DUBAI: UAE IAA to Host the Annual Regional Audit Conference in April

Key decision-makers, thought-leaders and eminent global internal auditing professionals will converge at the 18th Annual Regional Audit Conference on April 19th and 20th, being organised by the UAE Internal Auditors Association, in Jumeirah at Ettihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.

To be held under the patronage and presence of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, the two-day conference is the largest "Smart" conference and a premier Internal Audit event in the Middle East and will be attended by heads of organisations, experts and professionals from internal auditing and other industries from across the GCC and beyond.

Every year, the UAE IAA awards two internal audit professionals (one from the UAE community and the other either regional or international) to be appreciated as life-time award achievers for their dedication and support to the profession during the Annual Regional Audit Conference.

This year, Sheikh Nahayan will honour Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar and Hassan Al Mulla, President of IIA Qatar, with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the conference.

Abdulqader Obaid Ali, Chairman of UAE Internal Auditors Association, said, "The UAE, which is the second -largest economy in the Arab world, is also the largest investment attracting country in the Middle East getting a strong international interest.

The government is actively taking initiatives to ensure good governance practices are in place

. These initiatives make the role of internal auditing all the more important and bestows upon auditors a larger responsibility of putting best practices in place and setting exemplary standards.

The regional conference brings together eminent internal auditing experts who will address the relevant issues to help take the profession of internal auditing to further heights."

As the UAE’s economy continues to diversify and record a strong growth, organisations are increasingly focusing on streamlining their operations and enhancing efficiencies, toward which internal auditing plays a key role

. The 18th Annual Regional Audit Conference will witness insightful and brainstorming sessions on such as auditing in the era of digital transformation, internal auditing in family businesses, robotics and internal auditing, impact of Value Added Tax and changing landscape of transactions, best practices in leveraging audit technology among others.

Motivational speaker Dave Crane will talk about ‘Smart business branding and becoming unstoppable’. US-based eminent speaker and bestselling author Jason Mefford will speak about ‘How to see risk clearly in an accelerating business environment’.

Decision makers and eminent global internal auditing experts from leading companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Protiviti, Moore Stephens, Delloitte, Grant Thornton, Team Mate and EY, will have engaging presentations and will discuss the latest trends and issues related to the Internal Auditing profession.