Sri Mulyani: All Financial Professions Must Be Ready To Guard The Indonesian Economy

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) encourages all financial professions to participate in overseeing the recovery of the national economy in order to overcome several increasingly sophisticated economic threats in the future.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati at the Opening of the Expo Financial Profession 2023, Tuesday.

"Indonesia's financial profession must be ready to oversee the economy which is increasingly sophisticated. Monitoring means that it is not a facilitator of crime or inadequacy, but carefully formulates risks," Sri said in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, July 26.

According to him, learning from the financial crisis that has occurred in recent decades, ranging from the 1998 monetary crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which has just ended. Therefore, the financial profession plays a very important role in anticipating and overcoming the impact of the crisis.

"Therefore, the financial profession must be able to maintain the level of public trust, maintain professional independence and integrity, and always avoid conflicts of interest in carrying out its duties and functions," he said.

He said the importance of the role of financial professionals in facing the challenges caused by climate change could take further steps to understand and anticipate all risks.

In addition, financial professionals can also be more in-depth in explaining the nature of risks related to climate change to policymakers in various sectors, including corporations, financial sectors, banks, insurance, pensions, capital markets, and the government.

"Finance professionals must be able to carefully assess the risks," he said.

He explained, on the other hand, the involvement of the financial profession allows them to identify potential risks and consequences such as fluctuations in asset value that may experience a decrease or increase, material losses, or impact on humans and society.

"By understanding and anticipating the risks associated with climate change, they can play an active role in formulating strategies and policies that are socially and ecologically responsible, as well as implementing appropriate steps to protect the assets and interests of related parties," he said.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Board of the Indonesian Accounting Association (IAI) Ardan Adipandana said that as an association that oversees professional accountants throughout Indonesia, it will support every effort to increase accountability and governance in the national economy.

According to him, in the midst of various challenges, the accounting profession will always be at his khittah as a guardian of economic integrity, through the duties and functions of the profession he carries out.

"In our profession, integrity and professionalism are crowns. Therefore, the profession will always maintain the integrity and professionalism of its members through enforcement of ethics and professional standards," he said.

He said IAI issued professional standards and code of ethics that would serve as a reference for its members in carrying out their professional practices.

AI will also continue to maintain and improve the professionalism of its members, through the Professional Sustainable Education and Chartered Accountant (CA) certification and other special certifications that are issued according to the demands of capability in various employment fields of an accountant.

"That's why the accounting profession will always be a trusted professional in economic dynamics," he concluded.

Regarding the anticipation of climate change, the accounting profession has taken various strategic steps to ensure the proper risk mitigation of the global threat. At the 2022 G20 Presidency, IAI is a member of the B20 Task Force Integrity & Compliance and provides input that encourages sustainable processes to support Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as a form of effort to deal with climate change.

Until now, IAI continues to actively provide recommendations regarding the ESG at the B20 Task Force at India's G20 Presidency in 2023.

"IAI is currently preparing to establish the Sustainability Standard Council as the mandate of the IAI Congress at the end of December last year," he said.