Datuk Bridget Lai, Group Chief Executive Officer, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad & Director, Alliance Financial Group Berhad receiving the Excellence Award from YB Dato' Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Minister of Finance II. Looking on are Mr Yeo Tek Ling, Chairman of NAfMA Organising Committee; Tuan Haji Rosli bin Abdullah, CEO of MIA; Mr Chandra Mohan Balasubramaniam, Divisional President of CIMA Malaysia; and Mr Francis Chan, Chairman of NAfMA Assessment Committee

Kuala Lumpur, 11 December 2009 - Alliance Financial Group Berhad (AFG) won the Excellence Award of the National Award for Management Accounting (NAfMA) 2009, ahead of six other companies.

Datuk Bridget Lai, Group Chief Executive Officer, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad & Director, Alliance Financial Group Berhad received the NAfMA 2009 Excellence award from YB Dato' Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Minister of Finance II during the NAFMA Awards Presentation Dinner recently.

Datuk Bridget Lai on winning the coveted award said, "Winning the NAfMA 2009 Excellence Award is an acknowledgement of the management accounting practices and capabilities in AFG and further endorses the fact that we are adhering to best practices which have made an impact in value creation and excellent business performance to all our stakeholders and customers. In addition, I believe winning the NAfMA 2009 Excellence Award forms part of our move towards answering Malaysia's call for excellence in corporate governance".

The NAfMA award recognises best practices in management accounting by companies in Malaysia that lead to value creation and excellent business performance with the aim of promoting the application of management accounting techniques and systems within organisations in Malaysia.

NAfMA winners were assessed on eight criteria - leadership, management accounting information, resource management, customer / market focus, partnership management, value creation, business results and corporate social responsibility. These eight criteria are based on the management accounting concepts of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

The awarding bodies for NAfMA are CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) Malaysia Division and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). The working partners are CIMA-UiTM Asian Management Accounting Research Centre (AMARC) and National Productivity Corporation (NPC). The 3 awards are Excellence Award, Best Practice Award and Practice Solution Award.

NAfMA 2009 is supported by the Accountant General's Department of Malaysia, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce, the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry and SMI Association of Malaysia.