(MENAFN- The Peninsula) KAFA'A, the Training & Competency (T&C) framework incepted by the Qatar Finance Business Academy (QFBA) and mandated by Qatar's Financial Markets Development Committee (FMDC) has initiated a slew of activities and seminars with the banking sector ecosystem players, leading authorities and institutions. The initiative is in line with its efforts to elevate professional development for banking professionals, as well as to assess and address the sector's competency and training needs.
"Qatar's financial industry is enjoying economic prosperity led by high GDP per capita and infrastructural investments. It is also witnessing a transformative period punctuated by new growth sectors and diversification into non-hydrocarbon industries. In this dynamic environment, the KAFA'A project is launching with full speed as a multi-faceted framework aimed at not only elevating the financial sector's qualifications and training capabilities in Qatar but, also, at building an integrated system to qualify, train and assess industry professionals against world-class standards benchmarks," said Dr Abdulaziz Al Horr, CEO of QFBA.
The size of the Qatari financial workforce, a unique blend of local and expat talents, was estimated at 11,274 professionals by the 2012 Statistics Authority in Qatar - with the banking workforce alone aggregating 8,729 professionals - and projected to double in a matter of five to six years; "a great opportunity as much as it is a challenge. As we set out to evolve a competitive talent pool in Qatar that can hold its own against worldwide best practices and codes of conduct, we realize that there remain large inconsistencies and gaps in training and professional development for the financial sector," Al Horr said.
KAFA'A's preliminary surveys and research highlight gaps between demand and supply of training, limited access to facilities, lack of consistency in defining competency and a highly fragmented structure for continuing professional development within Qatar's financial industry; all areas that the KAFA'A project will be actively tackling. Working closely with Qatar's leading banking institutions and regulators and with the support of authoritative entities such as QCB, QFMA and the QFCRA, KAFA'A will hone an advanced T&C offering to cover knowledge, skill and value sharing; non-technical, technical, leadership and administrative skills; and the extension of a network of specialists and expert training providers.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.