Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) and Laureate Vocational Saudi Arabia (LVSA) have inked a partnership deal aimed at providing a suite of tailor-made education offerings to Saudi nationals seeking careers in banking and insurance.

The partnership signals the growing demand for industry specific programs that caters to the needs of companies with local and international clients as there is added focus on specific technical skill-sets in addition to the personal and humanitarian characteristics such as (but not limited to) customer relationships, technical services and risk mitigation, in addition to the soft skills such as communication, creative thinking, collaboration and specified regulator standards.

LVSA, which operates 11 vocational institutes and colleges in the Kingdom, began operations in 2009 and offers technical, vocational and training programs under the Colleges of Excellence (CoE) umbrella.

The CoE offers employer-focused training programs through partnerships with training providers in the Kingdom and globally, with the goal of creating a talent pool of Saudi nationals with specific skill-sets to meet the employment needs of a growing economy.

LVSA has been making bespoke offerings that meet the specific need of companies over the years. It is part of the Laureate International Universities network that is present in 28 countries serving over one million students across over 80 institutions.

The partnership with BSF, which was signed at the bank’s headquarters on Dec. 17, signals the start of an exciting new chapter with both parties pooling their expertise, resources and best practices to set new benchmarks in the sector.

Patrice Couvegnes, MD, BSF, said: “This unique partnership in the MENA region is the fruit of successful history in the development programs for nationals, which led to bringing up many of our group and division leaders today.”

Couvegnes emphasized on the bank’s CSR that contributes to the national strategy of the Ministry of Labor.