The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the world’s largest body of management accountants, continued to build on its 25 per cent growth increase in 2013, and sustained its expansion efforts in 2014, said a top official.

“2014 has been a successful year for us. We launched many pioneering initiatives based on our extensive global research into employers’ needs,” said Geetu Ahuja, head of GCC, CIMA.

“This includes the innovative 2015 Professional Qualification syllabus that was developed in response to the growing concern about rising global youth unemployment. 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 Kingdom of 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,” she added.

In 2014, CIMA also signed MOUs with multiple institutions across the GCC. The year also saw more than 500 CIMA students from 36 nationalities felicitated at the first GCC-wide convocation ceremony.

CIMA also 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.

In 2013, globally, over 33,500 new students joined CIMA, taking the total member and student population to more than 218,000. In the GCC, new student enrolment resulted in close to 70 per cent increase in the CIMA student population over the previous year. – TradeArabia News Service