Mr Tran Van Ta, the Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants (VACPA) and Prof Janek Ratnatunga, the CEO of Institute Of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement between the two institutes (pictured above). It was an historic event as ICMA is the first management accounting body to enter into an MOU with VACPA, which is itself controlled by the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam.
The objective of this agreement is to grant VACPA members preferred access to membership categories in ICMA and members of ICMA preferred access to membership categories of VACPA.
The eligibility criteria is as follows: (1) VACPA: Full Members and Associate Members of VACPA who fulfil the institute’s membership requirements on education, training and experience and are not admitted to the institute by virtue of a mutual recognition agreement between VACPA and another organisation; and (2) ICMA: Certified Management Accountants (CMAs) and Associate Management Accountants (AMAs) of ICMA who fulfil institute’s membership requirements on education, training and experience and are not admitted to the institute by virtue of a mutual recognition agreement between ICMA and another organisation.
The Admission Requirements are as follows: (1) VACPA: CMAs and AMAs of ICMA will be directly eligible for Associate membership in VACPA provided they meet the practical experience requirements for the respective grade that has been established by VACPA. Further CMAs of ICMA will be eligible for Full membership in VACPA provided they complete two (2) subjects of the education program leading to the CPA certificate awarded by the Minister of Finance and are working in independent auditing organizations in Vietnam; and (2) ICMA: Full Members and Associate Members of VACPA will be directly eligible for Associate Management Accountant (AMA) membership in ICMA provided they meet the practical experience requirements for the respective grade that has been established by ICMA. Further, Full Members and Associate Members of VACPA will be eligible for Certified Management Accountant (CMA) membership in ICMA provided they complete two subjects of the ICMA-CMA education program and meet the practical experience requirements for the respective grade that has been established by ICMA.
The Membership Conditions are that: (1) VACPA: Members of ICMA who become members of VACPA by virtue of this agreement must maintain their memberships of ICMA, and (2) ICMA: Members of VACPA who become members of ICMA by virtue of this agreement must maintain their memberships of VACPA.
Under this agreement, the VACPA and the ICMA will undertake a number of projects including an annual conference; professional development programs and the drafting of management accounting best practice standards for the Ministry of Finance.
