Andrew Conway represented the Institute at the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Chief Executives’ Strategic Forum in New York, an elite forum for leaders in the accountancy profession. For the Institute it has been a particularly productive time with many great opportunities for the IPA to contribute to regional policy and influence the development of strategy for the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.
Representing members internationally
I represented the Institute at the IFAC Small and Medium Practices Forum. The SME sector is often confronted by compliance issues and lack of resources, and we passionately believe that more assistance is needed to help reduce the challenges often faced by small business. The forum provided the Institute with an opportunity to contribute towards discussions on how SMEs are represented in both regulation and professional standards.
Along with fellow board member Dr Nordin Zain and Executive General Manager, Vicki Stylianou, we represented the Institute at the 6th IFRS Regional Policy Forum in partnership with the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board. With the theme of “Convergence and beyond, navigating change”, the forum attracted participants from jurisdictions that adopted IFRS and also those that are transitioning to IFRS with the objective of knowledge sharing between the two groups.
Closer to home, the next round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) were held in Melbourne in early March. The Institute supports the TPP 21st Century Agreement as it brings greater capacity for trade and investment liberalisation in financial services, including accounting services, to accountants, consumers and businesses. The TPP also reflects the greater role being played in the global economy by the Asia-Pacific region, of which Australia is a beneficiary.
