KARACHI, July 14: Accountants will possibly be interested to see what comes out of the 54th assembly of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (Safa) that is scheduled to be held in Katmandu, Nepal on July 17-19.

There is a long list of over a dozen items on the agenda, but of general interest will be review of the report prepared by the task force on 'cost index'. About that a little later.

Safa is a forum of professional accountancy bodies in Saarc countries, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Eight accounting institutes of the region are its members.

They are: Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan; Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India; Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh; Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal. Safa comprises over 160,000 professional accountants and has more than 250,000 students on its rolls.

The previous Safa assembly held in the pink city of Jaipur in March was a major event when the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) gave its recognition to Safa as a regional group. The assembly was also addressed by the president of the Confederation of Asia and Pacific Accountants (CAPA).

Now about the cost index: The Safa assembly at Jaipur endorsed a task force for preparation of a cost index. "The task force is headed by Ashraf Bawany of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP)," said Badruddin Fakhri of ICMAP, who is the sitting president of Safa. He succeeds Ashok Chandak of India, who headed the regional accountancy body during 2003.

Mr Fakhri explains that the cost index is meant to be a research study that identifies costs of producing major products in the Saarc region. It will measure cost components of say, raw materials, utilities, labour, financial charges and the like.

"Cost index would help in assessing competitiveness and direct improvement, where improvements can be made," said the Safa president, adding that it would also serve as a useful tool for other Saarc countries to reposition their cost structure so as to be more competitive in the post-WTO environment.

The cost index, said Mr Fakhri, would serve all-round purpose. Comparative costs of producing the same product in different Safa member countries will give the governments insight into restructuring tariffs; it will assist industrialists to look closely at the cost components of their products; banks will review their mark-up and other charges in the light of those charged in other countries and overall it will foster healthy competition within and outside the region.

Mr Fakhri said that an international conference would be held in Colombo in November, that would aim at creating awareness among company directors, about their role in achievement of transparency and good corporate governance.

The Jaipur assembly also made the landmark decision of forming a committee to charter ethics to be adopted by professional accountants. The committee is headed by Jamaluddin of Bangladesh, a former vice-premier of that country, who famously said at an earlier assembly in Karachi that accountants should "come closer to the corridors of power".