Ummed Singh Jain
Director and owner, KBF Pack (P) Ltd
Ummed Singh Jain is passionate about ACCA. Indeed, it seems his whole family are passionate about ACCA. His elder son and daughter are both members, his younger son is an affiliate and his daughter-in-law is an ACCA student. It comes as no surprise that he lists one of his hobbies as "motivating young students to join ACCA."
After graduating from Patna University in 1968 with gold and silver medals and the Bank of India prize at the age of 20, Ummed travelled to the UK to study business studies. It was through this that he felt encouraged to start his own business. "I needed fully to understand finance and accountancy before taking the plunge. I wanted a professional qualification, which would give me international exposure," he said. Ummed was offered a scholarship by the British Council to study for ACCA. "The quality of the competition for that scholarship convinced me I was doing the right thing. I studied full time at Glasgow College of Technology, now Glasgow Caledonian University, and won the best student in Scotland prize in 1971 and 1972. However, moving to a new country was the least of my worries," says Ummed.
Ummed explains that his close-knit family considered education an unnecessary hobby. "My family were scandalised by the idea of my studying abroad. My father's untimely death did not help matters either. Weeks of negotiation followed and to get the nod from my mother, I had to agree to marry before I left Nepal!
"In the UK, I had to juggle between married life, my toddler son and ACCA studies, with mapping my future career."
Ummed started his career in Whinny Murray, a predecessing firm of Ernst & Young, as an audit assistant. However, due to family commitments he had to end his UK career prematurely and return to Nepal.
Despite this setback, Ummed explains how the ACCA qualification has helped him to forge a successful career spanning thirty years. "As a result of the ACCA qualification I am recognised as one of the foremost professionals in Nepal. The knowledge and the professional experience I have gained from ACCA has given me the confidence to start and run my own business - KBF Pack (P) Ltd - successfully."
The company produces disposable packaging containers for export to India. It is the biggest employer in his area, where the majority of the community are farmers who do not have access to good education. "We employ around 70 local people, almost all the employees are female.
"I believe it is important to give something back to your local community and I am proud to offer employment to local people, which helps to improve their lives."
Ummed also provides affordable tuition to ACCA students though the Nepal Peace Foundation. "I feel I am making a difference to the lives of so many students. This is definitely one of the high points of my career. By showing my own responsible actions, I ensure that I will leave footprints for others to follow in the future," says Ummed.
"The strong core of ethics and business ethos provided by ACCA has given me the ability to make the right choices. I am glad to say that ACCA's syllabus recognises the dynamics of our ever-changing business world, and provides adequate tools to deal with them. ACCA membership means more than letters after my name; it's part of who I am. It's my identity card."