The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has signed a pact with its South African counterpart to establish a framework for making recognition of their members easier and promote mobility of professionals between the countries.

The mutual recognition agreement (MRA) signed between the ICAI and South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) would facilitate mutual recognition of each other's qualification and admit the members in good standing by prescribing a bridging mechanism between the two institutes, the ICAI said in a release.

The agreement was inked on June 4 at the SAICA head office in Johannesburg.

Under the MRA terms, an ICAI member is exempted from appearing in Part I or initial test of competency and practical training requirements of SAICA and can become a member of the latter on the basis of completing the assessment of professional competence (APC) examination.

Besides, if an individual ICAI applicant, in good standing, fulfils the "competency requirements" of the SAICA competency framework, membership of the South African chartered accountants body may be granted without completing the APC examination.

The MRA will lead to greater mobility of professionals at either end and would herald a new dimension of professional opportunities for chartered accountants of both the countries, ICAI President Naveen N D Gupta said.

"The MRA, leading to membership pathways, between ICAI and SAICA would be beneficial for the members of both countries," Fanisa Lamola, the Chief Executive Officer of SAICA said.

Last month, the Union Cabinet had approved signing of an MRA between the ICAI and the SAICA to establish a mutual cooperation framework for the advancement of accounting knowledge, professional and intellectual development, advancing the interests of their respective members and positively contributing to the development of the accounting profession in the two countries.#casansaar (Source - PTI, Times of India)