Lack Of Transparency Holds Back Asian Business

Lack Of Transparency Holding Back Business Potential In Asian Economies

Inconsistent financial reporting and lack of transparency, throughout the region, are limiting business development within the Asian region.

Mr Bob Campbell, Regional Managing Partner for Asia Pacific for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, says the issues are serious and he hopes that the topic will be aired at the annual APEC conference being held in Auckland, New Zealand on September 11 - 13.

Mr Campbell, who is based in Hong Kong, will be in New Zealand for the APEC CEO summit.

"We work for one in five of the top businesses and trading organisations in the region," said Mr Campbell. "We see how the inconsistency in financial reporting affects our clients and inhibits investment and other financial transactions."

Mr Campbell said the lack of consistent financial reporting standards had been a factor in the recent Asian financial crisis.

"There is now an urgent need to set international standards for financial reporting and create a community of interested parties to enforce them. This requires the input of all parties who report on and rely on financial information, including the accounting profession, investors, capital providers and regulators.

"There must be reliable financial information produced to a common set of standards in all Asian Countries," he said. More.

"Yet within our region information is not always adequate, and based on too many varying standards.

"As the trend to globalisation continues, we see companies in some countries in the region being evaluated by `western' investment models, but reporting standards are not consistent with these reporting standards.

"Everyone who is involved in the in-flow of capital across borders should be involved in addressing this problem. No region or country should feel that they have not been part of developing a solution, and any agreed models must be global, and take into account both the public and private sectors.

"Only when this is agreed and established will trade and investment within the Asian region reach its full potential."

The APEC CEO summit conference is being held at the same time as the APEC leaders conference in Auckland, attended by Heads of State of APEC member countries. The CEO summit is intended to provide an international business perspective, and is being attended by some 250 chief executive officers from Asian and Pacific Rim countries, a region accounting for about half of the world's trade.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is one of the world's leading professional services firms, delivering world-class assurance and advisory, tax, and consulting services. More than 82,000 people in over 130 countries serve nearly one-fifth of the world's largest companies as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, and successful fast-growing companies. Our internationally experienced professionals deliver seamless, consistent services wherever our clients operate. Our mission is to help our clients and our people excel.

ENDS....

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