NUR-SULTAN – The Astana International Financial Centre’s (AIFC) Bureau for Continuing Professional Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, will launch an internal auditor programme this autumn.
Interested individuals can study at the AIFC Bureau and become an international qualified internal auditor with Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certification.
“The bureau has ten programmes in the areas of finance, investment, accounting and auditing. The main task of the new programme is to re-train and train internal and external auditors. The main challenge for us is to teach the professional experts. They need to move away from their previous background and be ready for new knowledge,” AIFC Administration Deputy Board Chairperson Yernur Rysmagambetov said Aug. 13 at the first AIFC National Conference of Internal Auditors.
The initial phase will involve teaching the teachers.
“The first step is to train local teachers, because we have a shortage of professionals. Next, we will launch a pilot project with a small group together with the Ministry of Finance to see how the whole process takes place until the end of the year. As soon as we finish the test depending on the resources, time and desire of the auditors themselves, we will begin the training,” he said.
The AIFC Bureau is considering providing free training as well as payment options.
“The participants in our programmes usually pay for the entire course and in case of success in examinations, we reimburse the expenses for the certification programme. We will probably apply this approach to this programme as well. We aim to train the employees of the Ministry of Finance. The international programme in English will be available to all internal auditors working in the quasi-public sector and private business. We will not only train state auditors,” he added.
The AIFC Bureau and the Kazakh Institute of Internal Auditors signed a memorandum as part of the conference.
“The AIFC Bureau cooperates with international qualification companies in various areas. We have already started the training. Now, every six months we add new programmes to our portfolio. The Ministry of Finance proposed adding the CIA certificate, because the ministry sees the need to train internal auditors. After the market analysis, we decided to add a CIA programme. We see the great importance of internal auditors for all projects. Our mission is to introduce international knowledge in the local market,” said Rysmagambetov.
The AIFC Bureau is responsible for human capital development and plans to retrain more than 5,000 specialists in the country’s financial industry, ultimately creating a critical mass of professionals for the AIFC eco-system and beyond. The bureau is responsible for investment and financial literacy programmes related to the AIFC’s core pillars including Islamic finance, fintech, capital markets, green finance and asset and wealth management.
