Banking sector has emerged as a role model in attracting major regional and international financial institutions to Bahrain, localising their experiences, utilising them in consolidating national economy and training Bahraini national cadres, said Mona Yousuf Khalil Almoayyed, Chairman of Ebdaa bank for Microfinancing.

 

She was speaking on the occasion of the Bahrain's banking industry's 100th anniversary celebrations. 

 

Almoayyed affirmed that the patronage of HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for the banking sector since the 1970s had paved the way for Bahrain to become a first destination in the region in terms of financial and banking services. 

 

"HRH Prince Khalifa's insightful vision helped in anticipating the horizon of growth and development of the financial and banking services," said Almoayyed, adding that the Bahraini banking sector was still able to drive the financial and banking work to new ranks and keep pace with developments in the global banking industry, such as digital financial services, financial technology, and microfinance.

 

"We are now proud to have trustworthy Bahrini cadres in the financial sector that have demonstrated their ability to reach the highest leadership positions, and we must maintain the success of the Bahraini banking sector and make sure that all other sectors benefit from this success for Bahrain's advancement and prosperity," she added.

 

Ebdaa Bank CEO Dr Khaled Al Ghazzawi pointed out that the Bahrain's robust banking sector made it the first country in the GCC states to succeed in the year 2009 in attracting the financial inclusion banks initiative launched by the late Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz - President of the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND), and was supported by their Majesties and Highnesses, the leaders of the GCC states by establishing Ebdaa bank for microfinance. 

 

"Ebdaa Bank's services mainly aimed at supporting low-income people, and the success of the experiment in Bahrain became an incentive for more successes achieved by the microfinance banks affiliated with the Arab Gulf Development Program (AGFUND) in many countries in the region, said the top official.

 

"Ebdaa Bank is still pursuing its efforts to make Bahrain a home for the microfinance industry in the GCC states, and setting the highest standards for this industry following international best practices, within the framework of the Kingdom's economic vision 2030, the directives of the bank's board of directors and the efforts of the executive management," stated Dr Al Ghazzawi. 

 

Ebdaa Bank will maintain its role in facilitating banking that supports the advancement of the middle class in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to its keenness to support the march of the Bahraini banking sector and diversify its financial and banking services and products, he added.-TradeArabia News Service