A new achievement is added to the list of accomplishments that the National Commercial Bank (NCB) has received assuring its leadership in the field of CSR, when Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced NCB winning the 'Saudi CSR in the category of Supporting Entrepreneurs and Small Enterprises' as an appreciation of the Bank's efficient contributions, initiatives and programs in this field.

This announcement came during the opening ceremony of the Saudi Corporate Social Responsibility Forum held recently in Jeddah under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalid Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Mecca Province.

HRH Misha'al bin Majed bin Abdul Aziz inaugurated the forum, which was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah in cooperation with the Economy and Business Group. 

NCB winning of this Award, presented for the first time by Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, assures 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 SR26m 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.

The results were sorted according to the information contained in the application form, including information on activities and programs adopted by the bank to serve the community such as job opportunities, productive families, education, health, and charity organizations programs.

The bank served more than a million people since the launch of these programs in 2005 to the end of 2012. NCB is also on the top of all participating banks in Kafala Programs in terms of the number of guarantees since the launch of the program. 

Eng. Mahmoud Al Turkistani, Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Department at NCB received the award from HRH Prince Misha'al bin Majed. 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.

Moreover, this latest distinction given to the bank adds to its wide array of local, regional and international CSR awards. This shows its leading role and proven track records in the field of institutional social work, and social responsibility initiatives and unwavering support of the national development through well planned programs and initiatives that contribute in the development and advancement of the society and national economy to achieve the sustainability in all aspects of economic, social and environmental themes.

NCB has made many successful partnerships with entrepreneurs such as the partnerships with more than 56 entities from the public sector, including chambers of commerce and interested government and non-government authorities over 39 cities and villages around the Kingdom, which was positively reflected in serving the entrepreneurs over the Kingdom since 2006 till now.