The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) has opened a
new office in Dubai to serve its growing membership base in the
Middle East and help market its qualification in the
region.
The director of international business development for the
US-based institute, Jim Gurowka, said the IMA has been active in
the Middle East for the past four years, although it has had
members in the region for more than ten years.
Prior to opening the office, member support and services were
based out of the US or provided in conjunction with local course
providers.
Growing membership base
The institute has about 7,000 members in the Middle East now,
compared to about 2,000 five years ago. There are members in every
Middle East state – with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi
Arabia being the three most popular locations.
Gurowka said the Middle East and China are the IMA’s two main
growth markets at present. “What we are finding, especially in the
Middle East, is as these countries’ economies develop and
businesses become more global, there is this huge need for internal
accounting and finance expertise.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“They really haven’t had a huge need before as they were either
small companies, or insular, or government-controlled
organisations. There wasn’t the need for the great decision-making,
planning, support, budgeting and forecasting that the internal
finance and accounting experts provide,” he said.
The Dubai office will initially be staffed by just one person –
IMA Middle East business development manager Faten Dabboussi,
although Gurowka said it will grow quickly.
Cost and the sheer demand from members and other stakeholders
will be the two main challenges the office will face, Gurowka
predicted. “Costs in Dubai are escalating quite rapidly,” he said.
“I think we are also going to have issues of dealing with the sheer
demand that the office is going to face. People like face to face
meetings, especially in the Middle East… When we first talked to
our members about the office being opened, suddenly the staff there
got flooded with hundreds of emails, both congratulating them and
saying ‘when can we meet’.”
Carolyn Canham
