ACCA, PwC and University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City: Cooperation bringing practical educational background and career opportunities for students majoring in Accounting

ACCA, PwC and University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City: Cooperation bringing practical educational background and career opportunities for students majoring in Accounting - Finance

On February 22^nd, 2022, at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), the signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement to deploy an integrated accounting training program among 03 units: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Auditing Company PwC Vietnam took place in Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) and UEH. This is the first time that a joint program between universities, professional associations and international businesses has participated that provides a practical education foundation and expands career opportunities for students majoring in Accounting - Finance.

Attending the ceremony, on behalf of UEH side, there witnessed the presence of Prof. Dr. Sử Đình Thành – UEH Principal; Dr. Trần Anh Hoa - Dean of Faculty of Accounting; Dr. Nguyễn Phước Bảo Ấn - Vice Dean of Faculty of Accountancy and Department heads, Program directors and the drafting team of the integrated program of International Professional Association.

On behalf of ACCA, there witnessed the presence of Mr. Pukkit Abrol - ACCA Regional Director for ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand; Ms. Nguyễn Thuỵ Minh Châu - ACCA Vietnam Representative; Mr. Mạc Quang Huy - Former Chairman and Current Member of ACCA Vietnam Member Committee, Founder and CEO of MAC Capital Limited together with members to attend in person and via online form.

On behalf of PwC, there were Mr. Quach Thanh Chau - Deputy General Director of PwC Vietnam.

In addition, the cooperation signing ceremony received the special attendance of Mr. Sam Wood, British Deputy Consul General; Ms. Hồ Thị Kim Phượng - Manager of Education and Training sector of British Department of International Trade at British Consulate General; and Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Association of Vietnamese Practicing Auditors - Dr. Trần Khánh Lâm.

Overview of the signing ceremony

This cooperation is part of the strategy to promote the construction and development of ACCA's integrated accounting training program with International Certificates of ACCA as well as increasing the internationalization and practicality of current training programs at UEH, providing internship and career opportunities for students.

Speaking at signing ceremony opening, Prof. Dr. Sử Đình Thành - Rector of UEH stated that: “University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City strongly supports the fact that the Faculty and Training Institutes of UEH University establish links with international professional associations as well as with multinational enterprises in order to develop training programs that go hand in hand with practice. In particular, we highly appreciate the qualifications granted by Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the reputation of PwC Vietnam Co., Ltd. Therefore, we do believe that the signing of this cooperation among UEH, ACCA and PwC VN will be one of the development steps to help the 03 parties strengthen our social responsibility in developing innovative training programs, enhancing professional knowledge and skills in Vietnam, effectively contributing to the creation of high-quality human resources and jointly spreading knowledge, thereby, contributing to the economic development of the country.”

Prof. Dr. Sử Đình Thành - Rector of UEH - delivering his opening speech

Mr. Pulkit Abrol - ACCA Regional Director for ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand emphasizes that: “The partnership among UEH, ACCA and PwC will mark a milestone through the integration of learning resources, bringing opportunities for practical professional development for students majoring in Accounting - Finance. Besides, I believe that the cooperation between UEH and ACCA using ACCA's international qualifications will bring global learning quality and high employability for UEH students after graduation.”

Mr. Pulkit Abrol - ACCA Regional Director for ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand sharing his opinions

After more-than-10-year cooperation, ACCA, since 2011, has always been accompanying UEH in intensive course activities on accounting and auditing for lecturers as well as diverse competitions, extracurricular activities and study scholarships for UEH students. On the foundation of the achieved results together with the goal of raising the cooperation to a closer and more comprehensive level, UEH and ACCA signed an extension of the memorandum of cooperation.

Cooperation signing ceremony between ACCA and UEH

In accordance with the signed minutes, ACCA will continue to cooperate with UEH in implementing training and career orientation programs; increasing employment opportunities for students through capacity development initiatives while tapping into professional and industry contacts to support these goals.

On this occasion, ACCA and UEH also held a signing ceremony of cooperation agreement with PwC Vietnam company - one of the four current leading auditing firms in the world.

Cooperation signing ceremony among ACCA, UEH and PwC Vietnam

Delivering personal opinions regarding this signing cooperation, Mr. Quách Thành Châu - Deputy General Director of PwC (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. shared: “PwC has been having a relationship with ACCA and UEH for many years: a large part of PwC's employees, as high-qualified from UEH with ACCA degrees, have been very successful at PwC. In terms of this international integration context, the parties have a close cooperation in developing high-quality human resources in Finance industry and specifically for Accounting-Auditing industry; enhancing knowledge, professional skills and opportunities and working in a professional environment. This MOU signing ceremony today is a special event that demonstrates PwC Vietnamese long-term commitment to cooperation in relations with the parties in order to enhance the internationality and growth in the training program, bringing career expansion opportunities for UEH students majoring in finance, accounting and auditing. Together with our network at 156 nations & more than 295,000 employees as well as long-term reputation, PwC VN, through this program, commits to providing UEH students the top privileges regarding occupational orientations, sharing practical experiences as well as assisting students being practicing at practical employment at enterprises’ environment.”

Mr. Quách Thành Châu - Deputy General Director of PwC (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. - giving his speech

Bên cạnh đó, sự hợp tác của UEH, ACCA và PwC đã nhận được sự chúc mừng của ông Sam Wood - Phó Tổng lãnh sự quán Anh; TS. Trần Khánh Lâm - Phó Chủ tịch kiêm Tổng thư ký Hội Kiểm toán viên hành nghề Việt Nam; ông Mạc Quang Huy - Cựu chủ tịch và hiện là Thành viên Ủy ban Hội viên ACCA Việt Nam, Nhà sáng lập và Giám đốc điều hành MAC Capital Limited. Besides, the cooperation of UEH, ACCA and PwC was congratulated by Mr. Sam Wood - Deputy Consulate General of the UK; Dr. Tran Khanh Lam - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants; Mr. Mac Quang Huy - Former Chairman and current Member of ACCA Vietnam Member Committee, Founder and CEO of MAC Capital Limited.

Mr. Sam Wood - Deputy Consulate General of the UK and Head of Trade & Investment Department - delivering a congratulatory speech on this signing ceremony

Dr. Trần Khánh Lâm - Vice President and General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants - delivering his congratulatory speech

Mr. Mạc Quang Huy - Former Chairman, Current Member of ACCA Vietnam, Founder and CEO of MAC Capital Limited - giving congratulatory speech

It should be stated that the close cooperation of UEH, ACCA and PwC is completely a great learning and internship opportunity for UEH students majoring in Accounting and Auditing in particular and the whole country in general, bringing a favorable start on the career path, thereby, contributing to the development and positive achievements of Vietnamese Accounting - Finance industry.

Dr. Trần Anh Hoa - Dean of Faculty of Accountancy, UEH Business School emphasized: “This first 3-party Memorandum marks an important and pioneering milestone that opens up a new direction of cooperation. For the first time, Bachelor's degree program has received the commitment of an international professional association and a global enterprise. This 03-Party cooperation is expected to bring many benefits to Faculty's lecturers and students. These benefits are as follows: These three parties will jointly develop a training program that integrates accounting and business certificates, expected to enroll in 2023 schoolyear, Program graduates will receive UEH bachelor's degrees and ACCA's international certificates; These three parties are committed to jointly promote value-added activities for students listed as: organizing field trips at enterprises, creating internship and recruitment opportunities for students of the integrated class at PwC, organizing seminars on professional skills development; concurrently, the two sides also focus on improving the capacity of lecturers through their commitment to jointly organize professional seminars, academic activities and cooperate in conducting research in accounting-auditing fields. All of the above activities are aimed at the biggest goal: the strategic cooperation relationship between the two sides expects is to promote the development of high-quality human resource training, meeting international standards for the translation market. Vietnamese accounting and auditing services are in a period of strong integration. On behalf of all lecturers at Faculty of Accounting, I am strongly convinced that this cooperation among the three parties will be successful, helping our Accounting Faculty to fulfill the mission of UEH University in raising knowledge, training high-quality human resources, meeting global import and transfer as well as pioneering innovation and creation for the community.”