Presentation given by the World Bank at the IFAC Mentoring Workshop, February 17, 2012

1. Accountancy Development for Results
From Strategy to Action
IFAC Mentoring Insights
Workshop
The World Bank Perspective
Dubai, 17 February, 2012
Samia Msadek, Manager, Financial Management,
East Asia and Pacific Region, The World Bank

2. The World Bank commitment to
knowledge
Fighting poverty : From financial and technical
support to a Knowledge Strategy
“Knowledge is like light. Weightless and intangible, it
can easily travel the world, enlightening the lives of
people everywhere. Yet billions of people still live in the
darkness of poverty—unnecessarily.”
- World Development Report (1999), Knowledge for
Development
“The Bank’s scale, range, and
diversity, including the interaction of
knowledge with its lending operations, lie at
the core of its specialized role as a key
contributor to global development
knowledge.”
- World Bank Knowledge Report (2011)
2

3. Accountancy Development for Results
…Increasing our effectiveness
Accountancy Development an essential pillar
to poverty alleviation and economic
growth…The world needs reliable financial
information
 Private sector development : Investment
climate, Capital market development and
Financial sector stability
 Public sector governance:
transparency, financial accountability, proper
use of public funds and fight against
3
corruption

4. Sustainable growth
Employment generation
Improved business environment and investment climate
Financial Financial Improved
Improved governance and
sector sector access to
accountability
stability development credit
Financial sector Capital markets Tax & statistics
regulators and General public
& investors authorities
banks
Reliable, transparent
and comparable financial information
Strong professional accountancy

5. From goals to action: overcoming
barriers and effecting change
Action
Strategic
Low capacity
Plan Effecting
change
Incomplete knowledge
Weak incentives
Goal To Results
5

6. Framework to Enhance
Knowledge
Peer Learning Communities of
Practice
Connecting
people and ideas Creating ideas
Enhancing
Knowledg
e in A&A
Knowledge
Platform - ROSC Talent
AA – TA - GDLN Development
Creating the Creating Leaders
change
6

7. Building our knowledge to effect
change
1. Diagnostic and analytical work
 ROSC A&A – 120 reports , ROSC
retrospective & lessons learned
 Accounting for Growth in Latin America and
the Caribbean book
2. Regional initiatives
 CReCER – Latin America and the Caribbean
 Vienna Centre for Corporate Financial
Reporting Reform
 Singapore Center of Excellence for
Accounting and Auditing
7

8. Knowledge in action…
"To make knowledge
productive, we will have to learn to
see both forest and tree. We will
have to learn to connect" - Peter K.
Drucker
8

9. Acting at the Global level… East Asia-Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
• TA in Western Balkans and Moldova • Twinning in Cambodia
(REPARIS) • GDLN series on IFRS
• CoP in Accounting Education, Financial • TA in
Reporting, Auditing, and Financial Sector China, Indonesia, Lao
Supervision PDR, Mongolia, Philippines,
• Twinning in Serbia Thailand, and Vietnam
• Events in Bosnia & Herzegovina and North (strengthen PAO, enhance
Middle-East, capacity in A&A, strengthen
Kosovo Africa M&E of requirements)
• TA in South Asia
Latin Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, • TA in Sri Lanka to
America/Caribbean West Bank-Gaza, Yemen strengthen independent
• CReCER conferences to strengthen A&A audit regulator
(2007-2011) • CAP in Morocco • Twinning in
Africa Bangladesh
• CReCER CoP
• Twinning in
• TA Accounting
Botswana, Mozambiqu
Education in Central
e, Malawi, and
America
Rwanda
• ROSC A&A
Roundtable
Conference (2010) in
Addis Ababa

10. EAP - Singapore Center of Excellence for
Accounting and Auditing
Leveraging Singapore’s World class
 Objective:
knowledge and expertise to accelerate the reform
agenda in Accounting and Auditing in EAP
 Investing in people’s skills and identifying talent to create
leaders to support the A&A agenda – regional approach
to capacity building
 On the road to 2030: intellectual leadership to support
the reforms and research to better position Professional
Accountancy Organizations – connecting the trio:
financial architecture – system - talent
 Business Concept
 Designing Technical Assistance activities – Team of
Experts and group of practice
 Selecting acceptable institutions to deliver the TAs &
mobilizing funds
 Engaging with PAOs, learning centers, universities and
research centers
 Ensuring proper oversight and result

11. ECA - Vienna Centre for Corporate
Financial Reporting Reform
Key priorities for ECA
countries
• Competitiveness
• Regional + ROSC A&A
FRTAP
integration Program
(4 countries)
• EU membership + Central
Asia
REPARIS
(8
countries)
Improved, harmonized
• Opened October 2007
and EU-aligned CFR
• Based in Vienna
systems support those CFRR
11 • 3 main programs
priorities • Approx. 20 staff

12. LAC - CReCER: Accounting and
Accountability for Regional Economic Growth
Accounting for
Analytical
Products
Growth in Latin
America
Community of
FIRST, DFID, SF Practice
LAC grants
Workshops: Technical GDLN Series
Knowledg
Capacity Assistanc
CReCER e Sharing IPSAS
Building e
Conference Translations
IFRS for SMEs
Translation IFRS for SMEs
Training
Partnership
s& Global Partners
Networking

13. Achievements: World Bank
technical assistance by source 0f
funding
4%
11%
14%
28% 43%
Lending Grant-IDF Grant-FIRST
Grant-Other Bank-funded
13

14. World Bank technical assistance by
theme
Standard Setting
PAO Development
Legal Framework
CAP
AccountingEducation
M&E
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
14
* cross-cutting projects may be categorized in more than one theme

15. Going forward: raising our game
More change agents … more leaders…
preparing the future & our 2030 strategy
 Reinventing vs restructuring : 5 elements
: the purpose - incentives – power structure
– accountability – culture
 Creating an increase of
efficiency, effectiveness, adaptability, and
capacity to innovate
15

16. From mentoring to strategic
partnerships
Solutions require a mix of approaches and tools
 Global approach to Knowledge to achieve development
results: Communities of Practice to support research and
create ideas
 Invest in people’s skills to create leaders and talented
accountants
 Encourage South-South exchange & peer learning:
connecting people and ideas
 Communicate with policy makers and advocacy with
stakeholders
MOSAIC : a common16purpose to realize
opportunities

17. “ The reasonable man adapts
himself to the world. The
unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore all
progress depends on the
unreasonable man”. George
Bernard Shaw in Effective
innovation 17