Friday, 18 May 2012
DOHA: Following QDB's successful launch of the SME toolkit in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group; QDB and IFC collaborated once again through a three-day training workshop recently for Al Dhameen partner banks/financial institutions to assess the potential benefits of targeting the SME sector and help them to build and expand their SME business offerings.
The programme provided an overview of the best practices in SME banking from around the world, and methods for adapting these practices to the local market conditions.
"As part of our commitments to promote sustainable private sector development in Qatar, we are very pleased of QDB's collaboration with IFC's advisory Services department to strengthen the capacities of other banks/financial institutions in Qatar for SME financing," said Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Executive Director, Strategic Planning & Control at Qatar Development Bank.
The training was part of QDB's efforts in Qatar to spur economic development by supporting the private sector through a combination of advisory services and investments.
"We also had a number of financial institutions from different parts of the world such as the USA, Egypt, Pakistan, India and Turkey who were here with us and attended this program and it is through these international interactions that we hope we can have a robust dialogue and achieve maximum benefits from this training," Al Khalifa said.
The programme was tailored to address the needs of SME banking to meet the growing challenges of the private sector.
"Our experience working with financial institutions globally shows that when the right systems are in place in an institution targeting SMEs can be profitable, as risks can be mitigated. IFC believes that SME banking is a huge opportunity for banks to tap" said Kaiser Naseem, IFC's head of MENA Banking Advisory Services
© The Peninsula 2012
