Bank of Palestine’s representative office in Santiago, Chile - During the past few days, Bank of Palestine has been implementing several cultural, social, artistic and economic events in Santiago, Chile, in preparation for the opening of its second representative office abroad in the Chilean capita, Santiago. The bank opened its first representative office in the Dubai Financial Center in the United Arab Emirates. The official opening of the Santiago office will be held next Tuesday, 7 November.
It is expected that several Palestinian and Arab business men from North America and Latin America will attend the official opening ceremony of the bank, alongside Mr. Hashim Al Shawa, the Chairman and General Director of Bank of Palestine, Mr. Azzam Al Shawa, Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, and several other guests. This opening will be a landmark in the journey and history of the Palestine banking system, whereby Bank of Palestine will once more prove that Palestinian institutions are able to develop, grow and innovate, as well as keep up and compete with global institutions in all fields.
The preparations for the opening ceremony involved the organizations of several activities among them sponsoring the Taqalid Conference, which is the first conference for Palestinians living in Latin America, which was attended by over 2,000 people who came from several Latin American countries. The conference was followed by a gala dinner for several Palestinian men and women from Guatemala, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Chile and El Salvador, in addition to performances of the popular Palestinian Dabkeh, traditional handicrafts, a workshop organized and delivered by BoP Advisor for Art and Culture,
Mr. George Ama, about the history of Bethlehem and Palestinians in the Diaspora communities, and the official opening ceremony on 7 November, which is expected to include hundreds of VIP persons from the Palestinian Diaspora.
Mr. Hashim Al Shawa stated that Palestinians living outside Palestine have proven that ability to confront change at all levels, pointing out the importance of the existence of a Palestinian financial edifice for these communities who live far away from their homeland, whereby this edifice would encourage them to invest in Palestine by providing them the necessary advice and facilitating their various financial transaction to and from Palestine.
Al Shawa added that the representative office will form a bridge of economic communication and linkage between Palestinians in the Diaspora communities of Latin America, whose population is approximately half a million, and their mother country for the purpose of developing and supporting the Palestinian economy. According to Al Shawa, in the past few years, the bank managed to communicate with these communities and involve them in some humanitarian and developmental projects that are implemented by the bank in partnership with civil society organizations working in Palestine. Palestinians living abroad have financial capabilities that may be invested in Palestine, and the bank is playing a role in creating favorable conditions for these Palestinians and provide them with credit facilitations that encourage them to invest in Palestine in order to contribute to the growth and development process and create employment for youth.