Indonesian, Malaysian accountants sign MoU

Indonesian, Malaysian accountants sign MoU

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Institute of Accountants (IAI) and the
Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on Friday in a bid to avert challenges
arising from moves to integrate the economies in the Southeast
Asian region.

IAI chairman Ahmadi Hadibroto told a press conference
following the signing ceremony that the agreement was aimed at
creating a standard accounting practice in the two countries
through training, education, seminars and joint research
programs.

"Both institutions will be able to share information and do
joint research. We will also implement education programs and
seminars ... to help improve the quality of our accountants," he
said.

During the recent summit of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), the leaders of the regional grouping adopted a
framework to liberalize and integrate the region's economies by
2020 under the so-called ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

The AEC envisages a single market with a free flow of goods,
capital, skilled labor and services. This means that when the
AEC is realized, accountants from Malaysia can freely work in
Indonesia and vise versa.

The AEC is expected to boost trade and investment activities
in the region.

Ahmadi underlined the importance for accountants in both
countries to have standardized procedures, to later enable the
professionals on facilitating trade and business activities in
both countries when the AEC plan is realized.

Separately, MIA president Datuk Abdul Samad Haji Alias said
that accountants might face serious problems without cooperation
with partners in other countries, regarding the new economic
trend.

However, he stated that bilateral cooperation in the
accounting sector was more feasible than multilateral agreements.

"We are at different stages of development. We can't talk
from the same base. How could we reach an agreement?," said Datuk
Samad.

He divided ASEAN countries into three different levels of
economical progress and "it would be unfair for those less
advanced countries to adopt the same standards."

At the moment, IAI has less than 10,000 members across the
country, while as of February this year, MIA has approximately
18,500 members.