IT may be a tall order but Malaysia needs to double the number of professional accountants in the next six years.
With its current 31,000-member base, the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) says the dearth of human capital talent in the highly-skilled profession could impact Malaysia’s competitive edge when it takes on high-income nation status.
MIA president Johan Idris said the government also shared the institute’s concern to raise the pool of professional accountants to 60,000 by the end of the decade.
“Professional members are needed for the nation to achieve a high- income status,” he said, after the opening of the Corporate Board Leadership 2014 event, here, yesterday.
Johan pointed out that there are 170,000 professional accountants in Australia although its population of 24 million is smaller than Ma-laysia’s.
Of the total MIA members, only 19,000 are professionally qualified.
In terms of Bumiputera participation in the profession, he said the number remained low at eight per cent and the target is to achieve 25 per cent.
MIA is putting in concerted effort to increase the number. Capacity building also means engaging schools to cultivate interest in accountancy among the students.
Already there are national role models such as Tan Sri Azman Mohktar of Khazanah Nasional
Bhd, Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh of Sime Darby, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes of AirAsia Bhd and Minister in
the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Wahid Omar, who is former Maybank chief executive officer.
MIA wants to engage schools and instutions of higher learning to ensure that accounting graduates pursue professional accountancy will help to support the production of both hardware and software.
Towards this end it is working closely with Talent Corp, Majlis Amanah Rakyat and Teraju (Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera).
The Committee to Strengthen the Accountancy Profession (CSAP) is also developing the strategies to meet the future demand for accountants, accountancy education and training as well as regulatory issues including the governance of the accountancy profession.