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Dear Colleagues,

The AGN Asia Pacific Regional Conference was successfully held in Vietnam from 26 to 28 April 2009. Thanks to the great efforts of our new member, International Auditing and Financial Consulting Company Limited, in organizing the conference and making arrangements for technical and social programs for us. The conference was well attended by 25 delegates from the region. Please find more information and photos of this event on the Asia Pacific Regional website (www.agn-ap.org> Regional News > Asia Pacific Regional Conference).

In May 2009, Juergen Kracht (Fiducia Management Consultants Ltd) and I were invited to attend the AGN North American Regional Meeting held in Denver. The purposes of my trip were:

(1) To give a presentation on audit and accounting issues for foreign investments in China.
(2) To meet the board members of the North American (“NA”) Region for discussion on ways to enhance co-operation between the two regions.

I benefited much from the trip, especially having the chance to see and learn the capabilities of our counter-part to plan and organize the meeting. Technical sessions were well diversified for different interest groups, and some well-known experts were invited as guest speakers. Arrangements for the social events were also extraordinary. We had dinner at a bowling centre on the first night and at a football stadium on the second night. Chatting, drinking and bowling made the two evenings full of fun.

During the meeting, I had the chance to talk to some of the NA board members on engagement co-ordination between the two regions. In order to better serve clients of the NA region, there was a general view that members of the AP region should be equipped with basic knowledge about the legal and technical requirements of US engagements referred to them. Therefore, the NA board members have kindly agreed to provide training support to the AP region. Detailed arrangements of the training program have yet to be explored and agreed upon. It is a big step moving forward to advance the technical capability of the AP region. I will work with the AP board to develop a working plan for consideration by the NA board members.

Our regional website (www.agn-ap.org) is full of interesting information and technical contents. Please spare some time to explore it.

The Chinese Government has just announced that the country’s economy grew by 7.9% in the second quarter of 2009. Such strong rebound, mainly driven by the stimulus package pushedforwarded by the Government, has taken some economists by surprise, as the country’s exports have fallen by about 25% over last year, and demand for products in US and Europe are still very slow. A 9% growth rate is expected in the forthcoming third quarter. Most economists now consider that China is the first big country to have a V-shape rebound, offering a stable signal for the world economy.

Paralleling to the strong growth, the stock market index in Shanghai has already been up by about 75% since the beginning of the year. A giant IPO just took place last week bringing in billions of cash to the issuer which is engaged in the business of construction engineering. Many more large IPOs are on the pipeline. Despite all the positive factors, there are some concerns over bubbles in the real estate market and the return of inflation.

Ricky Wong
Chair, Asia Pacific Region
Wong Brothers & Co.
Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 2520 2701
Fax: (+852) 2861 3757
rickywong@wongbros.com.hk

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The AGN Asia Pacific Regional Conference was held at the Caravelle Hotel at the Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 26 to 28 April, 2009. Ho Chi Minh City (“Saigon”) is the largest city and located in the most important part of Vietnam, contributing significantly to the development of the country’s economy. Caravelle is a 5-star hotel located in the centre of the city, surrounded by many tourist attractions.

The conference was hosted by International Auditing and Financial Consulting Company Ltd. (“IFC”), a newly admitted member firm of AGN. The firm’s head office is located in Hanoi and is one of the top professional accounting firms in Vietnam. It has 5 directors and some 100 staff, providing audit, tax and consulting services. The directors are young and energetic, and all of them have working experience with Big 4s. The firm spent great efforts in organizing the conference and making arrangements for social programs for delegates.

Although there were apologies from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand, the conference was well attended by delegates from other countries in the region. The conference started off by a Board meeting in the late afternoon, followed by a cocktail reception at the hotel in the evening on 26 April. About 25 delegates and spouses joined the function, having good food and drinks.

After a brief welcoming speech by Mr. Ricky Wong, the Asia Pacific Regional Chairman, delegates from Vietnam, Singapore, China and Indonesia were invited to give a brief introduction about their firms. Through such introduction, delegates were interested to note that the Vietnam firm performed “Value for Money” audit and the Singapore firm provided “Logistic and Supply Chain” consultation to clients. It was envisaged that these firms would be invited to give talks on their specialization in the future regional conferences, the official program started off by a speech given by the Office Manager of the Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants in Ho Chi Minh. She talked to the delegates about the regulatory environment of public accounting practice in Vietnam. Thereafter, an overview of investment opportunities and different forms of business structure was given by representatives from Phuoc & Partners, a law firm in Vietnam. The morning section was then concluded.

After the lunch break, a leadership seminar “Action Oriented Leadership” was given by Mr Tim Egold, the trainer from Dale Carnegie Training Centre in Singapore. Tim is an experienced trainer in delivering leadership development course for business people and professionals. Throughout the two and half hours, Tim introduced quality requirements of leadership, and different tools to achieve management goals. The word “Action” in fact means ANTICIPATE, CHALLENGE, TACKLE, INNOVATE, ORGANIZE AND NEGOTIATE. By means of action plans, leaders look for ways to save money, save time, improve quality, increase market share and improve brand image. Tim introduced an analysis tool known as SWOT to focus on STRENGTHS, to minimize WEAKNESSES, to address THREATS and to take greatest possible advantage of OPPORTUNITIES available. It was a condensed seminar, and a bit difficult to digest all the concepts in just one afternoon. A Certificate of Achievement was awarded to each participate by Dale Carnegie.

After the day tour, spouses joined the delegates for dinner at a restaurant near the hotel. The restaurant was famous for Vietnamese traditional cuisine and provided a good ambiance for dinner.

Ms. Esther Tan, International Chair of AGN, gave an update on international development and strategic plan for coming years start off the program for the second day. She talked about the concept of good citizenship in monitoring member firms’ responses to requests for compliance with AGN administrative matters as well as their involvement in AGN regional and international activities. Topics on training facilities and staff exchange scheme were discussed during the session. After that, Ms. Vimala Devi of the Singapore firm acted as leader to brief the conference about general issues of transfer pricing. The topic was of great interest to the delegates and heatedly discussed during the session. To prepare for discussion, delegates were requested to complete a checklist about the general practice of their countries. Vimala promised to review and re-organize the checklists, and put them onto the Asia Pacific website as a reference tool to promote the region.

After concluding the meeting at noon, delegates were invited for a half day city tour in Ho Chi Minh. Some of the delegates had to catch their planes in the evening, and left the tour earlier. Others continued the tour by experiencing a cycling trip amidst the heavy traffic in the downtown area. It seemed to be dangerous, but fun. The drivers were very skilful in manoeuvring their three-wheel bikes through cars and pedestrians. In the evening, IFC organized the dinner at a boat which was anchored at a wharf. The restaurant was famous for special Vietnamese food. Though there were thunder storms and heavy rain in the evening, the boat was full of customers.

The conference was short but successful. Delegates had a good time in Vietnam by sharing their joy and experiences with their counter-parts from other countries in the region. They returned home with good and enjoyable memories.

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On 13 March 2009, Shenzhen Wong Brothers Regal Management Consultancy Co Ltd., a joint venture between Wong Brothers & Co., Hong Kong (“WBC”) and China Regal CPAs, China (“China Regal”) was duly established.

Contact details of the JV Company are:

Room 823, Shenzhen Kerry Centre
Renminnan Road, Luohu District
Shenzhen, China
Postcode: 518001
Tel: (+86 755) 2518 1272
Fax: (+86 755) 25181072
rickywong@wongbros.com.hk

The JV Company aims at providing all sort of consulting services to foreign investors, especially clients of WBC, China Regal and AGN members, who wish to start business in China. In particular, services of the JV Company include:

• Advising clients on different types of investment structures (e.g. Representative Office, Equity Joint Venture, Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise, etc).
• Assisting clients on selecting and establishing the most appropriate type of investment structure, including pre-registration and post-registration procedures.
• Assisting clients on ongoing compliance with Government rules and regulations (e.g. filings for enterprise income tax, business tax, value added tax, individual income tax and social security payments for staff, etc).
• Advising clients on design and implementation of management information, financial and internal control system.
• Collecting trade and economic information for clients, and updating them on important changes in Government rules and regulation.
• Performing financial and tax due diligence on proposed acquisition of business and assets for clients.

WBC, being established in 1964, is one of the largest accounting firms in Hong Kong. It provides full ranges of professional services to local and international clients. Over the years, it has been requested by a large number of local and international clients to carry out audit, financial and tax due diligence and investment advisory engagements in China.

China Regal is a reputable accounting firm in China, providing high quality professional services to local enterprises. The senior partner of the firm is a well respected CPA in the local professional community, and the firm has built up good relationship with various local Government units.

Combination of the expertise of the two firms set sails a solid platform to serve international investors in China.