KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- More than 600 guests attended the inaugural ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) gala dinner to celebrate ACCA’s 83 years of collaborations with its strategic partners across all spheres in Malaysia, from university and learning partners to government and professional bodies, employers, ACCA’s own network of members, council members and advisory committee.
Present at the event were representatives of ACCA’s Approved Learning Partners notably those holding platinum status such as Sunway TES, INTEC Education College, TAR University College, KDU College, HELP College of Arts and Technology, University Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Sentral College Penang, Sunway College Johor Bahru and many more. Equally impressive were the list of employer partners who attended such as CIMB, Maybank, Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Petronas, Shell, Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Baker Tilly Malaysia, Grant Thornton, Crowe Malaysia, UNDP and many more gathered to celebrate ACCA’s growth in Malaysia during the ACCA Malaysia Gala Dinner 2019.
The gala dinner was graced by its Guest of Honour, Malaysia’s Minister of Finance, YB Tuan Lim Guan Eng who saw the attendance of ACCA’s partners from the regulatory and government bodies such as the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia, National Audit Department and Ministry of Education (MoE).
As the world’s biggest professional accounting body with over 219,000 members around the globe, ACCA’s theme for the night was ‘The Power of Connections” and it was the organisation’s first-ever gala dinner celebrating 83 years of collaborations in Malaysia with top educators, employers, regulatory and government bodies as well as strategic partners that has led to its growth to 43,000 students and affiliates plus 15,000 members nationwide as of July 2019.
In his address during the gala dinner, ACCA President, Robert Stenhouse acknowledged the strength of partnership between stakeholders, and highlighted the importance of these partnerships in growing the profession. “ACCA will remain a powerful connector - growing the accountancy profession around the world: creating careers, upholding standards, improving economies and lives,” he said.
As part of the celebration, ACCA Malaysia presented a special Recognition Award to Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama (Dr) Arshad Ayub who is fondly known as ‘Bapa ACCA’ for his incredible legacy of introducing ACCA to Malaysia over 50 years ago in the 1960s when he was the former director of Institute Teknologi MARA (ITM), offering Malaysian students the opportunity to study for an international accountancy qualification in their own home country.
In addition to that, ACCA also took the opportunity to present 5 of its members in Malaysia with ACCA’s Long-standing Membership Recognition Awards. They were among 20 over ACCA members in Malaysia who have been members for 45 years and more.
ACCA Malaysia Country Head, Edward Ling, delivered closing remarks saying, “In Malaysia, ACCA has over 36,000 students and collaborate with close to 80 approved learning partners and universities across the nation to support the government’s intensive efforts to build high potential human capital for the country. It has been widely acknowledged that the country requires 60,000 accountants by 2030, and at present, we still face a steep shortage of professional accountants in Malaysia.”
“As one of the largest global professional accountancy bodies, our 115 years of legacy in opening up access to the accountancy profession has not changed, so that no matter where you come from, or who you are, whatever your age or gender, as long as you have a dream to be a professional in the finance and accounting world, ACCA will help you get there.” added Ling.
Earlier in the day, ACCA celebrated the milestone of welcoming 1,299 new members into its professional accounting body for 2019. These new members have successfully completed the ACCA examinations as well as fulfilled their practical experience requirements making them full fledged chartered certified professional accountants worthy of the ACCA membership.
In addition to celebrating its new members, the event also acknowledged the critical role that ACCA’s strategic learning and employer partners play in helping to develop and groom these fine young individuals into top professional accountants who will one day lead economies in Malaysia and beyond.
Source: ACCA Malaysia
