Expert calls for update in accountancy
10 May 1996STANLEY CARVALHO
THE advent of the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) will facilitate cross-border movement of professional services and accountants in the Arab world must prepare themselves for this, an expert in the profession said.
GATS, one of the three important parts of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) will throw open challenges and opportunities and Arab accountants will be on a par with others globally, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman, Arab Society of Certified Accountants (ASCA) and chairman of the firm that bears his name, told The Gulf Today in an exclusive interview.
Abu-Ghazaleh was elected chairman, Steering Committee of Experts for the Development of International Standards for Qualifications and Accreditation at the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva recently. The committee held its first meeting in Geneva in October this year and the next meeting is slated for February ’97in Geneva again.
The committee has been entrusted with the task of developing guidelines for global qualifications and mutual recognition in the field of accounting services, he said.
“As chairman of the committee, I am confident that along with other developing countries, notably India and the African Union, we will be able to work out an internationally recognised accredited accounting system.
“At the next meeting in February, the sub-committees will present their proposals for consideration by the committee and we hope to develop a world programme and timetable for the execution of this important and complicated project,” he said.
Abu-Ghazaleh said the development of accountancy as a profession goes hand in hand with the economic growth of a country. “Most of the Arab countries, which are about 25-30 years old, are developing. It is only since 1987 when the Arab Society for Certified Accountants (ASCA) was born that the profession began to grow.”
He said, as a profession accountancy in the Arab world has not reached the level as in the US or the UK. “The Arab accounting education system is in great need of reforms. This will be discussed at the fourth International Congress of Accountants to be held at Beirut in Feb.’98 under the theme ‘The need to change Arab Accounting Education System.’”
“Arab accounting education leaves a lot more to be desired and needs to be changed in form and content,” he said, adding that accounting education in the Arab countries is a factor of governmental planning through a disciplined system in contrast with countries where the private sector governs professions such as accountancy.
THE advent of the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) will facilitate cross-border movement of professional services and accountants in the Arab world must prepare themselves for this, an expert in the profession said.
GATS, one of the three important parts of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) will throw open challenges and opportunities and Arab accountants will be on a par with others globally, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman, Arab Society of Certified Accountants (ASCA) and chairman of the firm that bears his name, told The Gulf Today in an exclusive interview.
Abu-Ghazaleh was elected chairman, Steering Committee of Experts for the Development of International Standards for Qualifications and Accreditation at the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva recently. The committee held its first meeting in Geneva in October this year and the next meeting is slated for February ’97in Geneva again.
The committee has been entrusted with the task of developing guidelines for global qualifications and mutual recognition in the field of accounting services, he said.
“As chairman of the committee, I am confident that along with other developing countries, notably India and the African Union, we will be able to work out an internationally recognised accredited accounting system.
“At the next meeting in February, the sub-committees will present their proposals for consideration by the committee and we hope to develop a world programme and timetable for the execution of this important and complicated project,” he said.
Abu-Ghazaleh said the development of accountancy as a profession goes hand in hand with the economic growth of a country. “Most of the Arab countries, which are about 25-30 years old, are developing. It is only since 1987 when the Arab Society for Certified Accountants (ASCA) was born that the profession began to grow.”
He said, as a profession accountancy in the Arab world has not reached the level as in the US or the UK. “The Arab accounting education system is in great need of reforms. This will be discussed at the fourth International Congress of Accountants to be held at Beirut in Feb.’98 under the theme ‘The need to change Arab Accounting Education System.’”
“Arab accounting education leaves a lot more to be desired and needs to be changed in form and content,” he said, adding that accounting education in the Arab countries is a factor of governmental planning through a disciplined system in contrast with countries where the private sector governs professions such as accountancy.
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