AmCham, ACCA sign MoU for accountancy training in oil sector

The American Chamber of Commerce of Guyana (AmCham) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) have inked a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) providing capacity building and training for interested accountants across the Private Sector.
At a simple ceremony at the Marriott Hotel on Monday, officials of both organisations finalised the agreement and shared some of the prospects that were expected in time for the forthcoming oil industry.
Head of ACCA Caribbean, Shelly Ann Mohammed explained that the agreement was aimed at developing the skills of accountants in Guyana to take them through the changing economy.
“It is our hope that through this formalised partnership, we will be able to work together in the coming years to further develop the accounting profession in

Guyana as well as to collaborate on training and initiatives to equip local finance professionals with skills to thrive in a rapidly-changing professional environment,” stated Mohammed.
The ACCA is known for its contributions in developing this profession over the past 30 years in several countries around the world.
The ACCA official highlighted some of the goals for the company in Guyana, stating “our core values are aligned to the needs of the employers in all sectors and we show that through our range of qualifications. We prepare accountants for business. ACCA is committed to helping growth in Guyana by partnering with all stakeholders to think ahead to connect markets and communities and to use our global range to support the profession to flourish and grow.”
In his remarks, AmCham Guyana President Zulfikar Ally gave a highlight of some of the areas that will be targeted during these training courses and emphasised that this programme was open to all stakeholders.
“We’re focusing on training and development of accountants within the business community. It would not only be just for AmCham members, but any business who are interested in learning from the collaboration we have with ACCA. We will focus on areas of anti-money laundering, new accounting practices, leadership, global recognition, ethics in accounting and governance.”

Oil industry preparations
During this engagement, several persons spoke on the sidelines about the oil prospects in Guyana and developing a strong local content framework for the country’s protection. Mohammed pointed out that building a strong accounting background was essential and would reduce the country’s dependence on foreign accountants.
“I think it will be very important to build the finance department of those oil and gas companies, because they’re going to need strong auditing, strong accounting background and some might be global companies so the standards are going to be in alignment with global recognition … Part of building local content is important – not just to utilise the foreign accountants but to make sure we build capacity in Guyana,” she said.
She insisted that they were looking at feedback from the training to identify how impactful the sessions would be on preparations for the oil sector.
“Our companies in Guyana are really going to need this capacity building, especially because of the oil and gas development that is happening. Over the next few days, we hope that we can see the impact of the training and capacity building that we do.”
AmCham President Ally noted that Guyana could also learn from ACCA Caribbean, since Trinidad and Tobago had vast experience in both oil and natural gas.
“It is very significant because in Guyana, we don’t have that capacity as yet. Oil and gas is very new to us. We’re hoping to collaborate with them and benefit from them, given the experience that they have already to help our members and the Private Sector.”