Promoting excellence in annual corporate reporting has a long history in Malaysia. It started in 1985 with the launch of the Malaysian Corporate Report Awards (MACRA) which was jointly organised by The Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) and the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM). In 1988, Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) collaborated to organise the National Annual Report Awards (NARA). In recognition that the two awards shared common objectives, 1990 saw the unification of the awards to become the National Annual Corporate Report Awards (NACRA), which was jointly organised by KLSE, MIA, MIM and MACPA.
Today, NACRA is the collaborative effort of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Malaysian Institute of Accountants, and The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA).
The criteria for NACRA has been reviewed and enhanced each year to encourage the disclosure of all material and relevant information beyond the statutory requirements. Compliance with approved accounting standards and statutory disclosure requirements has become the norm expected of all organisations. Greater emphasis has been given to voluntary disclosure such as information about the company's long-term objectives, its strategic plans for growth, initiatives to protect the environment through corporate social responsibility projects. The aim is to promote more effective communication between the organisation and its stakeholders.
Although new elements have been added over the years, the objective remains essentially the same, to recognise and highlight the importance of good financial reporting, not only to protect the interests of stakeholders, but to ensure the effective functioning of the capital market. This is the very essence of NACRA's theme, Towards Accountability and Excellence.