THE Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) conferred on the National Commercial Bank (NCB) the “Saudi CSR in the category of Supporting Entrepreneurs and Small Enterprises" in appreciation of the bank's efficient contributions, initiatives and programs in this field. The announcement of the corporate social responsibility award was made during the opening ceremony of the Saudi Corporate Social Responsibility Forum held recently in Jeddah under the patronage of Prince Khaled Al Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region. Prince Misha'al Bin Majid, Governor of Jeddah, inaugurated the forum, which was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah in cooperation with the Economy and Business Group. The award, presented for the first time by the JCCI, confirmed that the bank has met the criteria put by the Assessment Committee for the award. These criteria included NCB's leadership in developing distinct and leading programs to support 11,599 entrepreneurs and small enterprises and supporting the productive families with SR26 million dedicated to family training and financing the micro-projects. NCB's support to the entrepreneurs also included training, counsel, financing and promotion. The jury committee comprised of a number of specialists in the field of social responsibility from the Jeddah Chamber, King Abdul Aziz University, and the Board of Social Responsibility in Riyadh, who considered that NCB is one of the few distinguished entities in the social responsibility field. This was based on a number of criteria, which included relevance of initiatives on key issues of development in the Kingdom, the impact of social responsibility programs to the community, and the sustainability of the banks CSR programs. Eng. Mahmoud Al Turkistani, Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Department at NCB, received the award from Prince Misha'al Bin Majed, Governor of Jeddah. Al Turkistani appraised this honor assuring that winning this award is an indication of the high level and distinguished record that NCB achieved in the social responsibility field. He also affirmed that supporting economic development and achieving the sustainable social development objectives represent the strategic perspective adopted by NCB through the experience gained over five decades. NCB is always keen to present non-profit creative and evolving programs to develop the community and citizens. The CSR award highlights the programs and initiatives presented by the bank in an integrated practical framework. It is also an appreciation of the bank's excellence and commitment in the field of corporate social responsibility in the Kingdom. The bank's contributions in the field of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs come through AlAhli programs for the small enterprises, AlAhli Productive Families Programs, and AlAhli Injaz, which present a bunch of diversified projects that aim at achieving the same goal, i.e. supporting the entrepreneurs. NCB participated in the Saudi Corporate Social Responsibility Forum through a working paper presented by Eng. Mahmoud Al Turkistani, Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Department at NCB under the title “Public-Private Sectors Partnership for the Country Development”, side by side with a number of top government officials, experts and businessmen from the Kingdom and the Arab World. — SG
