Kathmandu, January 1:

Dr Roop Jyoti, state minister for finance, has sought honesty in business transactions from

the private sector to generate more revenues and improve transparency in the accou-

nting profession.

Dr Jyoti said this at the concluding ceremony of South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) assembly that ended here recently. Jyoti said that there are still many challenges for Nepal to effectively use the Value Added Tax (VAT) and build a database of taxpayers.

He thinks that VAT should be the main source of revenue. Due to the lack of awareness among people, there is a fear about taxes, he said. In such a context, we have started a massive awareness campaign, he said. In this endeavour undertaken to by the government, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN) can be instrumental by making effective financial reporting, develop transparency and develop a code of ethics in the accounting sector, he said.

Indrajith Fernando, vice-president elect of SAFA, said that accountability, transparency

and government are three significant elements in realising good corporate governance in any

organisation. He observed that a financial system supported by strong governance, high quality standards and sound regulatory frameworks is key to economic development.

State minister for finance, Dr Jyoti also gave away SAFA Best Presented Accounts Awards to representatives of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd, Sri Lanka that emerged overall winner in various categories.

SAFA BPA awards were given to Hayleys Ltd (Sri Lanka) and Infosys Technologies Ltd (India) who came first and second runners up, respectively.