Accountancy bodies should tap niche areas - Wahid

PUTRAJAYA, 2 Jun -- Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar pada sidang media hari ini sebelum menamatkan perkhidmatan selaku Menteri itu pada 4 Jun ini. --fotoBERNAMA (2016 HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA

KUALA LUMPUR: 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.

Permodalaan Nasional Bhd (PNB) group chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, who is also a chartered accountant, said this included 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 on Friday.

Abdul Wahid said MICPA, being a Malaysian professional accounting body, had been showing the way in helping develop and strengthen the profession through its MICPA and Chartered Accountants Australia and 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 bumiputra participation in the accountancy profession as it was still low, given that MICPA has only 9,473 members or below 30% of the total number within the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

The MIA is the national accountancy body of Malaysia with 32,000 members, of whom 51% are female, and 46% the below the age of 40.

Of that, only 1,612 or 8% of bumiputras are professionally qualified accountants.

Abdul Wahid said among the Government’s efforts at increasing the number of bumiputra professionals was the establishment of the Malaysia Professional Accountancy Centre (MyPAC) and International Professional Accountancy Centre (IPAC) in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

“At present, about 1,140 students under MyPAC and IPAC, are pursuing professional qualifications,” he added. - Bernama