The 93rd AFA Council Meeting, 8 Mar 2008, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

The 93rd AFA Council Meeting was held on 8 March 2008 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. The meeting was attended by representatives of its Primary Members from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Representatives of its Associate Members present were CPA Australia and ICAA.

Issues discussed at the meeting, among others were:

Draft report on the Identification of the Needs and Expectation of the AFA Member Bodies
MIA has completed the survey on the Identification of the Needs and Expectation of the AFA Member Bodies and had tabled the draft report to the survey. The meeting was then informed that the finalised report will be published by May 2008 and thereafter circulated to all AFA Member Bodies and other relevant stakeholders.

Establishment and Execution of “Train the Trainers” Programme
The meeting discussed the establishment and execution of training programmes on various contemporary accounting topics to be held in various AFA member countries. These training programmes are to be taught by educators and skilled professional from AFA member countries. PICPA briefed the meeting that the training modules were ready. However, the mode of approach and delivery were still subject to further discussion. The “train the trainers” approach was seen to be faster and would not be as costly as member body participation. PICPA will start the pilot programme in Philippines and later will conduct the “Train the Trainers” programme for AFA delegates.

MoU between AFA & SAFA
The MoU between AFA & South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) was signed in Jakarta, Indonesia during the opening ceremony of the 15th AFA Conference. The objective of the MoU is to share information and to jointly organise seminar and conferences. There was also a follow-up action to set up a joint committee to address common projects together and suggested that this be addressed in the next AFA Council Meeting. Indonesia will contact SAFA on the progress of the cooperation between both parties.

Venue of the 94th AFA Council Meeting
The 94th AFA Council Meeting will be held on 27-28 June 2008 in Vientiane, Lao PDR.