Quarterly updates from your Southeast Asia Council Members

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

As we close out an eventful year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on recent developments within ICAEW and share some important updates. These milestones reflect ICAEW’s commitment to supporting us as members, as we continue to strengthen and grow together.

Highlights from the Chief Executive’s SEA Visit

We were privileged to welcome Alan Vallance on his first visit to Singapore as Chief Executive, marking his inaugural trip outside of the UK. Our Singapore Advisory Board worked together with the ICAEW team in Singapore, and we were able to support the organisation of a series of productive meetings with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants, all of which played a crucial role in strengthening our regional relationships and helped build ICAEW Reputation and Influence out here. Alan also met with many members over his visit at several events.

I attended the ICAEW Members Society Annual Dinner in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Alan’s next stop after Singapore — and was happy to meet with many ICAEW members across the causeway, including once again meeting with centenarian Tan Sri Hanafiah.

Member survey and moving forward

I was heartened to see the Institute launch a global wide members’ survey which recently closed, to hear the ‘voice’ of its members. I have personally given my views, alongside a few other senior members in an interview, and have encouraged as many members in the region as possible to participate. I certainly look forward to the insights, and future initiatives that will arise in response.

South-East Asia & Pacific members' Townhall

The recent South-East Asia & Pacific Members' Townhall marked our seventh gathering, and I was delighted to see so many of you in attendance. This session revisited the format of combining our Malaysia (MY) and Southeast Asia (SEA) constituencies. Although we faced a few technical challenges, I appreciate your patience as we navigated them.

I would like to thank fellow Council Member for Malaysia, Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi, and Shazali Sulaiman, our Contact Member in Brunei, for their participation. While we missed Ian Lydell, our Contact Member in Vietnam, due to technology challenges, we look forward to hearing from him at the future Townhall.

We were honoured to host Geoff Howie, Market Strategist from Singapore Exchange, as our guest speaker, who shared valuable economic data and analysis on the U.S. Presidential election, providing us with much to reflect on as we considered the potential impact on regional markets.

Extending a warm welcome to Malcom Bacchus

Our President’s recent visit was highly productive including meeting with the Singapore Advisory Board. I had the pleasure of accompanying Malcolm to meetings at the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), the Accountant-General’s Department (AGD), Ministry of Finance. It was also good to be able to join Malcolm and the ICAEW team as he connected with the Young Members Committee in Singapore and joined the Young Members’ Evening Mixer. At the Celebrating Excellence President’s Dinner, we jointly welcomed the new members and met existing members. His continued dedication to strengthening relationships across the profession is greatly appreciated.

Looking ahead to 2025

As the year draws to a close, I’d like to extend my warmest Christmas greetings to you and your families. May the coming year bring growth, progress, and continued success for us all.

Thank you for your unwavering support and encouragement. I look forward to hearing from you and to all that we can accomplish together in the year ahead.

Dr Ernest Kan

The ICAEW SEA Regional Members Townhall on 4 April was a highlight of the quarter, featuring esteemed speaker Professor Danny Quah, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Prof. Quah's presentation, "World Economic Forum 2024 - Key Takeaways," emphasized a significant shift: AI Technology emerged as the focal point, surpassing traditional discussions on the world economy and geopolitics. He noted how geo-political disruptions are reshaping the global economy, questioning the effectiveness of established paradigms like the Washington Consensus. Notably, the Republic of Singapore President's advocacy for net-zero carbon/energy transition and global aging population elderly care preparation underscored evolving political agendas. During the Townhall, I also shared insights on future-proofing the ACA, the Centre for Public Interest Audit, and the recently released ICAEW Annual Report 2023 and Manifesto. Gratitude was extended to key contributors including ICAEW contact members for Thailand and Cambodia, alongside Regional Director for Southeast Asia and China, Elaine Hong, for sharing their thoughts.

As the UK prepares for its upcoming parliamentary election, crucial decisions loom regarding the nation's economic trajectory. Recently published, the ICAEW Manifesto signifies a significant milestone, harnessing the insights and expertise of our members to articulate a compelling vision for the UK's future economy. With seven key policy recommendations at its core, the manifesto outlines a roadmap for resilience and growth. These recommendations span crucial areas such as productivity, skills development, sustainability, innovation, resilience, trust-building, and trade policy. We extend our gratitude to the dedicated team, led by John Boulton, from ICAEW for their invaluable efforts in crafting this comprehensive document.

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

At the last ICAEW SEA & Pacific Members Townhall in August, the areas being highlighted includes key events that took place in the last quarter across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, from the Membership Milestone and Fellowship Recognition Events, young members engagement initiatives, regulatory update to high profile accounting conference. I also shared the institute’s plans in keeping up with trends impacting the accounting profession as well as talent shortage, climate change, and how AI like ChatGPT influence the way we work, to list a few.

We were delighted to have Shariq Barmaky, CEO of Deloitte Singapore and a member of ICAEW Singapore Advisory Board, leading the sharing session which gave a succinct insight to the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) covering background of the latest reporting requirements and why ISSB is important not only to the finance and accounting professionals but for the greater good of our environment. Our contact member based in Indonesia, John Slack was also invited to share his interesting career journey spanning diverse industries and countries, how he witnessed the growth of ICAEW membership in the country led by Conny Siahaan, Head of Indonesia and her team, grew our membership to about 150 members in Indonesia over the past three years. Your feedback had greatly helped us to shape our townhall session, and we will continue to feature current topic of interest in future Townhalls.

On another front, I was pleased to be part of the inaugural Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW) Connect event in August. Fellow members of the CAW community in Singapore came together at ISCA House, a great opportunity for members to expand their professional network over fine wine and light-hearted conversations amidst a casual environment. An enjoyable night indeed, demonstrating that accountants know how to have fun too! There will be more such networking events in the coming months, particularly when ICAEW’s Chief Executive and President visits Singapore and Malaysia, in September and November respectively. Looking forward to seeing you at these upcoming events.

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

As we enter into the second half of 2023, I am pleased to look back on the developments and initiatives from the last few months. Following the initiation of townhall sessions, first in August 2021, we have continued to do so.

I was delighted to meet you again on 4th April, where we welcomed members from the Pacific region – Japan and Korea, into our member community. There was a brief introduction of the contact members based in Brunei, Cambodia and Myanmar. I will be introducing the rest of the contact members from the other geographical locations at the next townhall, as a way of showcasing our member network in this region. I would like to encourage you to join one or more of the 34 ICAEW communities based on your area of interest and profession that you may find beneficial to your professional and personal development.

Your feedback from the last session has been tremendously helpful in shaping future townhalls. One of which is short knowledge sharing on subject matters that are relevant to the profession and the region. Therefore, at the August townhall we will be adding a sharing focused on the establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), its local relevance by looking at the recent introduction of the first two standards, S1 and S2, the sustainability related disclosure aimed at helping organisations with environmental and social impact reporting.

From the recent ICAEW council meeting held in June, I’m glad to share some updates that include the newly elected President, Mark Rhys, who took up office and will serve a one-year term until June 2024, and the recent developments received from the Governance Implementation Group (GIG). Moving forward, there will be a new board composition and members will be kept informed when the new ICAEW governance structure is finalised.

Following the Council Meeting, an ICAEW Conference was held in July where GIG discussed the further refinement of its recommendations and will turn its focus next on the size and composition of the council, provide recommendations for the council’s consideration and approval. Two other major areas that were discussed include Future Professional Environment and Horizon Scanning. Council Members also discussed issues impacting the profession and our members from within UK and globally, and how to steer the ICAEW forward into the future.

I hope that you have found these updates to be informative and I look forward to meeting you at the virtual Townhall on 17 August and continue to engage more with you.

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

Q4 2022 has been a busy and eventful quarter for us at the ICAEW. I had the pleasure of attending several activities during this period where our ICAEW Regional Director, Elaine Hong, was also present and I would like to share with you some of the highlights.

ICAEW’s collaboration film All Too Familiar – an educational drama film which focused on anti-money laundering (AML), was screened in Singapore in October. It's heartening to see not only so many members attending, but the fact that the accounting profession doing their part in contributing towards tackling this difficult subject of AML.

In November, I had the pleasure of meeting Minister Indranee Rajah (Minister in Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance, and Leader of the House) with ICAEW Chief Executive, Michael Izza, to discuss developments to help enhance Singapore’s pro-business and trusted regulatory environment within our accountancy sector. I also officiated the CSEA Annual Dinner and Award Ceremony in Singapore, alongside Michael Izza and Guest of Honour, Minister Low Yen Ling. The event saw close to 200 corporate partners, academic, fellow members, ICAEW ACA students, and almost 90 new members in attendance.

We wrapped up the year with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with ISCA, with ICAEW President, Julia Penny, and ISCA President, Teo Ser Luck in attendance, to further strengthen our ties with ISCA and to better facilitate our collaborative efforts.

At the invitation of Kevin Foo, Chairman of the ICAEW Malaysia Member Society, I also attended the ICAEW Malaysia Annual Dinner for members in Kuala Lumpur, as well as the Senior Members Luncheon, where we had the pleasure of honouring members who have been with us for over 50 years.

In closing, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support for ICAEW, and I look forward to seeing more of you at our upcoming events.

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

I was delighted to meet many of you virtually at the 15 July Townhall in which I shared about issues I learned from our June ICAEW Conference and matters that affect our future.  A lot has happened since in the Southeast Asia region where collaborations and agreements were established with partners in learning, statutory boards and ministries, and accountancy bodies and federations. In this quarter, ICAEW will continue to engage members with events that fit the occasion as we anticipate not only our Institute Chief Executive but also our President visiting our region.

Launch of Training Film 'All Too Familiar'

ICAEW have been working with the UK Government and Parliament to raise awareness of ICAEW’s work and our members to tackle economic crime. The launch of the third training film titled “All Too Familiar” in London earlier this year signifies the institute’s commitment and efforts by bringing to the fore matters related to money laundering or other illegal activities potentially faced by companies. A similar launch will take place in Singapore as part of the Chartered Accountants Worldwide social event for the members of ICAEW, Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. During the in-person event, members from these three major professional bodies will get the opportunity to share knowledge, interact and build connections with one another.

Meeting members in Southeast Asia

In the coming months, I will be travelling to different parts of the region such as Jakarta, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and I hope to take this opportunity to meet with our members in person. I look forward to these meetings as we continue to maintain our ongoing engagement efforts with our members.

Dr Ernest Kan

Dear Members,

In this quarter, I am pleased to highlight the following developments:

Launch of ICAEW Annual Report

ICAEW launched this year’s annual report on 21 April 2022. One outstanding achievement, as mentioned in Michael Izza’s foreword, was the record ACA student intake of 11,049. This marks a huge 18% increase on 2020, and 15% more than our previous global high in 2019. Looking ahead, ICAEW announced during 2021 that talks are underway with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), to explore the potential for working more closely together in the future. The vision driving the discussions is the creation of a single strong federated professional accountancy body with truly global reputation and reach. Please watch this space.

Some key events from across the region supporting the strategic pillars are:

• Development of future accountancy professionals - The ICAEW Annual Report also mentioned the events in Indonesia where ICAEW hosted lectures for hundreds of accounting students at two leading universities, on the topics of safeguarding against cyber threats and how future professionals can mitigate climate change. We also held a joint career webinar in collaboration with Universitas Brawijaya, attended by close to 1,000 accounting university students from across Indonesian. We continued to host our annual work placement event in Malaysia, which saw 100 students meeting up with our top 15 employers to secure training agreements and internships. In Singapore, we hosted seven local Business Case Challenges at top universities and polytechnics with the support of members and Authorised Training Employers, attracting by more than 1,300 accounting and business students. The annual China and Southeast Asia Business Challenge that gathered the best from across five countries in the region.
• Reputation and Influence: We are proud to be the only international professional body invited to join two National Advisory Committees set up by the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam. The committees will develop higher education programme standards for finance and accounting and develop the ASEAN Qualification Reference Framework’s referencing report of Vietnam. Additionally, in Vietnam, we signed an MoU with the Ministry of Finance to support capacity building and talent development of the accountancy profession in the country. A key objective of the MoU is for both parties to jointly map Vietnam’s training programme for the IFRS certification. Lastly, we renewed our agreement to collaborate with the Indonesian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (IICPA), to raise the standard of professionals In Indonesia.

ICAEW – ‘Accountancy Body of the Year’

The 19th PQ Magazine annual awards took place in early May 2022 in London, and saw ICAEW winning the Accountancy Body of the Year 2022 award. It is a testament to the institute’s amazing work in diversity, inclusion, sustainability and putting our key stakeholders at the heart of everything we do. It represents and recognises the achievements of everyone here at ICAEW and I would like to thank you all in helping us to achieve this award in 2022.’

ICAEW SEA Members’ Townhall

I was delighted to meet many of you at our last Townhall on 3 March 2022. In preparation for our next Townhall in July, I welcome your input/suggestions and in this respect please feel free to reach out to me.

Dr Ernest Kan FCA

"As we have ushered in 2022, ICAEW continues to its commitment in taking initiatives and advocating for sustainable business futures.

Your role as a chartered accountant is more vital than ever in helping businesses adapt and drive forward the change that is needed. Lead the movement and join the Race to Net Zero, or find out other ways to make an impact that matters via the ICAEW Sustainability Hub.

As your voice on ICAEW Council for Southeast Asia, please feel free to connect directly with me to share your thoughts and feedback on how ICAEW can do better in your region and at the same time better support you. I’m looking forward to interact with you at the March members’ get together virtual event.

In the meantime, here’s wishing you a prosperous and healthy Lunar New Year!"

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