Dubai’s DIFC launches new academy to offer executive education courses

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has launched a new educational facility called The Academy within its premises to offer executive education programmes.

The Academy features 21 seminar rooms, three lecture halls, and three auditoriums, all of which are equipped with IT and A/V equipment.

Students will also have access to a library and resource centre, prayer room, study areas, and video conference facilities.

The Academy will form partnerships with business schools and universities from around the world to offer the educational programmes, a statement said.

DIFC has already been holding a professional development programme and has partnerships with University of London and London Business School.

It has also recently signed agreements with Financial Times | IE Business School and The Wharton School.

Along with the educational courses, the Academy will also host regular workshops and seminars led by industry experts from DIFC and its community.

Arif Amiri, CEO at DIFC Authority, said that the new facility will provide a platform for the region’s financial services community to “broaden their business skills and deepen their understanding of financial markets”.

“DIFC is uniquely positioned to facilitate not only the flow of capital through the MEASA region but also the accumulation of knowledge and talent. In doing so, we are also working towards achieving the targets set out in DIFC’s Strategy 2024,” he added.

As part of the strategy, by 2024, the financial freezone aims to have about 1,000 firms, increase the workforce in DIFC-registered companies to 50,000, and grow the combined balance sheet of firms within it to $400bn.

The total number of firms in the freezone hit 447 in 2016, up by 10 per cent from the previous year, while the workforce reached 21,611 and the combined balance sheet reached $144bn.

Read more: Dubai’s DIFC could have more than 1,000 firms by 2024

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