Amid economic globalisation, international cooperation has become an important driving force for industry development. To promote the region’s accountancy and finance industries as well as knowledge exchange and collaboration of the accountancy profession, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) and the Chongqing Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CQICPA) have signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU).

This tripartite MoU aims to facilitate the development of the accountancy and finance industries in Singapore, China and the UK. The three institutes aim to deepen professional research and knowledge exchange, and promote the development of the accountancy industry from a global perspective.

At the virtual signing ceremony, representatives of the three parties delivered speeches, reviewing the achievements of their respective associations in the past year, and shared future plans and strategic priorities.

ISCA president, Teo Ser Luck said, “We’re delighted to deepen our relationships with CQICPA and ICAEW via this MoU. We look forward to exploring more opportunities for joint research, knowledge exchange and development of training programmes. The MoU is also in line with ISCA’s plan to expand our network beyond Singapore. We look forward to working closely with CQICPA and ICAEW to explore new opportunities for members of the three institutes, businesses and the accountancy community.”

In his opening speech, ICAEW managing director, Mark Billington, welcomed each representative and expressed his gratitude to the three associations for their longstanding joint efforts and support. He added that the three parties will strengthen cooperation to jointly promote the development of the profession, instil trust in the accountancy profession, champion sustainability, lead their members to master technology and data and jointly promote the attractiveness of the accountancy profession.

CQICPA secretary general, Zhang Qing, said that the signing ceremony marked a new starting point for cooperation among the three parties, and will bring forth fruitful cooperation. She proposed three major objectives: to strengthen exchanges and cooperation among the three associations to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results; to promote exchanges among members of three institutes; to enhance professional quality as well as to seize strategic opportunities to promote the development of the profession in the three regions.