The work of the 7th edition of the congress of the Order of Moroccan Chartered Accountants opened on Thursday late afternoon in El Jadida, with the participation of more than 300 people including about forty foreigners.

Organised under the High Patronage of HM the King under the theme "The Chartered Accountant and the dynamics of change", this 7th edition offers the opportunity for chartered accountants to debate the changes that have occurred with globalisation and the mutations of the socio-economic environment, to find appropriate answers to meet the challenges linked to a socio-economic crisis on a global scale, and to face a situation generated by the adoption of a new Constitution.

The choice of the theme of this edition is proof of the positive involvement of the order of accountants in the new situation that the country is experiencing with a new Constitution containing new concepts of transparency, governance, ethics and equal opportunities, stressed on this occasion, Nizar Baraka, Minister of Economy and Finance.

In a speech read on his behalf by Samir Tazi, director of public enterprises and privatisation at the ministry, Mr. Baraka added that globalisation, the dynamics of integration of the Moroccan economy into the global space and the implementation of a national strategy aimed at consolidating the place of the Moroccan economy in this global space has made it possible to modernise the professions of chartered accountants and make them more active in economic and financial life.

This achievement must still be reinforced in parallel with the change that the country is experiencing and which requires a new approach to work through a permanent adaptation of the chartered accountant to their environment and a search for modern tools that allow accompanying and contributing to the realisation of the objectives of development and progress, he continued. The chartered accountant, he noted, is also required to defend their determining assets, and to consolidate the achievements through the application of international standards (ISA, IFRS), the use of new information technologies, and continuous training, and to evolve towards more transparency, independence, competence and professionalism.

For his part, Mohamed Hdid, president of the national council of the Order of Chartered Accountants, indicated that chartered accountants, as active economic actors, are concerned by the change in the environment and consequently, they participate directly or indirectly in the mutations that companies and other economic actors are experiencing. And to add that to be a stakeholder in the change and participate actively in the creation of value in the companies they advise, they are led to quickly assimilate current and future mutations to better understand them and adapt to them.

Chartered accountants have in this context a primordial role to play so that companies can succeed in these mutations, he insists, adding that currently, the socio-economic environment is in full effervescence, globalisation has brought in its wake the universalisation of standards and practices putting chartered accountants face to face with increasingly greater challenges that they must meet through a proactive approach based on the permanent search for excellence and quality. Chartered accountants can contribute to the changes that the country is experiencing after the adoption of the new Constitution which announces new concepts of transparency, governance, equity, ethics, reporting and accountability.

On the menu of this 7th edition are a conference on the theme "Change: what trends?" as well as several workshops on "Governance and accountability", "Mutations of the profession in Morocco", "The chartered accountant and the expectations of the company", and "New professions of the profession".

The opening session of this 7th congress took place in the presence of the governor of the province, Mouad Jamai, several national and foreign experts, business leaders, political decision-makers and other foreign guests coming from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as representatives of several national institutions (Court of Auditors, Central Instance for the Fight against Corruption, Casablanca Stock Exchange, DAPS, General Directorate of Taxes etc).