Last November IFA President Hugh Laing, accompanied by the Chief
Executive, visited Russia to represent the International Association
of Book-keepers, at a forum held in the Kremlin. This was in response
to an invitation from the organising committee of Global experience
and the Russian economy which also incorporated presentation of the
third 'Accountant of the Year' awards.
The forum was attended by nearly 4,000 delegates employed in
businesses of all sizes from all over Russia, generally as accountants
or chief accountants. It included a pre-sentation by Laing setting out
the objectives of the IAB in Russia and of 'Book-keeper of the Year'
awards.
The IAB qualification is being promoted
in Russia by Post Graduate RAA Ltd where Igor Zhuravlev is principal.
At the 'Forum' there was a small
exhibition at which the company had a stand promoting courses leading
to the IAB exam-inations which resulted in many enquiries about the
IAB.
Zhuravlev was enthusiastic about the
possibilities for both the IAB and the IFA in Russia and there were
some frank exchanges of views on how they should be promoted in view
of the problems of working in Russia. Membership of the IAB was not
being promoted in Russia and if it were to be then added value through
membership services was called for. Local offices would need to be
estab-lished, starting with Moscow and St Petersburg to co-ordinate,
organise and arrange member-ship services.
It transpired that the students taking
the IAB examinations were often employed as company accountant or
chief accountant so membership of the IFA was more appropriate for
them. Nevertheless due to the change in the accounting system there
was a need for them to go back to basics, and the IAB offered a good
foundation in International Accounting Standards.
The deputation met Professor Anatoly
Sheremit, President of CIS Association of Accountants and Auditors,
who advises the Russian Government on the Accountancy profession. He
agreed to help gain endorsement of the IAB by the Russian Government
and with the localis-ing of the Business Law and Business Taxation
papers for the IFA examinations.
His colleague Olga Nikolaeva, Principal
Lecturer IAB Programme at Post Graduate RAA Ltd. was enthusiastic
about the IAB programme but com-plained that the translation of the
training material was poor - Mr Dean pointed out to her that the
training material was not the property of the IAB, and if she wished
she could use her own training material. It was agreed that more
support from the IAB for the tutors was required and JMD agreed to
look at the feasi-bility of arranging regular work-shops for tutors.
It was suggested they should be arranged at least once every two
years. The four days in Russia were the
first part of a three-legged trip, which included Sri Lanka and South
Africa.
Mr Laing and Mr Dean met Ramola
Sivasundaram and her mother Mano Muthu Krishna from The Polytechnic,
which is the IAB training body in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). They
also met the Executive Council of the IFA/IAB Society in Sri Lanka and
Mr Laing went on to present Examination and Membership Certificates to
nearly 400 IAB stu-dents and graduates.
Meetings with held with officials of the
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' Sri Lanka Division, and
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka which is
enthusiastic of future co-operation with the IFA and IAB as it wants
greater international recog-nition for its qualification.
Before leaving the island Messrs Laing
and Dean met IFA and IAB members and students and brought them up to
date by revealing plans for the improve-ment of the awareness and
pro-file of both qualifications. It was announced that the IFA and IAB
Society in Sri Lanka was now operational, having now received money
from the UK, and would be putting on a programme of events for the
ensuing year.
In South
Africa Mr Laing and Mr Dean visited four colleges, one of which
teaches the syllabus of the Institute of Book-keepers of South Africa,
which is owned by the IFA. There were also members' meetings in
Johannesburg and Cape Town and a meeting with the Australian
accounting body, the National Institute of Accountants with which a
co-operation agreement was discussed.
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