SOCPA Partnership brings new learning opportunities to Saudi accountants
The Saudi Organisation for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) and the world’s largest learning company, Pearson, offer new Arabic learning materials to the Kingdom’s accountancy students.
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s accountancy industry has become increasingly sophisticated over recent years, expanding the demand for high-quality professional education materials. To meet this rise in demand, the Kingdom’s industry group for accountants, SOCPA has collaborated with Pearson to translate textbooks from English to Arabic. The new texts will cover both intermediate and advanced levels of Financial Accounting and Auditing, and can be utilised by both university students and practicing professionals in Saudi Arabia, and across the Arab world.
The agreement governing the new relationship between the parties has been signed in Riyadh by Dr Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Moghames, Secretary General of SOCPA, and Mohammed Asiri, who heads Pearson’s operations in Saudi Arabia.
The establishment of SOCPA, and introduction of new accounting and auditing standards in the Kingdom has led to an increased number of accountants in the country looking to improve their qualification level and meet ongoing professional development requirements. Mr Asiri says that the translation of the popular texts will make it easier for accountants to undertake professional learning, and keep abreast of the rapid changes affecting the Kingdom’s accountancy sector:
“SOCPA has undertaken remarkable efforts to ensure the very best in international courses are available in accountancy departments throughout Saudi Arabia. This, in conjunction with the Arabic adaption of these popular and widely used texts will enable learners at either university or professional level adapt more easily to the developments currently affecting the profession. These texts are useful in helping learners better understand international accountancy practices and standards, and have been chosen on the advice of leading accountancy and education experts”.
Mr Asiri says that it is critical that learners have access to texts that will support them in understanding national and international requirements, given the importance of a strong accountancy profession to the country’s overall financial and economic performance.
“Clear and reliable accountancy standards have many benefits, not just for the accountancy profession, but for a country’s economy as a whole. There are links between the quality of accountancy standards and a country’s ability to achieve positive economic transformations. Strong and dependable accountancy practices in Saudi Arabia could help to attract increased levels of Foreign Direct Investment and help further diversify the country’s economy, making Saudi Arabia even more competitive in the global market place."
“Pearson has committed to making such resources widely available. Not only have we adapted the aforementioned texts, we have also released a series of university level texts especially created for this region, known as the Arab World Editions. This series includes titles that the cover finance and accounting disciplines, and include examples, case studies and language that are specifically relevant to the Gulf region. By developing contextualised resources like this we are aiming to make education more engaging for Arab learners, and improve learning outcomes, not only in accounting and finance disciplines, but across a whole spectrum of subjects offered throughout Arab world”.