supply Chain Resource Optimization and Fixed Asset Management.

The sectors that he has proven his expertise include FMCG, Oil and Gas, Power, Government, Real Estate, IT/ITES, Life science, Media, Logistics and Healthcare. MCA employs more than 75 professionals from various backgrounds and has 6 licences in the UAE now; it plans to expand to 10 in the coming years.

Venkatesh has more than 27 years’ experience in the UAE market beginning his stint in the country in 1996 at Nestle Middle East FZE. He held various positions in the MNC until 2009 when he floated his own firm MCA with an associate.

Of the many hats he has donned so far, the most notable are as Mentor, AAA Focus group of Indian Business Professional Council; President of Friends of India, UAE, one of the largest Indian community organisations; and Adviser to Smart Life, an NGO working for the upliftment of blue-collar workers.

His organising skills have been tried and tested as Committee member for the Indian Prime Minister’s public reception at Dubai Cricket stadium in 2015 and at Dubai Opera in 2018 and for the first AYUSH conference and Yoga Day celebrations.

He co-founded the Dubai Tamil Family in 1997 and has organised more than 200 events and social programmes so far.

As Chairman of the Dubai Chapter of ICAI, he helped open Information Technology Training labs and additional classrooms among other initiatives for the institute. He is a Governing Council Member of the Gulf chapter of People of Indian Origin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PIOCCI), a trade body.

He is a familiar face at professional forums and international conferences as a guest speaker and also participates in the seminars of large companies and professional bodies.

A Commerce graduate from Dwaraka Doss Goverdhan Doss Vaishnav College in Chennai, Venkatesh was born to Santhanam and Rajam, residents of Arumbakkam, Chennai. After passing CA in 1989, he worked in Hinduja Foundries and HCL before migrating to the UAE in 1996.

His wife Uma is a home maker. His elder daughter Vidyashri is a doctor at Kings hospital London, and the younger one Subhashri is a marketing professional. His only son Sri Vignesh is a finance and accounts graduate currently pursuing his higher education in the UK.