JEDDAH: The annual report for The Centennial Fund (TCF), the nonprofit organization established by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah as part of his economic initiative, shows that all goals have been achieved. The report revealed that the total ongoing projects in 2008 reached 1,040, bringing the total number of projects since the inception of TCF three years ago to 1,520 with a total investment to date of SR264.7 million.
The report also said that the number of received and reviewed applications for assistance in opening local business reached 21,173 in 2008. To enhance its performance further and increase its ability to cater to all regions and cities in the Kingdom TCF said it had managed to recruit an additional 2,000 new volunteers, increasing the total number of TCF volunteers to 3,170.
Sixty-six percent of volunteers were recruited from areas of the Kingdom besides the three major cities of Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam. It also stated that among the volunteers 76 percent are men and 23 percent are women. This was organized to allow fairness and assist in women as well as men being able to participate in obtaining entrepreneurial benefits. Due to these efforts the number of ongoing and approved projects outside the three major cities rose to 64 percent last year, with Saudi women receiving 25 percent of the loans awarded. TCF added that the percentage rate of loan repayment collections also struck a positive note, with 76 percent of loans being repaid. In response to these achievements, TCF received the ISO certificate in 2008 which is awarded to businesses for quality of service design and level of customer satisfaction. Among other distinguished honors for 2008, TCF was welcomed as a member of the Arab Knowledge Management team, becoming the first non-profit organization to be recruited.
Commenting on the achievements made for the year, Nawaf A. Al-Massoud, TCF’s chief operating officer told Arab News, “It has been our goal from the beginning in 2005 to provide high-quality of training, financing, and mentoring which meet the needs of our clients and their projects while shaping policy, procedure, and practice within our expertise to increase the international and national scope and reputation of the TCF while making a significant contribution to young Saudi men and women,” he said.