Many jurisdictions in the Asia-Oceania region will be converging with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) over coming years. Some jurisdictions have already adopted the IFRS since 2005, while others such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have set the year 2012 as the target year for the full adoption/convergence of IFRS. The 2011 year is the crucial year for these jurisdictions moving to IFRS. The IFRS Regional Policy Forum was intended to bring together policy makers, regulators and national standards setters from jurisdictions in different stages of their IFRS adoption roadmap to share and learn from one another's experiences in adopting the global standards, both the challenges faced and in taking advantage of opportunities offered.

The IASB has posted to its website a communiqué released after the Forum. It lists the following conclusions:

• Participants reaffirmed their commitment to the goal of ultimate adoption of IFRS and to achieve one global set of high quality accounting standard.
• Participants agreed that this goal may need to be facilitated through a process of convergence.
• Participants agreed that the accounting standard setters in Asia-Oceania region need to work together more closely to increase the regional voice and concerns.
• Participants agreed that local standard setter bodies will play a more important role as partner of IASB by proactively providing advice to the IASB of local issues and concerns.
• Participants agreed that the voice of Asia Oceania region should be increasingly important in shaping the future of IFRS.
• Participants share the similar concern that IFRS adoption is not just an accounting issue. To implement IFRS successfully, the support of the Government and other regulatory and policy bodies is critical.
• Participants shared the similar concern of the increasing awareness among investors demanding IFRS based financial statement.
• All participants agreed that it is very important that Taxation Law takes account of IFRS.

Please click for:

• IASB press release (link to IASB website)
• Full Communiqué (PDF 12k, link to IASB website)
• IAS Plus page on activities of the Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setters Group (AOSSG)