The Middle East is recognised as one of the world’s fastest growing regions in the field of internal audit and as leading audit professionals, technical skills remain absolutely necessary but they are no longer sufficient on their own. Mounting pressures and expectation on you will open up doors to both opportunities and obstacles.
In collaboration with the UAE Internal Audit Association, Marcus Evans launches the region’s internal audit conference of the year returns as the mark of excellence in the internal audit practice world and help reflects auditors’ commitment to be positioned as leading world class audit functions. The 7th Annual Internal Auditors Forum will be held at the Address Dubai Marina, Dubai, UAE on the 8th till the 10th of September 2014
Farah Araj who is the Chief Audit Executive of National Holding, UAE will be speaking at the event shared, “ I think internal auditors will continue to provide traditional assurance to the board/audit committee however, we will see continued emphasis on risk focus throughout the spectrum of internal audit services. Focusing on risk assurance, doing audits of strategic risks, facilitating ERM, etc and all depending on the maturity of the company, department and the industry the internal audit department is in. similarly the tools internal auditors will use to provide such assurance will change as the world changes. eg. Using data analytics, maybe smart phones for audits etc” when asked about how the function could evolve in the near future.
With chief internal auditors lined up as speakers including Omar Meqdad of Roots Group, Saudi Arabia , Avinash Totade of Emirates Aluminium, UAE, Nagesh Pinge of TATA Motors Limited, India, Sherif Fakhry of Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA), UAE, Faisal Zafir of ADGAS, UAE, Shahrukh Shahzad of IKEA, Saudi Arabia, Ayman Abdelrahim of Road Transports Authority (RTA), UAE, Abbas Hussain of Agility Abu Dhabi, UAE and Farah Araj who is the Chief Audit Executive of National Holding, UAE the platform is ready for internal audit professionals to strive towards consolidating their position and taking it to a higher level.
“The conference will be a chance to learn about new trend and approach of internal audit, it is also a chance to hear personal opinions about new challenges in internal audit profession and new best practices,” comments Ayman Abdelrahim who is the Chief Internal Auditors of Road Transport Authority (RTA), UAE.
Featuring a post event workshop from Run Business, United States is Norman Marks who will be presenting on audit leadership seeing it is imperative to running any audit team at the highest possible level, he commented, “Recent studies by PwC and KPMG report that a majority of internal audit departments are not assessing the risks that matter to the board. This can only be changed by leaders who are willing to take some risks and upgrade their program to a new level. They will also have to learn how to stimulate and take advantage of the professionals on their team: their creativity, enthusiasm, and ability to provide valuable insights into the business and how it can be improved” when asked the reason of the need of audit leadership in organizations.