ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA)

The ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA) was organized in March, 1977. It was established to serve as the umbrella organization for the national associations of accounting professionals of the member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). AFA originally had only five member-bodies. These are the national accountancy bodies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

In 1989, the Brunei Institute of CPAs (BICPA) was admitted into the Federation. During the last two years under the leadership of its Filipino president Antonio P. Acyatan, AFA admitted the national accountancy bodies of Vietnam and Myanmar. Still outside AFA are the accounting associations of Laos and Cambodia.

There are two kinds of AFA members. Primary Members are the national organization of accounting professionals representing ASEAN member countries. Associate Members are internationally recognized accounting organizations of countries outside South East Asia, which are friendly to ASEAN. In 1999,the first associate member was admitted into the Federation - the Australian Society of CPAs (ASCPA).

Primary membership in the Federation is by country - that is - One Member per Country. The AFA Primary Member must have been created under a specific statute or regulation, or in the absence thereof, must be the recognized national organization of accounting professionals in said country.

The ASEAN Federation of Accountants was created with the following objectives:

• To be the organization of ASEAN accountants for their further professional advancement and that of the accountancy profession in the region - with the end in view of establishing an ASEAN philosophy for the accounting profession.

• To establish a medium for closer relations, regional cooperation, and mutual assistance among ASEAN accountants.

• To enhance the continuous development of the
  accounting profession in the region through the joint endeavors of ASEAN accountants.

• To provide ASEAN accountants with a forum for the exchange of technical and other significant information on the accounting profession and its related practices

Governance and executive functions within AFA are done by and through the AFA Governing Council and its executive offices led by the president who also presides over Council Meetings. The deputy president who automatically ascends to the presidency after two years is nominated by the member-body next in the presidential rotation. The other AFA executive officers are the AFA Secretary General and the AFA Treasurer.

The Federation originally intended to provide technical services to its member-bodies in the formulation and adoption of accounting and auditing standards and practices. However, with the on-going globalization of services; the AFA Council decided against" reinventing the wheel " and instead encouraged its members to go for harmonization of standards and practices based on issuance's of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

Since 1978, the ASEAN Federation of Accountants has held international accounting conferences also on rotation. It was first started in the Philippines and to date, two rounds have been completed. The 11th AFA Conference was held in Davao City last November 23-27, 1999 and was again hosted by the Philippine Institute of CPAs - its third chance to host the biennial conference. Such hosting follows the rotation of the AFA presidency (by country in alphabetical order) since the national accountancy organization of the incumbent president is mandated to be the official host.

The Federation also holds its Annual AFA Lecture - dealing on current issues involving the profession. The Institute of CPAs of Singapore hosted the 1st Lecture in June 1997, followed by PICPA in May 1998 and again by ICPAS in June 1999.

AFA publishes the handbook on "Doing Business in ASEAN" - copies of which are distributed not only among accounting organizations and practitioners but also among business establishments and government agencies. The publication is now a most sought - after reference of consultants and global investors. The Year 2000 edition is now with the printing press.

News reports about the activities of the Federation and its member - bodies and its affiliate organizations are published in the "AFA Connection". The newsletter was started in 1997 and is now in its third year of printing. It is prepared and printed by the editorial board composed of correspondents and editors nominated by the AFA member bodies. Release of the newsletter is timed with holding of the AFA Council Meeting every four months.