As a Muskie [3]fellow at Iowa State University [4], Daniiar Osmanaliev studied management and accounting in the university’s MBA program. Since completing his Muskie fellowship in 2008, Osmanaliev has been a leader in developing the financial profession in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Osmanaliev recently reflected on the importance of standards in the financial disciplines and on the influence of his Muskie experience on his career.
Tell us a little bit about your current position at your organization.
I’m a technical expert at the Certified International Professional Accountant Educational Network (CIPAEN), which conducts Russian language professional examinations to certify finance professionals in Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Azerbaijan. Until 2008, the CIPAEN was supported by the U.S. government through the USAID’s Accounting Reform Project. Currently, CIPAEN is a sustainable non-commercial organization. It’s a good example of a successful project, which was initially funded by a donor but is now financially independent.
As a technical expert at CIPAEN, I supervise updates to content that is used by professional accounting organizations and private consulting companies to teach professionals planning to take certification examinations.
What other contributions are you making to the financial services field in Kyrgyzstan?
As an instructor for the Union of Accountants and Auditors (UAA), I conducted a training on Foundations of Risk Management for Gasprom financial staff. This certification program is developed by Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and is supported by the International Financial Corporation (IFC).
As a member of the board, I developed a course on the application of International Financial Reporting Standards for members who are required to pursue continuing professional education.
There is still a shortage of comprehensive literature on the application of International Financial Reporting Standards in Russian. To fill at least a small part of this gap, I wrote several articles for the local “Tax and Law” journal.
I have been teaching a three-credit course on financial accounting for MBA students at American University in Central Asia [5] (AUCA). Given that most students do not have prior experience in the field, it has been a challenging course both for me and for the MBA students. I have learned to develop and communicate class material to help students understand how financial information is gathered, processed, reported, analyzed and interpreted.
What effect has your participation in the Muskie Program had on your career, or life, more generally?
The Muskie Program allowed me to get coherent and systematic knowledge of subjects in my areas of interest. Writing papers for MBA classes developed my critical thinking. Preparation for group assignments taught me to listen to the opinions of other people and come to an agreement. Finally, I learnt much about the country and its people and dispelled misconceptions, which I had before coming to the U.S.
All these events left an indelible footprint in my memory.
The Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program [3] is administered by IREX and funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs [6] of the U.S. Department of State. In 2012, the Muskie Program celebrated 20 years of productive partnerships with leaders of Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Find more stories here [7].