IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) continues to strengthen its relationships in the Asia Pacific region. Among recent highlights:
New Chapter in Taipei
This past fall, IMA announced the formation of a new chapter in Taipei to serve university students, new graduates, young professionals, and seasoned professionals. All members are either CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) certified or aspiring CMAs.
The chapter will organize networking opportunities, participate in professional development events, and help aspiring CMAs earn their certification. IMA hosted a member’s event in Taipei on November 21 to celebrate the chapter launch.
“Our members are working to move the management accounting profession forward, and this formal chapter will help them network with other professionals and learn about advancements in the profession,” said Josh Heniro, Ph.D., senior director, IMA Southeast Asia.
James Cheng will serve as chapter president, supported by Alex Kung, Arthur Liu, Fred Cheng, and Amy Cheng as president-elect, director-at-large, treasurer, and secretary, respectively. For more information on the chapter, please visit here.
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| Members at the Taipei Chapter launch event. |
Admission to AFA
IMA recently was admitted as an associate member of the prestigious ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA), which includes representatives from national accountancy organizations in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and aims to accelerate the economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region.
In announcing IMA’s appointment, Kon Yin Tong, AFA president, said, “IMA can contribute positively to our aims and purpose for members in the management accounting organizations throughout the region. We are excited to work together and see how IMA’s membership will lead us forward as a federation.”
IMA will contribute to AFA’s aspiration as the umbrella body of the professional accountancy organizations in Southeast Asia and help develop the accounting profession in the region while advancing its global development as well.
“AFA is the region’s premier professional accounting organization, and our membership will provide opportunities for our members to network, share best practices, and collaborate,” said Heniro.
Pictured below, attendees at the 129th AFA Council Meeting, held in Singapore on November 25, where IMA’s application was approved.
New University Partners
Partnerships with universities help IMA to advance the management accounting profession in Asia Pacific. Recently, IMA signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with six universities in Asia Pacific:
- Fu Jen Catholic University (FJCU)
- National Chengchi University (NCCU)
- Tamkang University (TKU)
- Tunghai University (THU)
- Vietnamese-German University (VGU)
- NUS Business School, National University of Singapore (NUS)
“Accounting students in these prestigious universities are preparing to be leaders at the organizations they will work for and we are excited to give them the tools to do so,” noted Heniro. “We look forward to working together with all of them.”
IMA will encourage and support activities by the universities to advance the management accounting profession, and the universities will encourage their students to pursue IMA’s CMA certification.
Meeting with Deputy Mayor of Shanghai
IMA President and CEO Jeff Thomson, CMA, CSCA, CAE, discussed Shanghai’s emergence as a global sci-tech innovation and financial center and provided an update on IMA’s latest development strategy in Shanghai during an October 28 meeting with Wu Qing, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai Municipality.
The meeting included an in-depth exchange of views on IMA’s strategy to advocate for the adoption, promotion, and execution of business practices that are consistent with the highest ethical standards and what Shanghai has accomplished as it strives to build itself into a global innovation and financial center.
Noted Wu, “As an internationally renowned organization in the management accounting profession, IMA has made remarkable contributions to China’s economic development. We look forward to IMA playing a bigger part in driving Shanghai’s economic and financial growth and talent development in the finance and accounting profession to address the talent gap Shanghai is facing. We also hope that IMA can consider Shanghai as one of its priorities in its development strategy in China and the Asia Pacific region.”
Present at the meeting (and pictured below from l. to r.) were: Guo Qiang, translator; Zhang Lin, IMA senior manager of business development; Richard Li, IMA vice president, chief representative of China; Jim Piechowski, CAE, IMA senior director of international operations; Jeff Thomson; Wu Qing; Chen Mingbo, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Municipal Government; Yuan Baiwei, inspector of the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau; Li Jun, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Bureau; Zhang Chun, executive dean and professor of finance at Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance; and Wang Jiang, chair of Academic Council of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance.
For more information about IMA’s activities in Asia Pacific, please visit the IMA China and IMA Southeast Asia websites.