Manama, May 31 (BNA): The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) today announced KFH-Bahrain as the Lead Sponsor for the year-long campaign to celebrate and promote the role of “Women in the Financial and Banking Sector” being held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty the King and President of the SCW.

Held as part of the Bahraini Women’s Day celebrations, the series of events includes a number of roundtable and town hall sessions on the barriers and opportunities facing women in the industry and ways in which financial institutions can support their growth in the sector, mentoring programmes and other activities that will culminate in the Women in the Financial and Banking Sector Forum to be held on 30 November 2015 at the Four Seasons Hotel. These events each seek to bring together industry leaders and decision makers and provide roles models, guidance and assistance to the next generation of females who are currently climbing the corporate ladder and working to reach senior industry roles.

As leaders in the Islamic banking sector, KFH-Bahrain’s sponsorship underscores their commitment to women and their further development in the workplace among other themes and issues which will be addressed at the Forum and the events leading up to it. These include efforts to create gender fair workplaces and see the principles of equal opportunity adopted across the industry.

Commenting, H.E Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the CBB, said, “We’re extremely pleased to be receiving such strong co-operation from the industry and thank KFH-Bahrain for their sponsorship and support for the advancement of women in the financial and banking sector. Women have played an important role over the past 50 years in helping the Kingdom of Bahrain develop and maintain its position as a leading regional financial centre, and the commitment shown by KFH-Bahrain and others to ensuring they continue to develop and enhance their roles and contributions will ensure that our leadership and the further elevation of the industry and its financial institutions continues strong.”

Adding, Mr. Abdulhakeem Alkhayat, CEO of KFH-Bahrain, said, “Empowerment and the further professional development of all of our employees and in particular of women across the Bank and our subsidiaries remains a key priority for KFH-Bahrain. Women have played in important role in the development of the Kingdom’s financial and banking sector and in the ongoing advancement of Islamic banking industry. We are pleased to be supporting this campaign of events to ensure that their contributions are recognized and that the path is better paved for them to pioneer growth in the industry and assume an even greater number of senior leadership roles.”

The CBB and SCW will soon announce additional events and activities that have been planned with the support and cooperation of sponsors and other related industry players.

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BNA 1220 GMT 2015/05/31