THE Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has been working on a three-pronged strategy for the last six months, which would enhance the employability of chartered accountant professionals.

"The past and current decades have been ruled by IT professionals, while the coming decade will be ruled by CA professionals," says Ved Jain, president, ICAI. "The global economy is growing at a tremendous pace and mergers and acquisitions are the order of the day. Correspondingly this has created a phenomenal demand for CA professionals worldwide. The objective behind this strategy is to keep Indian CA professionals updated about the emerging best practices in the field and prepare them for global challenges," he said.

ICAI has set up a number of IT training labs across the country to facilitate IT adaptability for CA professionals. The IT programmes have been designed to enhance capability with respect to the different tiers of accounting needs, which emerge at the corporate level. One of the key focus areas of these labs is to promote the development of IT-based tools for services under the Income Tax Act, Companies Act, Central Excise, Customs Act and related services.

Besides, ICAI is pursuing strategic collaborations with relevant international bodies with a view to promote the Indian CA qualification in countries of interest to Indian accountancy professionals. This initiative, according to Jain, will also result in greater integration of the profession with global demands. It is also establishing contact points/liaison officers in major cities worldwide and opening ICAI offices in countries with sizeable presence of members of ICAI. Contact points and offices have already been set up in major financial nerve-centres like New York, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto and Dubai.

Lastly, ICAI has introduced a modular programme of three-month duration on general management, personality development and communication skills. "An amiable disposition and the right attitude is as important as any other skill or knowledge in todays professional scenario and needless to say this is true across sectors and industries," says Jain. "The modular programme has been designed to enhance interpersonal skills of CA professionals so that they can work effectively in the context of multicultural business and professional environments which are constantly evolving," he adds.