Management accountants' group builds on its GCC success rate

(MENAFN- Arab News) The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) the world's largest body of management accountants continued to build on its 25 percent growth increase rate in 2013 and sustained its unparalleled expansion efforts throughout 2014.

As the leading provider of professional qualifications CIMA works closely with prominent entities including Unilever Mars Mashreq Bank and Emirates; and in 2014 CIMA partnered with the prestigious local entity Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) whereby it offered EGA professionals CIMA's global certifications empowering them to build on their knowledge of business finance and management enhancing their skill sets and giving them the opportunity to work across a number of cross functional departments.

In 2014 CIMA also signed MoUs with multiple institutions across the GCC such as the Abu Dhabi University (ADU) Manipal University American University in Dubai (AUD) University of Wollongong (UOWD) and Ahlia University in Bahrain adding to the existing university portfolio. Through these strategic partnerships CIMA expands its presence and reaches out to larger student groups empowering them to become better equipped for the workplace as well as developing their proficiency in business and finance.

2014 was also a celebratory year as more than 500 CIMA students from 36 nationalities were felicitated at the first GCC-wide convocation ceremony.

The event was honored by Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Sheikh Saeed Al-Maktoum chairman of Emirates Group Dubai Duty Free Abdulrahman Saleh Al-Saleh director general of Department of Finance Government of Dubai and other top government officials.

The CIMA qualification is designed to deliver a strong understanding of all aspects of business allowing professionals to contribute across many areas of an organization not just in finance.

In addition to strong accounting fundamentals CIMA teaches strategic business and management skills equipping professionals to advise on business strategy and risk management. CIMA has also been playing a strategic role in bridging the employability gap in the region.

Furthermore as part of its ongoing mission to be a facilitator of higher education and research in the business and finance profession CIMA launched an earnings calculator based on a 2014 salary survey. This new informational tool enables members and students to calculate average salaries according to different career factors. The calculator uses data from the 2014 CIMA salary survey and enables users to quickly compare average salaries by industry job role and level of experience in their respective countries.

Geetu Ahuja head of GCC CIMA said: '2014 has been a successful year for us. We launched many pioneering initiatives based on our extensive global research into employers' needs.They include the innovative 2015 Professional Qualification syllabus that was developed in response to the growing concern about rising global youth unemployment.'

Ahuja said: 'We are also the first global accountancy body to replace paper-based exams with computer-based assessment. Regionally we launched two new training institutes in Saudi Arabia and Qatar expanding our offering to local universities. At CIMA our goal is to constantly facilitate innovative and results-driven methods of learning for our students and members and we will continue to nurture and develop professionals with relevant business and finance skills over the coming years.'

In 2013 globally over 33500 new students joined CIMA taking the total member and student population to more than 218000.

In the GCC new student enrollment resulted in close to 70 percent increase in the CIMA student population over the previous year.