UAE IAA honours aspiring Emirati internal auditors

Dubai / Emirates Business

The second batch of graduates of the world’s pioneering Internal Auditing training programme were honoured at the recent graduation ceremony by UAE IAA in collaboration with the Higher Colleges of Technology and Protiviti at HCT, Abu Dhabi Men’s college and was attended by Abdulqader Obaid Ali, UAE IAA President, Ahmed Al Khouli, HCT Head of Business Development and Mohamed Albouhee, Protiviti Director.
The programme which was launched in 2015 is aligned with ABSHER, an initiative launched by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and is an intensive training programme launched by UAE-IAA and aimed at young UAE national graduates over a priod of three months. The programme’s vision is to provide UAE graduates with a wealth of knowledge in internal audit, to increase the participation of UAE nationals in the labour market and achieve a competitive advantage for the national economy by supporting Emiratization policies through an integrated and strategic framework.
The six successful graduates who navigated through the programme were selected from various UAE organizations like Etisalat, Mubadala Development Company, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, ADNOC, Tourism Development and Investment Company and Abu Dhabi Police.
The graduates unanimously agreed that the intensive course, which mixed theory and real-life industry experiences, was highly beneficial for their future careers.
Fatma Al Rayes, who works with Mubadala Development, stated that this training has been a great booster and she is confident that it will lead to a growth in her career. She also mentioned that her family have been very supportive of her career choice in internal auditing.
Jamila Al Ameri from TDIC said, “This course has been very helpful and I was able to connect a lot of theoretical and pratical concepts enriching my experience.”
Khamis Al Dhanhani from Etisalat also said “I was selected and recommended by my management to take this course which returned many benefits on a professional level, gaining new expereicnes in the internal audit field.”
Industry and collaborating experts believe that there is a vital need for the UAE to have more trained auditors in the areas of corporate governance and the HASAAD programme encourages more UAE nationals into the field of internal auditing.
AbdulQader Obaid Ali, UAE Internal Auditors Association President, expressed his views, “In accordance with the UAE Government Charter initiated by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the UAE IAA launched the HASAAD programme to train more Emiratis in specialised sectors. HASAAD has emerged as one of the best training platforms providing UAE nationals with the skills needed for advancing their careers in the much-needed field of Internal Audit. It is an intensive course with a mix of theory and real-life industry experiences. He also mentioned, “there has been 20% growth in the number of Emiratis in this profession and it is a very promising sign.”