The GCC Committee of Banking Institutes has set up a task force that will aim to unify certificates, diplomas and degrees in banking and insurance across the region.

Speaking at the 27th annual meeting of the institute, hosted at the K Hotel on Tuesday, Institute of Banking director-general Jamaan A Alwagdany said standardisation of qualifications was a key issue the institutes were now addressing.

'We are discussing a number of projects to enhance and improve education in the field of banking and insurance in the GCC but standardisation across the region is a major project for us,' he added.

He said that last year more than 35,000 employees of the finance industry had benefited from courses run by the GCC institutes.

'The spending by the industry in offering courses to staff rose by six per cent last year to $46 million.

'We expect 2012 to be an even better year with participation in courses and training to increase by around 10 per cent,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service