The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) has won the Middle East regional finals of an international business and financial management competition held by Cima (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants).

The third Cima Global Business Challenge (GBC), which is being held in partnership with Barclays, was won by Team Quad Core of UOWD, which will proceed to the global finals to be held in Chengdu, China on July 23 and 24.

Team Quad Core which was mentored by Professor Mufeed R beat five rival teams to achieve first place.

Other teams included students from Dubai Men’s College and Heriot Watt University, Dubai. Each student of the winning team received a 32 inch LCD TV, in addition to certificates and a trophy for the team.

“The Global Business Challenge is a great platform for students to show their knowledge and such opportunities are valuable for promoting the leaders of tomorrow,” said Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh, the director of finance in the Dubai Government and a Cima member.

“I have been a member of CIMA for 20 years and definitely it’s a useful qualification. This links well with the fact that there is increasing regional demand for professional accountants, whether nationals or expatriates. We are experiencing this more and more, particularly in Dubai where we have seen investment and professional accounting firms set up offices in DIFC and beyond.”

The best presenter award went to Ghufrana Al Shehhi from the Dubai Men’s College.

“Emiratis are very talented and the Cima Global Business was a good opportunity to show our abilities and what we are capable of. I am here to encourage other Emirati women to join and to represent my country and culture,” said Al Shehhi.

Ammar Aqeel, chief financial officer at BMMI and a CIMA member said: “The preparation and depth of knowledge of the winning team scored them the title. The competition truly captured the essence of CIMA, which is to bring together and groom the leaders of today and tomorrow.”

The winning team comprising students Sara Mukhtar, Kanika Amar, Neha Choudhary and Basit Feroz from UOWD, said: “It was very tough competition and a lot of hard work but we were up for it. It was interesting to see how each team had a different point of view on how to approach the case study and it was a major learning experience for us.”

“We look forward to competing in China against an even wider range of teams because we’ll gain more insights on the various ways of developing a business proposal,” they added. – TradeArabia News Service