On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the National Bank (TNB) furthered its partnership with the Business Women Forum (BWF) through the “Special Gifts from Us 2022” exhibition, that was inaugurated under the patronage of the Palestinian Minister of Economy, Mr. Khaled Al-Aseeli. The exhibition gathered more than 85 projects led by Palestinian women entrepreneurs, with products varying from jewelry to Palestinian embroidery, soap, and many other products.
Commenting on the event, TNB Chief Executive Officer, Salameh Khalil congratulated Palestinian women on the occasion of International Women’s Day and emphasized on the key role of women in nation building and development processes. Khalil stated that supporting the BWF events during this month is part of the strong partnership between the bank and the forum and resonates with TNB’s belief in their common message to financially empower Palestinian women.
Khalil touched on the role of TNB in empowering Palestinian women economically and enhancing their financial inclusion, pointing out to the "My Life" program, a permanent source of support for women, through which the Bank has financed many small women-led projects without interest or commissions, with a threshold of 3.5 million US dollars so far. TNB believes in the role of Palestinian women in development, and that involving women in the economic process to a larger extent would improve the gross domestic product and thus bring about sustainable economic development. Khalil explained that the percentage of women who save at the bank reached 61%, which is more than the percentage of male savers, and the percentage of women from the bank's customer base reached 34.5%, stressing that these numbers are very high compared to those of the Palestinian banking system.
In turn, the Chairwoman of the BWF Board of Directors, Mrs. Shuaa Murrar, congratulated all Palestinian women on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, and expressed her happiness with the achievements of Palestinian women entrepreneurs despite the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. She also pointed out to the pivotal role played by BWF to enable these projects over the past years through an integrated methodology and a series of business development services to support women entrepreneurs from the outset in building their capacities and then connecting them with markets and funding sources.
Mrs. Murrar also thanked TNB for its partnership in support of the forum’s activities during Women’s Month and for its engagement with platforms such as the forum’s annual exhibition by providing financial and banking awareness to women entrepreneurs during the exhibition, as one of the most important challenges women face is access to sources of funding to grow and develop their projects.
It is worth noting that the exhibition will continue on Wednesday 9/3/2022 from 10 am to 9:00 pm at the Millennium Hotel in Ramallah, and is an opportunity for the public to support small women's projects and contribute to their sustainability and encouragement.
