ISCA Extends Footprint In Australia And China

ISCA, as the national accountancy body, is playing our part to support the career aspirations of members who wish to venture abroad, as well as the internationalisation efforts of local firms. One of the ways we do this is by establishing overseas chapters.

Through our overseas chapters, the Institute can better support members in mitigating the issues they face as they explore new opportunities and navigate foreign business markets. This year has been an especially busy year in this regard, and we are on track to have 12 overseas chapters by end-December 2023.

Here, we would like to share the highlights of our recent trips to Sydney and Guangzhou, both of which were made in September.

Sydney, Australia

Team ISCA went Down Under from September 12 to 14, to establish new networks and set up an overseas chapter in Australia, where close to 20% of our overseas members are based. On this trip, the Institute was represented by ISCA President Teo Ser Luck and CEO Fann Kor.

Our first stop was the head office of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) in Sydney, where we enjoyed a wonderful exchange of insights about the challenges and opportunities facing the accountancy sector in both countries with the senior leadership team. We also took this opportunity to warmly congratulate CA ANZ CEO Ainslie Van Onselen on her appointment as Chair of Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW) from mid-November. ISCA is a Full Member of CAW – a global family that brings together Chartered Accountants around the world. We are excited to see how Ms Van Onselen and CAW will continue to advance the accountancy profession globally.

Team ISCA also took the opportunity to meet the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) management team members who are based in Australia. We shared ISCA’s initiatitives to enhance the attractiveness of the profession and our professional services hub initiative, which we envision would serve as a platform that supports members, the wider professional services community and related associations at large.

Although it was a short trip, we continued our usual practice to get together at a networking event with our members. CA ANZ extended their warm hospitality and hosted all of us at their lovely office for a joint members networking evening. Friendships were forged as our members connected with each other and with CA ANZ’s representatives and members from its council and committees. We hope these connections will become part of our members’ support network in Australia, and serve them well beyond the networking event.

Guangzhou, China

Following ISCA’s trip to Beijing (north China) and Shanghai (east China) in August, Team ISCA then headed to the southern region, with a visit to the city of Guangzhou from September 25 to 27. Similar to the Sydney trip, the Team ISCA representatives comprised ISCA President Teo Ser Luck and CEO Fann Kor.

As one of China’s Tier 1 cities, Guangzhou possesses vast business opportunities for our members, especially those offering professional services. It was a short but fruitful trip as we visited the Guangdong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (GDICPA), where we had an insightful exchange about the developments in Singapore and Guangdong; we also discussed the potential areas for collaboration.

Apart from meeting the local professional accountancy body, we also connected with Enterprise Singapore and ACCA, to garner in-depth knowledge about the business landscape and local market conditions in Guangzhou. Such information would help us as we establish our ISCA Guangzhou Chapter.

We ended our trip with a cosy night of networking with ISCA members in the region, to understand how the Institute can better support their needs through the overseas chapter in Guangzhou. Stay tuned for the latest developments on the ISCA Guangzhou Chapter before the year is out.