Malaysia's Accountancy Bodies Told To Tap Niche Areas

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (Bernama) -- In seeking to supply more accountants for the country in future, accountancy bodies should tap the development of specific niche areas, where Malaysia has a strong comparative advantage. Group Chairman of Permodalaan Nasional Bhd (PNB) Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, who is also a chartered accountant, said this includes Islamic finance and business outsourcing, as well as accountancy related services. "This industry has grown tremendously over a short period of time and will continue to grow, provided we are able to supply the talent needed by market players," he added. He was speaking at the 58th anniversary of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) annual dinner, here today. Abdul Wahid said MICPA, being a Malaysian professional accounting body, has been showing the way in helping develop and strengthen the profession through its MICPA and Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (MICPA-CAANZ) programme. The programme serves to amplify the benefits of pursuing a professional accounting programme and draw the interest of more accounting graduates. "The fact that candidates of the MICPA-CAANZ Programme will be able to qualify as both a Certified Public Accountant of Malaysia and Chartered Accountant of Australia and New Zealand, makes this truly advantageous programme to pursue," said Abdul Wahid. He also said there was a need to increase more Bumiputera participation in the accountancy profession as the number of Bumiputera members of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) was still low at 9,473 or below 30 per cent of the total MIA members. The MIA is the national accountancy body of Malaysia with 32,000 members, of whom 51 per cent are female, and 46 per cent the below the age of 40. Of that, only 1,612 or eight per cent of Bumiputeras are professionally qualified accountants. Abdul Wahid said among the government's efforts at increasing the number of Bumiputera(son of the soil)professionals is the establishment of the Malaysia Professional Accountancy Centre (MyPAC) and International Professional Accountancy Centre (IPAC) in collaboration with University Technology MARA (UiTM). "At present, about 1,140 students under MyPAC and IPAC, are pursuing professional qualifications," he added. -- BERNAMA