The
69th AFA Council Meeting, hosted
by the Institute of Certified Accountants and
Auditors of Thailand (ICAAT), was held at Udon
Thani, a province in the northeastern part of
Thailand from 26 to 28 October 2000. It was
attended by representatives from Singapore,
Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,
Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and two observer
countries. Lao P D R and Mongolia.
At the
meeting, Lao Accounting Institute was admitted
as a primary member of AFA while the Mongolian
Institute of Certified Public Accountants ((MonICPA)
and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA), UK were admitted as associate members.
The issue of looking for more international
associations as associate members was raised
at the meeting.
Matters
discussed at the meeting included the issue
of liberalization of accounting profession i.e.
auditing, accounting and bookkeeping. This was
one of the subjects raised at the last meeting
of the ASEAN Co-ordinating Committee on Services
(CCS) and CCS would like feedback from AFA on
this issue. Ms. Chutima Bunyapraphasara, head
of the Thai delegation at the last CCS meeting
was kind enough to fly from Bangkok to Udon
Thani to brief the AFA meeting.
To
welcome the AFA delegates, ICAAT organized a
1-day sightseeing trip to Vientianne, Laos P
D R to visit the country's accounting body and
hosted a dinner on October 27.
As we wrap
up the year 2000, I would like to thank all
the member bodies for their support during the
year for AFA's initiatives, activities and programmes.
I look forward to your continued support in
the coming year.
There
are many things that we can look forward to
in the new year. One of the firsts that comes
to mind is the 12th AFA Conference
which will be hosted by the Institute of Certified
Public Accountants of Singapore next year. The
AFA Conference is an important event on AFA's
calendar of activities. Over the years, the
AFA Conference has enabled numerous Asean accountants
to, among others, gain valuable insight into
issues concerning the accountancy profession
in the Asean region, acquire new knowledge and
expand their network of business contact.
We
are in the midst of planning and preparing for
the 12th Conference. We will spare
no effort in making this Conference an excellent
learning opportunity and a pleasant cultural
exchange for the participants. I hope to see
strong participation from our member bodies
at the Conference.
Before
I conclude, I would like to take this opportunity
to thank all the correspondents of The AFA Connection
for keeping us up-to-date on developments in
their accountancy organizations during the year.
I look forward to receiving your contributions
in the new year.
Finally,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and
all!
Tan Boen
Eng
