Egyptian expatriates attend an accountancy course organized by the Egyptian Commercial Professionals Association in Jeddah. — SG photoSamar Yahya Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Egyptian Commercial Professionals Association in Jeddah is working toward enhancing various professional skills of new comers in the job market. It functions under the supervision of the Egyptian Embassy in Riyadh and the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah. The association has branches in the eastern and western regions of the Kingdom. Chaired by Gamil Gad, it is managed by an 11-member board of directors and 139 members who make up the constitutional committee. All members offer voluntary service toward helping their compatriots at all times. The association has formed five committees under its wing: Scientific and training, social, public relations, marketing and membership development and technology and website management committee. All the committees function with complete transparency and cooperatively work with each other. One of the aims of the association is to polish and upgrade the skills of the Egyptian workers to such an extent that they are at par with international standards in every field. They support fresh accountants who come to work in Jeddah or anywhere in western Saudi Arabia. “The association is pleased to mention that up till now we have successfully provided training courses to over 500 accountants in Certified Professional Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA). After which, they will sit for the final exams and get the required accreditation," said Gad. To further motivate the new students, the association invited Tareq Mahmoud, the first member of the association who had passed his CMA exam, to share his experiences about the course and guide the students about the exam. This summer, the association achieved another milestone when they successfully trained the participants in accounting applications. Other professional seminars, workshops and training courses with minimal fees are organized on a regular basis. The social life of members and their families is also of great importance to the association and hence they provide recreational activities, apart from organizing tours to Makkah and Madinah around the year. Football is a popular sport in Egypt. This year, a high-profile sport tournament was organized for the Egyptians living in the western region. Twenty-four teams comprising various professionals whole-heartedly participated in the tournament. The final match was witnessed by Egyptian Consul General Ali El Ashiry who also awarded the trophies to both teams. Later, a karate match was held for junior Egyptians. Egyptians value traditions and at its annual Iftar gathering in Ramadan they invite Egyptian families to take part and keep the rich heritage and culture alive. The association held an introductory course for some Egyptians on Facebook, so that they could acquaint themselves with the popular social networking site and take advantage of it by connecting with their community. The Facebook page created by them has over 950 fans. The association also played a pivotal role during the parliament elections and duly cooperated with other professional associations.
