CARDIFF University has used a House of Lords reception to launch its Asian Accounting, Finance and Business Research Unit.

This is the first research unit of its type in the UK and is entirely devoted to business issues in Asia.

The university says the unit has attracted overwhelming international support.

Attending the launch - hosted by Lord Adam Patel - was the Brunei high commissioner, the Indian high commissioner and the United Arab Emirates ambassador.

They joined accountants and academics from the USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and New Zealand.

Lord Patel said he was privileged to be associated with the research unit which he thought would become recognised as a centre of excellence in Asian business research.

The unit will be headed by Dr Yusuf Karbhari who said its brief would be to mobilise researchers in Asia and to give Asian finance greater prominence and a much higher profile in international academic journals.

"Take a look at the top six UK and USA academic finance and accountancy journals and you'll find only two papers relating to Asian finance," he said.

"But through increased international academic collaboration we can identify new opportunities for research and provide a platform to disseminate knowledge on key accounting, finance and business issues."

The unit also aims to inform international companies and give them greater scope for success in new Asian markets.

Speaking about Asia in general, Dr Karbhari said: "There is tremendous diversity in accountancy practices.

"Former British colon-ies, for example, such as Malaysia, Singapore and India, follow a UK model, whereas Indonesia follows its own model.

"The creation of our research unit represents a move to harmonise practices, which is much easier if related academic research is brought into an international arena and made available to the business community and policy makers."

Cardiff Business School is also home to the Chinese Accounting, Finance and Business Research Unit and the Middle East Banking and Accounting Research Unit.