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.