Global governance

ICC MENA training course on financing of SMEs takes place in Doha

  • 19 January 2015
ICC Training

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional office organized a training course on the financing of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The seminar took place at the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Doha on 21-23 December.

Twenty participants representing different sectors of the Qatari industry, including CEOs, advisors and managers of different organizations and businesses attended the event.

Remy Rowhani, CEO of ICC Qatar, said: “The training course was designed to provide professionals with a greater understanding of the way finance affects their business performance in a rapidly changing business landscape.”

The course focused on strategies for financing business, the principles of forecasting, budgeting – and the financial analysis which included components like return of investment, payback method, internal rate of return and net present value and other financial indicators.

Sheikh Khalifa, Chairman of ICC Qatar, said: “This course provided non-financial professionals with analytical tools for finance. It helped trainees gain confidence and control to make financial decisions. We were happy to receive positive feedback from participants, making the event a success.”

Sessions featured interactive discussions to allow participants to not only learn from their instructor but as well from their peers. Various training methods were adopted by the instructor to facilitate the learning objectives by fostering participation and strengthening dialogue between all members.

Following the training, participants were able to explain the functions of financial management, use financial language to communicate more effectively with financial professionals, and understand key financial statements and their purpose.

Mohamed Ibrahim, Head of ICC MENA Regional Office and course instructor, said: “ICC MENA helps businesses in the region meet the challenges of integrating into the global economy. We are happy to offer this type of training to business professionals in the region, which assists them in the development of their enterprises in this global context.”

Mr Ibrahim leads the policy advocacy work of ICC within the recently established ICC MENA office. Receiving support from ICC Qatar and the Qatar Chamber, the office promotes and disseminates ICC’s global policy and business development work and reaches out to MENA stakeholders to raise awareness of ICC and the benefits of membership.