Professor Muhammad Yunus, member of AGFUND's international prize and laureate of Nobel Peace Prize 2006, lauded the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the Arab and Islamic arenas, noting that the Kingdom takes care not only of its people but also of all Arab and Islamic peoples. He also expressed appreciation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for giving him a chance to meet with him and thanked the king for awarding him King Abdulaziz sash II. In a press conference at AGFUND headquarters in Riyadh today, Prof. Yunus said he briefed the monarch on his anti-poverty project through tiny loans and efforts to curb negative effects of poverty over communities. In response to a question, he said the policy of Grameen Foundation is not to open branches like commercial banks as Saudi Arabia is not in need of money that we deposit in its banks but through our partnership with AGFUND and other institutions that could be created within this partnership in Arab world, our Grameen Foundation is ready to provide help in establishing similar local institutions in Saudi Arabia and other countries who would seek our help. Later, Prof. Yunus met with President of King Saud University Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Othman and a number of the staff. On the meeting, he said he was briefed on the work of the university, lauding the university's initiative to attract Nobel prize laureates to share researches and development programs with the university. More than seven million people in Bangladesh benefit from Grameen Foundation project, he said adding that most beneficiaries were women.
