Strengthening Institute of the Chartered Accountants of the Eastern Caribbean Description of the IDF-financed components and activities  The IDF will finance three main components: 1. Building Institutional Capacity of the ICAEC; 2. Development and Delivery of the IFRS-focused training module; 3. Grant Audit. Component One: Building Institutional Capacity of the ICAEC ($250,000) As the demand for high quality financial reporting grows and requirements for accounting and auditing become more sophisticated, the need to have a well-functioning local professional organization able to provide much needed support to its members became undisputable. Under this component the objective of the IDF will be to (a) Develop a long-term business plan identifying the Institute's priority focus areas, and setting out the revenues and resources required to carry out its responsibilities and options for ways to fulfill these needs. The plan will provide detailed recommendations on the Institute's organizational structure, its linkage with the OECS governments and sub-regional organizations and will identify conditions for its self-sustainability; (b) Design the locally-based Continuing Professional Development Program; (c) Choose the quality assurance model best serving local needs and conditions and develop methodological basis for the implementation of such program. Component Two: Development and Delivery of the IFRS-focused training module ($200,000) While a number of the new sub-regional legislative Acts requires their registrants to follow the international accounting standards, with these requirements being more stringently enforced by the regulatory bodies, severe shortage of the practitioners familiar with, and able to apply such standards significantly impedes implementation of reforms promoted by the OECS governments. Under this component the objective of the IDF will be to: (i) Develop the OECS-focused International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS and/or "small" IFRS) -based training program, including methodology, delivery materials, etc; and (ii) Deliver this training to at least 30 (thirty) local practitioners, who could then facilitate similar trainings in their respective countries. Component Three: Grant Audit ($5,000) This component will cover the costs of external audit of the grant. The proposed grant seeks to support the sub-regional efforts to develop institutional and professional capacity in the areas of accounting and auditing, thus enhancing the sustainable growth of the private sector. Its implementation will contribute to the achievement of the following objectives:  #	Strengthening the sub-regional institute of accountants and harmonizing the normative framework in the area of financial reporting, accounting and auditing, thus promoting the overall OECS#s regionalization agenda, and providing better support to the local accounting and auditing profession;  #	Improving the quality of financial information produced in the OECS countries, thus enhancing the business climate  and bolstering domestic and foreign investment in the private sector; and  #	Encouraging a shift from collateral-based lending decisions to lending based on the financial performance of the prospective borrower, thereby facilitating SME access to credit and supporting growth in the SME sector.