November 2007 update
ACCA CARIBBEAN: SUCCESS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONFERENCES
ACCA Caribbean office, in collaboration with the Small Business Unit, organised two highly successful SME conferences in October 2007. The events provided a platform for ACCA to showcase the financial expertise of its members to the SME sector and both events attracted high numbers of delegates with 120 in Barbados and 200 in Trinidad.
The topics explored ranged from factors influencing SME development, SME sector condition, impact of the CARICOM Single Market, intellectual property, to more interactive sessions on raising finance and writing bankable business plans. The events also provided an opportunity for ACCA to establish formal links with the small business stakeholders in the region such as the Chambers of Commerce in both countries as well as other small business organisations including the Business Development Company in Trinidad and the Barbados Small Business Association.
Both conferences generated high profile publicity for ACCA. In Barbados, the Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Business Development issued a challenge to accountants to lend their expertise to small business, saying that owners and operators of SMEs need assistance from accounting professionals with running their businesses well and keeping records up to date, allowing for more efficient business management. The conferences were covered by one TV station, two radio stations and three newspapers.
Brenda Lee Tang, ACCA Head of Policy Development in the Caribbean, noted the high number of delegates at both events saying 'We have seen very high attendance levels during these two conferences and it was wonderful to have this opportunity to reach out to the SME market. We were especially pleased to see such positive feedback, not only from our conference contributors, but also from delegates themselves with 95% and 100% rating the conference as 'very useful' or 'useful' in Trinidad and Barbados respectively.'
The SME conferences are run annually by the Small Business Unit and various national offices. Previous events were held in Zambia, Vietnam, Poland, Hong Kong and Mauritius.
GLOBAL: RESEARCH GRANTS
As mentioned in the last update, ACCA's research committee has issued a n international call for research proposal on the issue of SMEs and Entrepreneurship. In total 34 proposals were received and applications were received from research in eleven countries across five continents.
The vetting process chose four proposals from this high caliber field. We have now commissioned the following research projects:
- Comparison of the role of accountants in SME financing in China and the UK by Dr Junji Wu, Leeds Met and Prof Jinyi Zhu, Yunnan University of Finance & Economics, China
- Accountants as providers of support and advice to SMEs by Ass Prof Susela Devi, University of Malaysia and Helen Samujh, University of Waikato, NZ
- The Roles of Competence, Trust and Professional Ethics in the Supply of External Financial Advice to SMEs by Dr George Tanewski and Assoc Prof Peter Carey, Monash University, and Prof Robert Blackburn, Kingston University
- Unpacking incomes and rewards to understand self-employment decisions by Professor Ian Stone, Durham Business School
These research projects will be completed over different timescales over the next few years. We very much look forward to them producing thought provoking and insightful findings.