Backgrounder: World Congress of Accountants, the Olympics of the accounting world

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

 ◆ Backgrounder: World Congress of Accountants, the Olympics of the accounting world

The 16th World Congress of Accountants, the first ever to be held on Chinese territory, is hosted by the Hong Kong Society of Accountants and will run from November 19 to 21 in Hong Kong, with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji officiating the opening ceremony.

The World Congress of Accountants, considered the Olympics of the accounting profession worldwide, has been held every five years since the inaugural congress was held in the United States in 1904.

The congress is organized under the auspices of International Federation of Accountants, which has 156 member organizations in 114 countries and regions, representing over 2 million accountants worldwide.

With the theme of "Knowledge-based Economy and the Accountant,"this year's congress will focus on such topics as convergence of standards, ethics and independence, corporate governance and technological advances to the knowledge-based economy.

The last congress was held in Paris in 1997.