The five-day program — carrying the name “The Concept of Banking Industry and its Role in Economic and Social Development” — is being held at the headquarters of the Institute of Banking in Riyadh.

Speaking in the opening session, Talat Hafiz, secretary general of the media and banking awareness committee, said the program is part of a strategy to strengthen the culture of banking in society and to familiarize the public with bank products.

He said the media and banking awareness committee has been organizing a number of seminars, lectures and workshops in addition to awareness campaigns to enlighten customers on how to safely operate ATM and credit cards. The success of the awareness campaigns depends on cooperation between banks and media establishments, he added.

“A series of similar courses will be conducted in Jeddah and Dammam over the coming few months. The program will be updated with the help of chief editors of newspapers and banking and economic experts to maximize benefit,” said Hafiz.

The program seeks to enable journalists who are specialized in business reporting shape public opinion. This could be achieved by making journalists familiar with banking and financing concepts and operations. The course will also enable participants understand and correctly analyze reports and indices of banking performance, and familiarize them with the industry’s technical jargon.

Major topics to be studied in the course include the role of SAMA in functions such as implementing the country’s monetary policy, and monitoring and supervising the banking industry so that banks serve the national economy and society in a satisfactory manner. The course will also focus on methods of managing the banking industry. It will also discuss the role of local and international non-banking financial institutions in the development of the banking sector.

Twenty journalists representing print and electronic media are participating in the course, which will also review the corporate social responsibility of banks.

The program will also instruct journalists on preparing news reports after correctly analyzing financial and performance reports from banks. As part of the course, the participants will visit the Riyadh headquarters of SAMA, the National Commercial Bank and the Saudi Press Agency.