OREANDA-NEWS. February 08, 2010. The two-day conference on the Accounting and Auditing Reforms in Turkmenistan: Analysis and Perspectives organized by the Government of Turkmenistan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Central Bank of Turkmenistan was conducted at the President Hotel. The conference provided the representatives of the financial and banking institutions, organisations operating in the economic sector and research institutions of Turkmenistan with an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with the international experts from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank, the heads and specialists of the representative offices of the leading international banks in Turkmenistan and the consultants from Kazakhstan, who had arrived to Turkmenistan to take part in the conference.

The conference was aimed at facilitating the introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) into Turkmenistan’s accounting system that was a key aspect of economic reforms, attracting foreign investments and developing capital markets in the country. In this regard the USAID and UNDP experts expressed the readiness to support Turkmenistan’s efforts in this important field. It was noted that a priority of the accounting reform taking place in the country was conditioned by its profound contribution to sustainable economic growth. IFRS implementation stood as an important factor for Turkmenistan’s successful integration in the global economic system.

It was noted that the international financial reporting standards developed by IASB served as a key and effective instrument guaranteeing transparent and unified reporting procedures and delivery of reliable information on the financial activities of various organisations and companies to potential foreign investors as well. Highly qualified specialists played a key role in introducing IFRS. In this regard the conference participants defined personnel training among the major trends in cooperation between Turkmenistan and USAID and UNDP. In particular, they noted that over 180 Turkmen specialists had attended the courses and received the international certificates in the framework of the USAID-UNDP joint project.

The experts presented the brief overviews on the IFAC’s role and members obligations, IFRS implementation at the state institutions and the importance of transparent financial statements, etc. the Turkmen specialists told about the progress in implementing of IFRS in the banking sector of Turkmenistan.