Asma receiving CA Woman of the Year 2019 award from Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi in Islamabad
Image Credit: Supplied
Dubai: Dubai-based Pakistani expat, Asma Jan Mohammad,
has become the first overseas recipient of the Chartered Accountant
Woman of the Year 2019 award.
Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi conferred the award upon
Asma in Islamabad on April 11 at a
ceremony organised by the Chartered
Accountant (CA) Women Committee, of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP).
CA Women Awards are given to honour outstanding female
professionals in the field. The winners are selected by an independent
jury based on pre-defined criteria from a pool of names nominated by the
CA members.
Asma is a Chartered Accountant, with professional
experience of 14 years in diverse industry sectors. She has been living
and working in Dubai since 2007.
Speaking to
Gulf News, Asma said that she is
currently working with Jamal Al Ghurair group, and is also the
Chairperson of the Managing Committee of UAE Chapter of ICAP members.
This was established under the aegis of Pakistan Association Dubai to
represent the largest community of ICAP overseas members - more than
1,000 members - well-represented at many prestigious organisations in
the UAE.
“The aim of the award is to encourage women to work in
this field which is heavily dominated by men as only eight per cent of
the more than 8000 certified Pakistani chartered accountant are women,”
said Asma.
The idea behind this award is also to appreciate women who join this profession.
“I became [a] member of the UAE CA Chapter a few years
ago and then, last year, became the first woman to be elected as the
Chairperson of this prestigious group in the UAE,” said Asma.
She said that being backed by a premier qualification and
extensive training experience, ICAP professionals are highly ranked and
sought after by reputed entities in UAE.
The UAE Chapter of ICAP members, Asma explained, aimed at
branding CA Pakistan in the local market and increasing members’
engagement by regularly organising events relating to continuing
professional development (CPD), networking, conferences and social
engagements for the benefit of UAE-based finance professionals.
Asma has also won this year's Most Professional
Accountancy by Women Entrepreneurship Forum Dubai. She is a double
gold-medalist in the CA Foundation exams by ICAP, which she took in
2000.
Asma has also launched an initiative titled
“Femme-Passion” aimed at a stronger and more rewarding role for
professionally qualified female CAs in the UAE. At present Femme Passion
has over 30 members.
Asma is raising two kids, endeavoring to have a work-life balance along side her career.