MANAMA: Students based in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia also stand to benefit from Bahrain becoming a centre for exams conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), a top official has said.

The main professional accounting body of India has officially confirmed that the kingdom has joined its list of overseas exam centres which include Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Kathmandu, Kampala, Kuwait and Muscat.

More than 750,000 students globally take the exams which are usually held twice a year, in May and in November.

Bahrain Chapter of ICAI chairman Ajay Kumar told the GDN that at least 40 students in Bahrain are set to sit the exams in November this year.

Welcoming the decision, he said it brings relief to many students who were facing uncertainty about travelling to India for the upcoming exams, due to travel restrictions brought in by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Kumar said this will result in substantial time and cost savings for ICAI students based in Bahrain, who used to travel to India or Dubai for the exams earlier.

Now they can avoid hassles such as multiple Covid-19 tests, mandatory travel quarantines, in addition to lodging and flight costs, he added.

Also, students who have already submitted the application choosing other centres can switch to Bahrain as their centre when the correction window opens from September 7 to 12.

“I would like to thank ICAI president Atul Gupta for confirming the approval as well as Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava and Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) director Dr Ahmed Al Shaikh, for their significant support in securing the approval,” said the official.

Mr Srivastava has described the decision as “a significant development in the current situation bringing relief to students”.

He also extended the support of the Indian Embassy for conducting the CA exams in Bahrain.

The BIBF has signed a memorandum of understanding with the ICAI, said Dr Al Shaikh, adding that Bahrain becoming an exam centre will pave the way for development of professional accountancy training to Bahrainis in the future.

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