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ACCA Caribbean has marked its 10th anniversary at a gala event in Trinidad attended by more than 350 stakeholders.  The event, which took place on 2 November at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain, provided an opportunity to celebrate the many milestones achieved by ACCA in the region since the opening of the Trinidad office in 1999. Among these are:

• the signing of Practice Monitoring contracts at the last two regional ICAC conferences for the territories of Barbados, Trinidad, Bahamas, Guyana and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
• the renewal of Joint Examination Scheme partnership agreements with five regional institutes
• an increased number of regional employers attaining Approved Employer status
• a number of tuition providers achieving Approved Learning Provider status.

In her address, Brenda Lee Tang, ACCA Caribbean's head of corporate development, thanked the stakeholders for their support over the past 10 years and paid tribute to the key role played by ACCA chief executive Helen Brand in establishing an ACCA presence in the region.
 
'In 1998, ACCA held a meeting to assess and identify additional support for its stakeholders in the Caribbean region,' she said. 'Helen Brand took part in those initial discussions and played a pivotal role in the drive to establish a committed presence in the Caribbean. ACCA's Council subsequently agreed to the opening of a Caribbean office in Port of Spain.
 
'Trinidad and Tobago at that time possessed, and still does, the largest student and member base in the region. By December 2008, with over 18,000 students - marking a 43% growth in numbers since 2001 and a 68% growth in membership to more than 4,000 - last year's restructure of the Caribbean office could not have come at a better time.'
 
Helen Brand attended the gala celebration and remarked that while the global economic landscape in 1999 was very different to today, the fundamental challenges for accounting professionals remain the same.
 
'The accountant's role is to provide the skills and expertise organisations need to thrive,' she said. 'And, in the current economic environment, we are seeing a fresh appreciation of distinct value finance professionals bring to business.
 
'Whatever the future may hold, we will be working to ensure that the ACCA Qualification continues to open doors and lead to the best opportunities business can offer, across the region and the world. And, through this, make sure that the next 10 years of ACCA in the Caribbean are just as successful and productive as the last.'

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