CPA Australia strengthens ties with MDeC

Date issued: 19 March 2010

CPA Australia and the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote MSC Malaysia as the global location for shared services and outsourcing (SSO) in the banking and financial services industry (BFSI).

Both parties will jointly market and promote the BFSI in the country as well as other financial and accounting related activities to MSC Malaysia and SSO companies. Similarly, the collaboration is to encourage more industry participation in the MSC Malaysia ‘Get it Certified Campaign’ and other MSC Malaysia initiatives.

The MoU identifies areas for mutually beneficial joint activities that will generate more CPA Australia professionals from eligible MSC Malaysia SSO companies by end 2010.

CPA Australia CEO Alex Malley said, ‘Opportunities for accountants cross national borders. CPA Australia believes that strong international relationships with other significant and influential bodies benefit our members, wherever they are in the world.’

‘Such relationships provide important new avenues through which we can advocate the worth of CPA Australia members to the global community,’ said Malley.

‘The MoU is a very favourable step to provide CPA Australia’s foundation and professional level programs to eligible MSC Malaysia SSO companies who participate in the MSC Malaysia capability development program.

Currently, there are 451 CPA Australia professional members within the MSC Malaysia SSO companies. MSC Malaysia targets to produce an additional of 200 new professional members of financial and accounting bodies by end of 2011.

The certification program under the collaboration will offer up to 27 per cent savings for the participants for the foundation and professional level.

‘Through our world class CPA Program experience, employees will be able to add real value to their organisation.’

‘CPA Australia will also consider providing in-house continuing professional development programs to MSC Malaysia who will be participating in the foundation and professional level programs.’

‘CPA Australia has a long and proud tradition of helping to advance the profession internationally and our ongoing belief is that we can achieve much more working together as a region than as individual nations,’ Malley added.

MSC Malaysia capability development program launched its professional development initiative back in 2008. The objective of the program is to encourage individual’s capability development that focuses on improving their skills, knowledge of ICT and level of professionalism within various verticals. The program is one of many MSC Malaysia initiatives by MDeC to upgrade, re-skill, certify and retain the local professionals.

Malaysia has long been recognized as the top location for SSO in the area of BFSI from various international research bodies such as Frost & Sullivan and AT Kearney. The reports say that the availability of skilled workers, competitive cost and an ideal business environment has always been the attractive ingredients for the companies to choose Malaysia for their shared services and outsourcing activities.

According to the chief executive officer of Multimedia Development Corporation Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, MSC Malaysia’s attractiveness as a regional / global SSO hub is evident by the many world-class financial organisations such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and OCBC residing their global shared services operation in MSC Malaysia.

‘MSC Malaysia has always been strategically positioned to offer the ‘Best of All Worlds’ in attracting multinational companies into the country. Last year, the MSC Malaysia SSO cluster export contributed the most to the clusters total revenue, totalling RM3.83billion.

‘Moreover, having our local talent certified by a professional body such as CPA Australia provides the MSC Malaysia status companies with a sense of assurance of the quality of talent that they are hiring. This is aligned with our key initiatives to encourage adoption of international best practices among MSC Malaysia status companies. This will hopefully stimulate the interest of more foreign and local companies to venture into the BFSI SSO activities.

Left to right: Alex Malley, CEO CPA Australia; Jeff Hughes, executive general manager - member services CPA Australia; Ng Wan Peng, chief operating officer MDeC; Andrew Heng, president of the CPA Australia Malaysia Divisional Council