The Hindu Business Line : ICAI to draft CA curriculum for UAE

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has been assigned with the task of developing a curriculum for accounting profession in the United Arab Emirates and on exploring the possibilities of establishing a professional body in the UAE.

In this regard, the ICAI signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE Government on August 25.

Inaugurating a seminar on `Practice Management', organised by ICAI in Mangalore on Thursday, Mr T.N. Manoharan, ICAI President, said that the UAE has entrusted the responsibility of developing a curriculum for accounting profession and training modules to enhance the skill sets of the existing professionals in that country.

"We signed a MoU with the Centre of Excellence for Applied Education and Training, under the Ministry of Education in UAE, on August 25," he said. The ICAI has been pursuing the UAE Government for the past three to five for an accounting standard.

CA CURRICULUM

Mr Manoharan said that the Union Ministry of Company Affairs gave its final approval for the CA curriculum on Wednesday. "It has now gone to the Law Ministry. Within a week, that will also be approved. The first CPT (common proficiency test) has been scheduled for November 12, 2006," he said.

In next one year, the volume of students aspiring to become CAs will increase multi-fold. "We will be able to produce larger number of CAs, without compromising on the quality," he said.

The new curriculum will address the geographical imbalance in the number of CAs in the country. "There is a disproportionate growth in the professionals, geographically. Profession seems to be growing more in metros than in other towns. As the number of CAs increases the probability of them settling in small towns and cities also increases," he said.

Referring to the recent meeting of the ICAI delegation with the Union Finance Minister, he said the Minister has instructed the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs that no circular should be issued without taking the views of ICAI.

DOMAIN EXPERTISE

He urged the younger generation to think of other areas than tax audit and bank audit. They can think about concentrating on non-exclusive areas such as consulting and accounting knowledge processing outsourcing (AKPO).

"Thus we can grow and consolidate," he said.

Delivering the keynote address, Mr T.V. Mohandas Pai, Director (HR), Infosys Technologies Ltd, said that the CAs have the fiduciary duty to exercise independently without the fear of consequences.

Highlighting the challenges before the country, he said the country might need three times more the number of CAs in the next 20 years. "The professional of tomorrow will be the person with domain expertise knowledge. In future we need to have larger firms and domain experts," he said.

Urging the accounting professional to use the power of technology, he said, "Clients are going to demand a high-level of technological competence amongst us."

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