KPMG in the Middle East & South Asia (MESA) region reported a 12.7% growth in aggregated revenues of member firms across the MESA region for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015 (up from 11.1% growth in the previous year). During the year, KPMG across the MESA region had recruited 14 new partners, more than 650 experienced professionals and over 1,350 graduates. The resource pool at year-end is over 6,600 professionals and associates within member firms in 15 countries covering 32 office locations. John Veihmeyer, Chairman of KPMG International, said: "This has been an exciting year for KPMG, as we have continued to innovate and invest at a record pace to meet rapidly changing global business demands. The breadth of services offered to clients has expanded considerably, with significant investment in new technologies such as real-time data & analytics, a record number of acquisitions, and bringing on board thousands of new, highly talented professionals". In one of his recent visits to the Middle East, John Veihmeyer also emphasized the significance of MESA as an important growth region for KPMG. Recently, KPMG member firms in the region received a number of awards including the Accounting Firm of the Year Award at The CFO Middle East Awards, the Best Audit Services Award at MENA Fund Manager Fund Services Awards and was also recognized as a ‘Top Tier Firm' in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region according to International Tax Review's World Tax 2015. Commenting on the performance of the region, Abdullah Al Fozan, Chairman of KPMG MESA and Member of KPMG's Global Board, said: "Our emphasis is on adapting to changing environments, enabling us to meet our clients' expectations. One of our main strategic initiatives is to invest further in building specialized expertise in focus sectors including infrastructure, energy, financial services, and enterprise. We are also aggressively investing in service expertise in areas such as digital, cyber security, transformation, strategy and data & analytics among a broader set of regional strategic growth initiatives. By focusing heavily on developing and empowering our people, we are confident we will continue to be relevant to the issues at hand and provide practical insight to help businesses and organizations to navigate through changing environments". KPMG International reported an aggregated network revenue of $24.44 billion for the fiscal year ending 30 September 30, 2015, representing an 8.1% increase in local currency terms (up from 6.3% in the previous year). KPMG member firms had in aggregate hired a record 24,000 new graduates, with the total workforce growing to 174,000.
