CA Sri Lanka helps set up professional accountancy body in Bhutan

In an effort aimed at developing the accounting profession further in the South Asian region, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), Arjuna Herath, in his capacity as the President of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), the apex accounting body of SAARC, along with a team of experts from CA Sri Lanka visited Bhutan recently to facilitate the setting up of a professional accountancy body and to also introduce International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to public and corporate sectors in Bhutan.

Mr. Herath undertook this special visit on an invitation extended to him by the Accounting and Auditing Standards Board of Bhutan ( AASBB) to assist them to discuss with the Government of Bhutan and other stakeholders on the setting up of a Professional Accountancy Organisation ( PAO) and an Independent AASBB in Bhutan, according to a CA Sri Lanka media release.

He was accompanied by Sanjaya Ban- dara, Tishan Subasinghe, Manil Jayesinghe, Nishan Fernando, and Uditha De Zoysa, who are top professional Chartered Accountants from CA Sri Lanka possessing expertise in implementing International Financial Reporting Standards where they conduc- ted a training programme on IFRS for the benefit of corporates, public interest entities, and professionals in Bhutan.

The training conducted by CA Sri Lanka experts will facilitate the implementation of IFRS/Bhutanese Accounting Standards in Bhutan. Approximately 100 professional accountants and accounting and finance personnel were trained at the programme.

During his visit, Mr. Herath, met with several high profile Bhutanese officials including Dasho Daw Tenzin, Governor of Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, Nim Dorji, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance in Bhutan, Ugen Chewang, Auditor General of Bhutan, who is also chairman of AASBB, and Karma Yeshey, Registrar of Companies in Bhutan.

Mr. Herath’s visit to Bhutan is consequent to a visit undertaken by Mr. Chewang to Sri Lanka, in August last year to familiarize with the setting in which CA Sri Lanka operates, how it is structured and its operations.

The training conducted by CA Sri Lanka experts will facilitate the implementation of IFRS/Bhutanese Accounting Standards in Bhutan. Approximately 100 professional accountants and accounting and finance personnel were trained at the programme.