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Profile of SAFA
An Apex body of SAARC
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Presentation Outline (Contd..)

• About SAARC
• Objective of SAARC
• SAARC Member States Observer States
• Areas of Cooperation
• SAARC International Relations
• SAARC Apex Bodies

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Presentation - Outline

• About SAFA
• Mission
• Member Bodies
• Governing Structure
• Committees of SAFA
• Significant Achievements
• Important Publications
• Some Important Ongoing Projects
• Key Challenges

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South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC)

• Established on 8th December 1985 by the Heads of
  State of Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
  Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
• To provide a platform for the peoples of South
  Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship,
  trust and understanding

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Objectives of SAARC (Contd..)

• to promote the welfare of the peoples of South
  Asia and to improve their quality of life
• to accelerate economic growth, social progress
  and cultural development in the region and to
  provide all individuals the opportunity to live
  in dignity and to realize their full potential
• to promote and strengthen collective
  self-reliance among the countries of South Asia
• to contribute to mutual trust, understand and
  appreciation of one another's problem

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Objectives of SAARC

• to promote active collaboration and mutual
  assistance in the economic, social, cultural,
  technical and scientific fields
• to strengthen cooperation with other developing
  countries
• to strengthen cooperation among themselves in
  international forums on matters of common
  interest and
• to cooperate with international and regional
  organisations with similar aims and purposes.

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SAARC Members States

• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• India
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka

Recently in 14th SAARC Summit Afghanistan was
admitted as SAARC Member State
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SAARC Observer States

• China
• European Union
• Japan
• Hong Kong
• South Korea
• United States

Recently in 14th SAARC Summit Iran was granted
the status of Observer State
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Areas of Cooperation
(Contd..)

• Agriculture and Rural Development
• Health and Population Activities
• Women, Youth and Children
• Environment and Forestry
• Science and Technology and Meteorology
• Human Resources Development and
• Transport

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Areas of Cooperation
(Contd..)

• Recently high level Working Groups have also been
  established to strengthen cooperation in the area
  of
• Information and Communication Technology
• Biotechnology
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Tourism
• Energy

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SAARC International Relations

• UNCTAD
• ESCAP
• UNICEF
• APT
• UNDP
• UNDCP
• ITU

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SAARC Apex Bodies

• SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI)
• SAARCLAW
• South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA)

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South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA)

• An Apex Body of SAARC and Regional Grouping of
  the International Federation of Accountants

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About SAFA

• Formed in 1984 for promoting the accounting
  profession in the countries in South Asia with a
  mission to bring the accounting bodies in the
  region together at a common forum
• To facilitate cooperation in education, training,
  technical and ethical standards
• Represents around 200,000 accountants and 500,000
  students
• Constitutes eight accounting bodies of India, Sri
  Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal
• Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, in the absence of
  accounting bodies participate as observers
• China and Japan have been invited to be of
  observers SAARC
• One of the three Apex Bodies of SAARC and
  Regional Grouping of SAARC

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Mission of SAFA

• SAFA as a forum of professional accountancy
  bodies is committed to positioning, maintaining
  and developing the accountancy profession in
  SAARC region (South Asian Association for
  Regional Co-operation) and ensuring its continued
  eminence in the world of accountancy in the
  public interest and towards broad economic
  development of the region.

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Member Bodies of SAFA

• Bangladesh - The Institute of Chartered
  Accountants The Institute of Cost Management
  Accountants
• India - The Institute of Chartered Accountants
  Institute of Cost Works Accountants of India
• Nepal - The Institute of Chartered Accountants of
  Nepal
• Pakistan - The Institute of Chartered Accountants
  The Institute of Cost Management Accountants
  of Pakistan
• Sri Lanka - The Institute of Chartered
  Accountants of Sri Lanka

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Objectives of SAFA
(Contd)

• Understand the profession in the regional context
  and continuously work towards its development in
  keeping with global trends
• Participate and play the leadership role on the
  International forums
• Promote harmonize accountancy profession in SAARC
  Region and in keeping with global development

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Objectives of SAFA
(Contd)

• Play promotional role for the countries within
  its neighboring jurisdiction (where there is a
  significant presence of members of member bodies,
  where the accountancy profession does not exist
  or is not sufficiently developed
• Promote and set professional standards
• Promote the interaction and exchange of students
• Act as interface between international bodies
  and member-bodies

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Governing Structure

• The Assembly
• The SAFA Board
• Standing Committee on Finance
• Other Committees, Working Groups and Task Forces
  on professional and technical matters

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Committee(s) on Professional/ Technical matters

• Committee on Education, Training and CPD
• Committee on Professional Ethics and Independence
• Committee on Auditing and Accounting Standards
• Committee for Improvement in Transparency,
  Accountability and Governance
• Committee on Quality Control Review (Being
  established)
• Committee on Professional Accountants in Business
  (Being established)
• Also set up task specific adhoc Groups

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Committee on Education, Training and CPD

• Act as a conduit for exchange of information
  between the member bodies regarding
  pre-qualification education and training
• Develop a scheme of continuous monitoring of
  education and training by member bodies
• Make an endeavour to harmonise the standards of
  education and training in the Region
• Develop benchmark for IT education in the
  curriculum

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Committee on Professional Ethics and Independence

• Analyse the ethical requirements for the members
  of the member bodies.
• Analyse the ethical requirement evolved by the
  International Ethical Standards Board of
  Accountants (IESBA) of IFAC.
• Develop ethical standards for professional
  accountants in South Asian Region.
• Awareness and Training

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Committee on Auditing and Accounting Standards

• Promote implementation of accounting and auditing
  standards and best practices.
• Promote transparency and accountability
• Develop perspective on the region-specific issues
  not addressed otherwise.
• Provide inputs to IFAC/IASB/CAPA etc

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Committee for Improvement in Transparency,
Accountability and Governance (ITAG)

• Benchmark the criteria to define, measure and
  rating Transparency, Accountability and
  Governance in the private and public sector
• Develop standards for code of conduct by
  professionals engaged in the field of accountancy
  at all strata
• Promote and enforce code of conduct
• Recognize and award in different sectors to
  promote better accounting and corporate
  governance practices in the Region
• Training and education programs for Accounting
  Technicians

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Significant Achievements

• Committee on Education, Training and CPD
• Comparative Study of Education and Training
  requirement for achieving harmonization in the
  Region
• Suggesting model curriculum for the chartered
  accountancy course for the Region
• Comparative Study of CPD requirements for
  bringing commonality and sharing technical
  expertise
• Committee on Professional Ethics and Independence
  
• Comparative study of the ethical requirements
  within the Region and also with reference to IFAC
  requirements
• Model code of conduct for the professional
  accountants in SAFA countries

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Significant Achievements

• Committee on Auditing and Accounting Standards
• SAFA Financial Reporting Standards for Small and
  Medium sized (SMEs) entities.
• SAFA Standard and Guideline for not for profit
  organisations (including Non Governmental
  organisations)
• Comparative Study on Quality Control Review
  framework in force in SAFA Member Bodies
• Comparative study on Accounting and Auditing
  Standards vis-à-vis International Accounting and
  Accounting Standards
• Regional Standards setters meeting under the
  Patronage of IAASB (Annually)

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Significant Achievements

• Committee for Improvement in Transparency,
  Accountability and Governance (ITAG)
• Organising Best Presented Accounts Awards to
  recognise better accounting practices and
  Corporate Governance since 1996
• Introduced Corporate Governance Disclosure Award
  for 2006
• Comparative Study on Corporate Governance in
  SAARC Region
• Best Practice Code on Corporate Governance for
  South Asian Countries

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Significant Achievements

• Other Working Groups
• A study of VAT in SAFA Countries
• Guidelines of Network amongst the firms
  registered with the Member Body of SAFA
• Study on Accrual Based Accounting for Government
  and Public Sector Entities in SAARC Countries
• SAFA and the WTO GATS Strategy Paper

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Significant Achievements

• Providing inputs to IFAC, its Board and
  Committees
• Lias with authorities in Maldives, Bhutan and
  Afghanistan with an view of development of the
  accountancy profession
• Organizing Conferences, Joint Conferences,
  Seminars and facilitating co-operation
• Facilitating pooling of technical resources of
  the member bodies for sharing knowledge and
  expertise
• Student Exchange programs, forums and conferences
  

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Important Publications

• SAFA Financial Reporting Standards for small and
  medium Sized (SMEs) entities
• Study on Accrual Based Accounting for Government
  and Public Sector Entities in SAARC Countries
• Code of Ethics for professional Accountants in
  SAFA Countries
• Best Practice on Corporate Governance for South
  Asian Countries
• A Study on VAT in SAFA Countries
• Guidelines on Network amongst the firms
  registered with the Member Body of SAFA

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Some Important Ongoing Projects

• Standards and Guidelines for micro finance
  (financial Services to the poor)
• Management Accounting Practices for SMEs
• Evolving uniform curriculum for Chartered
  Accountancy bodies in South Asian Region
• Code of Governance for Small Medium Sized
  Entities (SMEs)
• Toolkit for Improving Transparency,
  Accountability and Governance (based on Tsunami
  Toolkit)
• Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness of
  Municipality and local government bodies Pilot
  Project
• Developing SAFA Knowledge Portal

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SAFA Key Challenges (Contd)

• Positioning the role of the profession in the
  economic development of the nation
• Enhancing the accounting infrastructure in
  countries of South Asia and neighboring Middle
  East where profession is developing
• To promote transparency, accountability and
  governance in the Region
• Harmonization of professional standards within
  the Region and internationally
• Strengthening SAFA role in IFAC and other
  international bodies

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SAFA Key Challenges

• Providing leadership and guidance on emerging
  issues relating to
• SMEs
• SMPs
• Voluntary Sector
• Informal Sector
• Public sector accounting reforms
• Strategies to meet the growing demand of
  accountants in the Region
• Making the accountants in the Region truly global

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Alliance and Collaboration

• Alliances, Networking and collaboration with the
  multilateral bilateral agencies through
  convergence between the SAARC, SAFA work program
  development objectives including UN Millennium
  Development Goals

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Thank You
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