My name is Minami Naruhito, and I assumed the position of Chairman and President of the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants upon the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting on July 23, 2025. I will do my utmost to help CPAs contribute to the sound development of the economy and society as I represent more than 45,000 members and associate members throughout Japan.
JICPA's mission is to contribute to the realization of an abundant society by providing the value of trust to society and delivering peace of mind to people. To this end, we will engage in measures from the two perspectives of auditing and solving social issues.
First, it is important to enhance the attractiveness of auditing work. Currently, audit workplaces are overwhelmed by long working hours and complex procedures, and there is a noticeable turnover of young employees. It can foster a sense of purpose and pride when one can truly feel that auditing contributes to companies and society. We will promote system reforms and improvements in operational efficiency to create a more comfortable working environment.
Next, we will work to solve social issues. Many of our members are active in their local communities, and support according to local characteristics is important. Headquarters and regional chapters work together to support the activities of members through information, training, and networking opportunities. We will also focus on the disclosure of sustainability information and the development of assurance systems with the aim to build a trust-based foundation for a sustainable society.
In order to strengthen our foundation to carry out these measures, we secure talented and diverse human resources and pursue integrated capacity building, ensure thorough stakeholder engagement, and review our governance structure to ensure a sustainable financial base and enhance execution capabilities.
Against the backdrop of intensifying competition for human resources due to a declining birthrate and aging population, we will promote the hiring and development of outstanding and diverse human resources. We will then work to develop human resources who can contribute to society through a review of our examination and training systems.
Strengthening relationships with stakeholders is also important. We aim to build mutual understanding and trust by engaging in ongoing dialogue with the government, political, business, academic, media, and international organizations.
Furthermore, we will continue to review our sustainable financial base and governance structure. We will ensure transparency in the use of membership fees and optimize the financial burden to achieve efficient management of JICPA. We aim to create an organization that can respond quickly to change through a review of our executive structure and the strengthening of the secretariat function.
The Chairman and President serves one three-year term. I intend to leverage my three years of experience as deputy president to gain a strong head start in pursuing industry reform, and I am fully committed to achieving results within my three-year term as Chairman and President.
We will work together as a united executive team to achieve an attractive industry where younger generations can thrive with dreams and pride, so that certified public accountants can continue to contribute to society by providing trust.
Minami Naruhito