ICAEW AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES INCREASE COHORT OF BUMIPUTERA CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

ICAEW and several government agencies are working together to increase the number of bumiputera professional accountants in Malaysia. This was highlighted at the ICAEW graduation ceremony by YB Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Bin Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department at JW Marriott KL on Thursday. ICAEW, a world leader of the accounting and finance profession, celebrated excellence of their newly qualified ICAEW Chartered Accountants in Malaysia.

The ceremony saw 143 exceptional students being awarded certificates from Mr. Andrew Ratcliffe, ICAEW President, for completing the internationally recognised ICAEW chartered accountancy qualification, the ACA.

The ICAEW Chartered Accountant qualification, the ACA, is one of the most advanced learning and professional development programmes. It is valued around the world in business, practice and the public sector.

The successful candidates came from a range of educational backgrounds, with 57 per cent school leavers, 41 per centgraduates and two percent holding other qualifications. ICAEW has trained 383 Malaysian ACA graduates since its inception in 2011.

YB Senator Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Bin Omar noted in his keynote address said: “For many years, ICAEW has supported the accounting industry in Malaysia, by training professionals  to the highest standards. ICAEW has effectively widened Malaysia’s talent pool of qualified accountants and has been the backbone of support for indiviuals who have entered the profession.”

“Together with ICAEW and other professional accounting bodies, we hope to help Malaysia advance closer towards its ambition of gaining 60,000 qualified accountants by 2020; they will lead businesses and contribute to economic development of the country.”

The government aims to increase the number of Bumiputera accountants as  they currently represent just eight percent of the total 32,000 accountants in Malaysia.

ICAEW has been working closely with the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), who has taken the lead with other government agencies such as Peneraju, MyPAC and TalentCorp, to identify calibre students qualified for financial help.

In addition, ICAEW is recognised by EPU as one of the professional accounting bodies to assist Bumiputera students to establish a professional accounting career under the Peneraju Profesional Akauntan Muda (PPAM) programme. This is thanks to the high quality standards demonstrated by ICAEW.

Mr. Andrew Ratcliffe, ICAEW President, in his speech said: “Gaining the qualification means the first step towards a rewarding career as chartered accountant, and also stands for the highest professional, technical and ethical standards.Through our Royal Charter, ICAEW has taken on the responsibility to act in the public interest and our members embody that by acting in accordance with our code of ethics, by keeping their knowledge up to date, and providing informed advice and support to business.”

At present, ICAEW is offering the ACA qualification at over 100 Authorised Training Employers (ATEs). These include BDO, Boustead Holdings Berhad, CIMB Group Sdn Bhd, Deloitte, EY, GHL Berhad, Genting Malaysia, Hong Long Group, HL Wong, KPMG, Khazanah, PwC, Petronas, SJ Grant Thornton, Sime Darby Berhad and Sunway Group.

These prestigious ATEs offer training agreements and job placements which expose students to workforce environment, thus increasing their employability.

ICAEW has chosen Malaysia as the location for its ASEAN Centre of Accountancy to train fellow accounting and finance students from the region. In collaboration with TalentCorp, it has 34 international ICAEW students at participating ATEs and more intake, year-on-year is expected.