Certified Accountants and Auditors Lacking

Cambodia needs more people to be trained in accounting and auditing skills to strengthen its bid for membership in the World Trade Organization by the end of this year and to form a stock market by 2005, a senior Ministry of Finance official said Monday.

“We must have all the limbs [of the body],” said Ministry of Fi­nance Secretary of State Ngy Tayi, referring to international accounting and auditing standards as only two of the components needed to run a transparent and internationally credible financial market.

Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh has said that about 30 laws must be passed by the Na­tional Assembly to meet international standards.

Ngy Tayi said the pool of li­censed accountants and auditors in Cambodia is extremely limited, a fact that must be changed to entice businesses to list with a proposed stock market.

The government and business sector said last year they wanted a functioning stock market by 2005 to curb the country’s dependence on foreign aid and to raise capital investment.

The Ministry of Finance is urging Cambodian accountants to become li­censed by internationally recognized schools so that Cambodia may facilitate business dealings with a common financial language.

Ngy Tayi also said the ministry will soon recruit between 30 and 50 Cambodians working in public and private companies to enroll in the state-run Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Ac­countants. Only four of 20 students did well on the institution’s examination last term, Ngy Tayi said.

“WTO needs us to have this pro­fessional skill,” Ngy Tayi said, adding that Cambodia can prom­ise foreign investors a transparent business climate only when it is run by trained professionals.

There are very few Cambodian accountants who have reached an international standard, Ngy Tayi said.

Kuy Lim, a 27-year-old deputy manager at Pricewaterhouse­Coopers, is one of them.

Kuy Lim is the first Cambodian to pass a strict examination on the rules of business and finance law, taxation and accounting from an institution registered with the International Federation of Ac­count­ing Committee, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Kuy Yim last week received noti­fication from Britain’s Asso­ci­a­tion of Chartered Certified Ac­count­ants, a global accountancy body, that he had become an official affiliate, one step away from becoming a member.

“When I become a member of this international association, it will be easier to find a job anywhere in the world,” Kuy Lim said. He added that by 2005 most countries must comply with international standards established by the International Federation of Accounting Committee.

Ministry of Commerce Secre­tary of State Khek Ravy encouraged more Cambodians to study and pass similar exams to strength­en the country’s legitimacy within the international business community.

“Every WTO member is using international standards, so we have to do the same thing,” Khek Ravy said.