I’ve worked at the World Bank since 2002, when I joined the corporate budgeting department, which focuses on the planning, deployment and monitoring of the organisation’s resources.

Before that I worked in the private sector in Malaysia, Denmark and Switzerland for a range of companies, including Coopers & Lybrand, IMG and the East Asiatic Company. I was drawn into the World Bank by its noble mission to alleviate poverty. It’s a cause that can’t fail to engage anyone.

Moving from the private to the public sector presents a key challenge for any management accountant: there is no “bottom line” in the latter and no “shareholder value”, in the conventional sense, to strive for.

Yet my CIMA qualification has equipped me with the knowledge, skills and approaches required for both private and public organisations. I’ve found the CIMA syllabus highly relevant in every country and sector that I have worked in.

In fact, in late 2009 CIMA became the first UK-based accountancy body to seal a quality training partner agreement with the World Bank to train finance and accounting employees in its professional accountancy qualification.

Earlier this year I moved from corporate to business unit planning and budgeting in the Latin America and the Caribbean regional unit. Based in Washington DC, I’m part of a team that makes key budget allocation decisions that support the bank’s engagement in that part of the world.

Among others, the World Bank is helping the region to unleash its potential through human capital, social and infrastructure development, which are key enablers to attracting investments and facilitating private sector growth.

Most Latin American and Caribbean nations are lower to middle income rather than poor. As a result, the World Bank is relied upon not so much because we have the money to lend – even though lending was up during the crisis – but for our expertise in facilitating longer-term growth and sustainability.

This makes Latin America unique for the World Bank because we compete on knowledge and our execution abilities. We are heavily involved in the region’s major economies, including Brazil and Argentina, as well as smaller countries. Our interventions in the latter may not be as large, but they are no less important.