January 1, 2021                                                                                                              

                Message from the Representative Director

Ueno, Susumu, Professor Emeritus, Konan University, Japan

 Chair of the Board of Directors

APMAA Policy for the year 2021 is “Nurturing and Reinforcing APMAA Sustainability.” In 2021, we aim to achieve the following:

　1. Building more value for our members. APMAA is a “members-first” organization. As everyone recognizes, our annual conferences are the platform that brings our members together, 
　2. Conducting a “Spring Webinar” (for 2-3 days in next late March) and “Summer Webinar”, hosted by a regional/country chairs in addition to the 2021 regular annual conference,
　3. Refining APMAA vision, rules, and guidelines that tell members what APMAA stands for, how it operates, and why it deserves its business, and
　4. Sharing administrative tasks (duties) among all Representative Directors, Senior Directors, and Directors. 

 APMAA is an academic association supported and runs by the goodwill of diligent volunteers. In 2021, APMAA renovates its Administration Team and Regional Chapter system. We introduce four committees, i.e., Strategy Committee, Webinar Committee, Collaborative Research Project Committee, and Membership Committee. This renovation aims to facilitate the APMAA to change itself into a sustainable organization that survives and grows over the coming decades. 

On November 25, 2020, APMAA completed the APMAA 2020 Webinar Talk Series “Staying Relevant: Finance and Management Accounting in a Digital Era” The webinar comprised eight-sessions and started on October 1, and attracted over 1, 000 audiences in total. The series was organized by the team of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia. The UiTM was supposed to conduct the APMAA 2020 conference on 1 – 4 Nov 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the plan. Thank you for the technology. Zoom application provided us an alternative platform.

In 2020, APMAA obtained the product of its first collaborative research project initiated at the APMAA 2016 Annual Conference in Taipei. That is a book entitled "Management Accounting in China and Southeast Asia - Empirical Studies of Current Practices" (edited by Dr. Robert C. Rickards, Dr. Rolf Ritsert, and Dr. Kanitsorn Terdpaopong; and scheduled to be published from Springer Nature Switzerland AG in April 2021. The research project focused on the Stages of Management Accounting Evolution in the Asia-Pacific Area. Congratulations! 

APMAA will celebrate its 20th Anniversary of foundation in 2024. Let’s develop and introduce more events and projects under the APMAA flag that are attractive enough to satisfy a variety of demands from our diversified members across the globe. Our journey to the 20th-anniversary conference has begun already. See all of you at APMAA 2021 in Jakarta. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay connected. 

     APMAA 2020 OFFICIAL SUSPENSION ANNOUNCEMENT

On April 20, APMAA representative directors were informed that UiTM, the 2020 conference host school, cannot hold the 2020 conference in November because of the Malaysian government guideline on COVID-19 that restricts mass gatherings in the country in the next six months and very likely being extended to one year.

In light of the uncertainty of developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 25, APMAA Board Members unanimously decided to suspend the APMAA 2020. With the greatest regret, we are announcing that the APMAA 2020 annual conference in Malaysia will not be held as planned in November 2020.

We apologize for causing the inconvenience and disappointment especially to those who are looking forward to participating in this event and have sent papers for presentation. For the safety of all delegates and APMAA families, this might be the best solution at this point.

The APMAA Board has agreed for the Malaysia team to co-organize APMAA Conference 2021 together with the Indonesia team which be held in Jakarta. Hope to see all of you in Jakarta. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay connected. 

April 25, 2020

APMAA 2020 Conference Organizing Committee
APMAA Board of Directors