HÀ NỘI — Along with the country’s overall strategy to develop its accounting and auditing sector to suit global integration the Vietnamese accounting and financing sector needs high-quality staff, experts say.

This was heard at a conference themed “Global trends of accounting, auditing and finance and Việt Nam’s strategy to 2020” co-organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), in Hà Nội early this week.

The conference attracted over 200 representatives from the Ministry of Finance, businesses and experts in the field of finance, accounting and human resource management.

The workshop aimed to review the implementation of accounting – auditing strategy to 2020, discuss comprehensive analyses and propose solutions to implement the strategy to meet the requirements of the market and integration.

Đặng Thái Hùng, director of Accounting and Auditing Policies Department under the Ministry of Finance, said that the country’s finance sector was facing both opportunities and challenges, of these, the biggest challenge was the standards of international financial reports and the quality of human resources.

Specifically, Hùng said that Vietnamese human resources on finance, accounting and auditing were ready for economic integration, but its quantity and quality that still needs to be improved.

Quite a few certificates on accounting and auditing in Việt Nam do not meet international standards, he said.

Therefore, the entry of many international organisations involved in auditing and accounts training and granting of certificates in the country, have created opportunities and motivation to develop the country’s accounting and auditing workforce.

Also at the meeting, ACCA also revealed its report titled “Professional accountants – the future”, which surveyed some 2,000 business and finance professionals around the world.

According to the survey, factors that will impact workers in the financial sector include state regulations and management, and digital technology.

Alexandra Chin JP, president of ACCA Global, said “The accountant’s role has been revolutionised over the past decade, with finance professionals becoming leaders, trusted expert counsel and key strategic advisers to organisations whether in the public or private sectors.”

“With this metamorphosis comes a requirement for a whole new set of skills. On top of technical excellence, professional accountants now require creativity, emotional intelligence and the vision to lead,” she added. – VNS