JEDDAH: The Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) has released its first integrated annual report. It is the first ever integrated report in Arabic issued by a bank globally.

Structured and written to provide readers with a comprehensive yet succinct account of the bank’s record of value creation, the release of this report marks a significant milestone for the bank as well as for the financial services sector in the Middle East.

Being a recipient of the King Khalid Awards for Responsible Competitiveness (RC) in Saudi Arabia year-over-year progressing from 3rd place in 2014 to 2nd place in 2015 to 1st place in 2016, SAIB was admitted as an ambassador for the RC award last year.

“Sustainability is but one half of our value creation story. It is the story of how SAIB delivers value to each of its stakeholders. By adopting integrated reporting, we are now able to complete the other half of the story.

That is the story of how each of the stakeholders, in turn, becomes valuable to the bank in driving its future earnings,” said Ishraq Al-Thebiani, SAIB’s AGM Corporate Communication Group.

Asked why SAIB decided to produce such a report, Al-Thebiani said: “Why we adopted this integrated approach was because it lends itself to SAIB’s very ethos. Transparency and sustainability are paramount here and an integrated annual report reflects the kind of integrated thinking that goes on within SAIB’s various business and service groups.” He added: “An integrated annual report also lends itself to global best practices in a world that is becoming increasingly and inextricably linked.

With many of our international peers adopting this form, we see it as the next stage in corporate reporting.

It requires us to produce an annual report that is concise, strategically relevant and future-orientated; one that speaks to all our stakeholders.”

Al-Thebiani explained: “International investors are now increasingly considering the overall impact that a business is having on all its stakeholders.

Vision 2030, which is driving Saudi Arabia’s economic, social and environmental development toward making the Kingdom a global hub, encourages businesses to become world-class players in their respective sectors.”

Richard Howitt, CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), congratulated SAIB “for its leadership in taking the first steps toward integrated thinking and reporting.”

He said: “As practice develops, we are confident that integrated reporting can play an important role in the region’s efforts to be a solid long-term investment proposition and I hope other businesses will be inspired by SAIB’s innovative approach.”