Asia-Pacific region recorded lower confidence levels in Q1 2012 than any other-part of the world, and only respondents in Europe were more pessimistic about the prospects of the global economy in general

Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/03/2012 -- The latest edition of the Global Economic Conditions Survey, conducted by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) suggests that the global economy recovered substantially in early 2012 and regained some of the dynamism it had lost over the last year.

The survey findings, representing the views of about 2,200 professional accountants around the world, were welcomed by the two professional bodies: the share of respondents reporting confidence gains in their own organisations had nearly doubled from 16% in late 2011 to 29%, and while the majority (54%) still believed the global economy was deteriorating or stagnating, that figure was down from 73% in the previous quarter.

Emmanouil Schizas, editor of the ACCA/IMA Global Economic Conditions Survey, said of the global findings: "When all the results came in, we were a little sceptical and had to consider all of the likely objections first. Much of the rise in confidence is being reversed as we speak, as the relief factor subsides, but a lot of it is here to stay."

The picture in Asia-Pacific region

Across the region, 23% of respondents reported gains in business confidence (up from 11% in late 2011) against 44% who reported a loss of confidence (down from 53%). This is tied to an increased optimism about the global economy: 34% of respondents in the region felt it was improving or about to, up from 19% three months ago.

Despite all of this positive sentiment, and for the first time since the GEC surveys began, the Asia-Pacific region recorded lower confidence levels in Q1 2012 than any other part of the world, and only respondents in Europe were more pessimistic about the prospects of the global economy in general.

Within the region, Malaysia recorded the smallest confidence gains despite more firms enjoying the upside where 20% reported confidence gains against 8% in the last quarter, due to a rising segment of the population reporting strong losses of confidence (22%, up from 13%). The East of the country appears to have performed the worst.

The global picture explained

Looking globally, ACCA and IMA attribute much of the rise in global business confidence to objective improvements to the business environment, especially new orders, but also warn that relief is an important driver in the short term - especially due to the fact that a number of nightmare scenarios that had seemed likely in late 2011, such as an escalation of the European sovereign debt crisis or a hard landing in China, appeared more remote in the last quarter. There also appears to be a renewed faith in the prospects of the global economy and the strength of the recovery. These developments were also reflected in rising business investment and employment.

Confidence gains were fairly consistent across regions and industries, although the Americas and Western Europe seemed to benefit the most in early 2012, as did manufacturers and distributors, particularly in the high-tech sectors.

The survey reports increasing business dynamism, mostly in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, with businesses securing new orders where previously they would not have and responding with increased investment and hiring.

ACCA and IMA welcome this development, noting that investment has been subdued at the global level since the end of the 'green shoots' stage of the global recovery which lasted from mid-2009 to mid-2010. Africa is still the most confident of the seven major regions covered by the survey, but it is clearly losing ground.

ACCA and IMA believe that the bounce in investment is focusing on two kinds of opportunities in particular. Customer insights, namely the need to understand and benefit from spending decisions under new constraints, is one; the other is supply chain optimisation through deepening relationships and a stronger focus on quality.

The professional bodies also acknowledge the contribution of governments in their major markets, many of which showed signs of loosening their fiscal policies to boost a flagging recovery. It is not clear how much longer they can afford to do so, as respondents generally continue to believe that many major economies, including both the US and China, are likely to spend unsustainably in the medium term. On the other hand, finance professionals in Western Europe and other countries experiencing austerity also doubted the sustainability of their own governments' fiscal policies.

Emmanouil Schizas said: "It's too early to say whether the pattern of the modest recovery in 2012 is sustainable, but it seems to rely on a sustained recovery of demand in the West, supply in the East and confidence in sovereigns. It's a precarious balance."

Finally, ACCA and IMA note that the global economy's new-found dynamism has come at the price of rising input prices, and note that if even a timid recovery is accompanied by rising inflation, then a full-blown recovery, if and when it occurs, is likely to provide a challenge for central banks and other policymakers.

A copy of the research is available here, http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-technical/global-economy/tech-ms-gec13.pdf.

About ACCA
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. We support our 147,000 members and 424,000 students in 170 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of over 83 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence. htttp://www.accaglobal.com

About IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants)
IMA®, the association of accountants and financial professionals in business, is one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) program, continuing education, networking, and advocacy of the highest ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 60,000 members in 120 countries and 200 local chapter communities. IMA provides localized services through its offices in Montvale, N.J., USA; Zurich, Switzerland; Dubai, UAE; and Beijing, China. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

ACCA Singapore gathers experts to discuss the key issues about the green economy for Asia

Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/24/2012 -- A high-level roundtable on the green economy was hosted by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the WWF yesterday.

The roundtable brought together leading experts in the fields of business, accountancy, investment and non-governmental organisations to discuss the green economy and its impact, influence and effect on these specific groups.

Darryl Wee, Head of ACCA Singapore, says: "Working in the green economy will need collaboration and co-operation on the part of business, government, and society as a whole. For businesses, they will have to adapt to the way they operate in areas such as governance, risk identification, corporate reporting, product sustainability, resource use and business model creation – essentially mind-sets will need to change."

A panel of leading experts in the fields of business, accountancy, investor relations, and non-governmental organisations have been brought together to discuss the impacts and influence of the green economy on the corporate sector.

The event was moderated by Gordon Hewitt, Sustainability Advisor, ACCA and the speakers included:
- Adam Tomasek, Managing Director, Borneo and Sumatra WWF
- Holly Lindsay, Director, CSR Asia Singapore
- Durreen Shahnaz, Founder and Chairwoman, Impact Investment Exchange Asia
- Esther An, Deputy GM and Head of CSR, City Developments Limited
- Kevin Lee, Sustainability Manager, PowerSeraya Limited
- Rob Daniel, Technical Advisor, PwC Indonesia

The panellists provided insights on how governments are developing new policies in the green economy; how businesses are adapting the way they operate; the risks and opportunities presented by the green economy; how sustainability can lead to shareholder value; and the need for new business models and investment strategies as the business as usual methods are no longer viable.

Accountants in today's business world must play an instrumental role in the sustainability agenda. They can play an active role in carbon reduction, providing advice on sustainability policies, governance issues and implementing frameworks which track and measure sustainability initiatives.

Rob Daniel, Technical Advisor at PwC Indonesia says: "Accounting is still in a business as usual scenario while everybody else is changing to accommodate the new economic paradigm. In order to adopt, accountants will need to bring in other skills such as risk and opportunity, get out of their silos and become multi-taskers."

Gordon Hewitt, Sustainability Advisor at ACCA says: "At ACCA we believe environmental accountability is important for organizations and their stakeholders. The current state of the global economy has led to an unsustainable use of resources, income inequalities, environmental degradation and a greater level of risk."

"Accountants are increasingly helping businesses and policymakers to measure, understand and reduce their impact on society and the environment as a whole, and we thank our panellists today for their insights which will help shape the future of the green economy," he added.

Other roundtable events are scheduled to be in Jakarta, Indonesia on 19 April as well as Beijing, China and Hong Kong in June 2012. The feedback gathered at all events will go towards a research report which will be released later this year.

About ACCA
ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

ACCA has been actively involved with the unfolding debate on corporate social and environmental responsibility since 1990.

We promote transparency and best practice in a number of areas including:
- Reporting and disclosure
- Auditing
- Research

We aim to help businesses and organizations realize the growing importance of sustainability to them.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Close to 200 students pit their business management and accounting skills against each other in a challenging accounting game

Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2012 -- As Singapore gears up to become an accounting hub by 2020, more career opportunities will be growing in the accounting sector. To inspire young people to consider a career in accountancy, ACCA and Nanyang Polytechnic are taking the lead to prepare young talents for this opportunity through the NYP-ACCA Accounting Challenge, now in its second year. This fun and interactive competition is designed to showcase the dynamic aspects of the accountancy profession. Accountants today do more than just keeping the books or crunching numbers as they play an integral part in any organisation. Accounting professionals can work in public practice such as the Big 4 or other accounting firms and the work ranges from auditing to tax to consulting work. In commercial organisations, accountants' roles include internal auditors, management accountants, financial controllers and chief financial officers.

66 teams or 198 students from 34 secondary schools participated in the NYP-ACCA Accounting Challenge held on 27 March 2012. The contesting teams had to go through an elimination stage – a qualifying round which saw only the best five teams making it to the finals.

The finalists went through three different stages in the final round in a form of a game show, with short business related cases, quick response answers and round robin questions but with a little twist. Each team was able to redirect the questions, without any penalty, to other finalists if they were unable to answer. The other team to which the question was redirected would gain points if they answered correctly but would suffer a penalty if they were to give a wrong answer. In order to promote interactivity, the audience were able to join in the challenge together with the finalists through an audience participation segment. This game show format covered widely on areas such as financial accounting, management accounting, audit, tax, business environment and finance.

After displaying excellent cooperation and quick strategic thinking, Team A from Ngee Ann Secondary School obtained the highest scores to emerge as champion. The champion team won $800 in cash and a commemorative trophy. Team B from Temasek Secondary School took home the 1st Runner-up position and received $500 while Team B from Beatty Secondary School took the 2nd Runner-up position and a cheque of $300. The other two finalists, Team B from Yishun Town Secondary School and Team B from St Gabriel's Secondary School took home $100 in cash per team.

"Accountants today are no longer number crunchers but are essentially business strategists. Accountants play a really important role in any organisation and we aimed to demonstrate this through the challenge," said Darryl Wee, country head of ACCA Singapore.

Darryl added, "As the accountancy sector in Singapore sets to grow, we should continue to see a demand for a career in accounting and finance. ACCA will continue to do its part to promote interest in the profession and nurture tomorrow's accountants."

"With Singapore aiming to be an accountancy hub by 2020, the NYP-ACCA Accounting Challenge will be a good platform for students to know more about the profession and to consider it as their career choice. I wish to thank all the teams for their participation," said Chiang K K, Director of NYP, School of Business Management. "I hope they have learnt more about accounting through this competition and at the same time, enjoyed themselves. We look forward to their strong support again next year."

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm