Govt targets spurt of chartered accountants by 2020

KUALA SELANGOR: Accounting students are being urged to undertake a professional certificate examination to increase the number of chartered accountants in the country.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said, an increase of students embarking on the profession is necessary to set the path for Malaysia to become a developed nation by 2020.
"The government will be making its best effort to improve the quantity and quality of the accountanting profession in the country," he said.
"To realise the target, it is hoped that accountancy graduates in Malaysia will take up professional exams to become chartered accountants," he added.
Abdul Wahid said this in a press conference after witnessing the exchange of two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), CPA Australia and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) at UiTM Puncak Alam campus here.
The government is targetting to increase the number of accountants to 60,000 by 2020.
Currently, there are some 30,000 accountancy professionals in Malaysia, with 28% registered chartered accountants.
Earlier in his speech, Abdul Wahid said the accountancy profession is one of the key areas where Malaysia is significally under-served.
He said it is imperative for Malaysia to achieve the demand for accountancy to support its transformation into a developed nation.
"This demand is driven by Malaysia's steady and strong economic growth," he said.
"I am pleased to witness today's exchange of two MoUs... to accelerate the progression of accounting students to become professionally qualified accountants.
"This will allow students to start their journey towards becoming chartered accountants while they are in university and make them more marketable upon joining the workforce," he said.