AGFUND expansion: Opens its first bank in Philippines

The Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) has decided to expand its program to Southeast Asia, which will be inaugurated in the Philippine’s capital, Manila, for the first time this week.
In a statement, AGFUND Executive Director Nasser Al-Qahtani told Arab News that such a project in the region is a new step that reflects a positive attitude toward developing communities through the project.
AGFUND has established similar banks in many Arab countries in order to provide income and jobs to local communities.
Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, AGFUND president, will be departing this week to Manila to inaugurate the micro-finance bank in partnership with the Philippine government and the private sector. AGFUND bank is expected to grow and marks an expansion of the organization’s services in the Southeast Asian regions.
Al-Qahtani said that AGFUND will serve as host during the inaugural forum in the presence of the Larry Reed, director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, and AGFUND representatives based in banks in Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Sierra Leone.
He said “the bank is to be launched in Manila as part of a comprehensive initiative aimed at integrating the poor into the process, empowering women and confronting social and economic imbalances with logical and easy solutions.”
According to him, AGFUND’s micro-finance project aims to combat poverty in eight countries, where there are now over 1.4 million beneficiaries.
As such, micro-finance, according to AGFUND, should be utilized as a tool to reach out to youth and provide products that help create self-employment opportunities.