Al-Rajhi, which is invested across a variety of investment classes, geographies and sectors, including financial services, real estate, infrastructure, mining, health care, telecommunications, utilities, oil, gas and petrochemicals, among others, will commit to working to further the principles of transparency and accountability of the Pearl Initiative, and is the latest in a series of progressive companies making a commitment to leadership by example.

"Being a founding partner of the Pearl Initiative is in full concordance with the ethos of our company," says Khalid Al-Rajhi, CEO of Abdulrahman Saleh Al-Rajhi & Partners and board member of the Pearl Initiative. "Al-Rajhi is committed to working in a socially responsible manner and ensures the highest standards of ethical practices are applied. As our work includes a large number of companies across a variety of sectors, we are always striving to apply the principles of transparency, governance, accountability and philanthropy where applicable.  Joining the Pearl Initiative is a further demonstration of our commitment to these principles," he said.

The Al-Rajhi partnership with the Pearl Initiative demonstrates the company's commitment to supporting and promoting specific ethical behavior and business practices; creating an internal corporate culture with standards of transparency, accountability, social responsibility and corporate governance; participation in certain leadership training programs; engagement with peers; acting as an advocate for the Initiative; and stimulating social entrepreneurship across the Gulf region of the Middle East.

The Pearl Initiative is a private sector-led, not-for-profit initiative set up in cooperation with the United Nations Office of Partnership.