The government has sufficient funds to finance development projects and has no plans to issue global bonds for sale to pay for the projects, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin.

“The government’s focus is now on implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) projects and expediting payments to contractors so as to ensure projects are carried out on time,” he said.

“Whatever projects that have been approved under the 9MP and Budget 2007 must be paid for, and this can be funded domestically while maintaining the deficit level at 3.4%,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur after launching the National Accountants Conference 2006 (NAC 2006).

He added that the government had so far this year gained between RM700 million and RM800 million through efficient treasury management of external debts.

In his keynote address at the NAC 2006, Awang Adek called upon accountants to provide advisory services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enable the businesses to put in place the necessary infrastructure for proper management and maintenance of records.

“As a profession, accountants possess the professional experience and expertise on taxation, auditing, consultancy and financial advisory services to be in the best position to provide the necessary support to Malaysian SMEs,” he said.

He said it was important to address the gaps in the delivery of such services to consumers who needed it most, but do not have the capability and capacity to access advisory services due to geographical isolation or lack of funds.

Awang Adek said a survey conducted by the Census of Establishment and Enterprise for the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors in March 2005 revealed that 28% of the SMEs highlighted that access to advisory services in accounting, finance and audit were needed to improve their business viability.

Another area that accountants could play a catalytic role, said Awang Adek, was the accounting standards for Islamic banking, finance and takaful.

“Accountants should aspire to emerge as the standard-setters in Islamic accounting standards rather than standard-followers, and strive towards innovation in accounting practices and valuation standards that truly reflect the intended practices and norms mandated by the Syariah principles,” he said.

At the NAC 2006, Awang Adek also witnessed the signing of a mutual recognition agreement between the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and its Indonesian counterpart, Ikatan Akuntan Indonesia (IAI).

The agreement, which is the first of its kind between any Asean national accountancy bodies, will enable members of the MIA and IAI to apply for admission in each other.