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Bank of Palestine and the Federation of Palestine Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture signed a cooperation agreement to promote awareness to the Bank’s customers and women entrepreneurs about the importance of registering at the chambers of commerce and to enhance their knowledge about financial and non-financial advisory services provided by the Bank to Palestinian women entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises.
The agreement also includes raising the awareness of those registered at the chambers of commerce about the banking products and services provided by Bank of Palestine, in order to benefit and expand their businesses. On the long-term, this will improve the economic activity and stimulate growth significantly.
The agreement was signed at Bank of Palestine’s General Management Head Office in Ramallah, in the presence of Mr. Hashim Shawa, Chairman and General Manager of Bank of Palestine, Mr. Khalil Rizek, President of the Federation of Palestine Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Mr. Jamal Jawabra, Federation’s General Secretary, and members of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, in addition to a number of officials from the Bank and the Palestinian private sector. Under the agreement, the Bank will conduct a series of workshops about the services provided to the micro, small and medium enterprises and large enterprises for the members registered at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce. The Federation will also conduct a series of workshops to the owners of micro, small and medium enterprises who are not registered at the chambers of commerce, to raise their awareness about the importance of registering at the chambers of commerce, and coordinate with the owners of small and medium enterprises to invite them to participate at the workshops held by both parties, in addition to providing information about the Federation and registration at the chambers of commerce through the Bank’s website dedicated to business development tools (Business Toolkit).
Mr. Shawa expressed his contentment about this agreement, which is signed with one of the most important institutions that organizes economic, industrial and agricultural activities in Palestinian cities – the Federation of Chambers of Commerce; he indicated that this agreement will enhance awareness for the Bank’s customers, and women entrepreneurs in particular, about the importance of active participation in the economy and will advance the economic activity on the national level.
With an initiative by the Bank to provide incentives to the owners of enterprises to participate in the economic activities, Mr. Shawa confirmed that Bank of Palestine will cover the annual fees for one year for the first 1000 women who register their businesses at the Chambers of Commerce, starting with year 2016, given they are customers of Bank of Palestine. The Bank will also cover 10% of registration fees for one year to all other owners of enterprises who register at the Chambers of Commerce during 2016, given they are customers of Bank of Palestine, including men and women who register at levels of fourth grade and higher.
Mr. Khalil Rizek praised the Bank’s efforts towards the development of financial products that support business owners and its contributions to stimulate the economy; he indicated that nine gender units were created at the chambers of commerce and industry; the mission of these units is to integrate gender issues in the policies, programs, projects and budgets of the chambers of commerce, in order to promote and enable the participation and involvement of women in the private sector, and enable them economically, in addition to improving the quality of services based on their needs. Mr. Rizek added that the Federation of Chambers of Commerce facilitated the registration procedures at the chambers of commerce by including the fourth grade within the law of chambers of commerce, related to micro small enterprises with a capital less than 5,000 Jordanian Dinars. In addition to lowering the registration fees at the chambers of commerce for women entrepreneurs and integrated various other facilitations; which resulted in a total of 40% increase of women entrepreneurs registered at the chambers of commerce, reaching 2800 registrations in the West Bank during 2015. The total number of businesses registered at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce in the West Bank is 51,000 member - around 32,000 of which are active members. In Gaza Strip, 14,000 members are registered, in which 2,650 of the registered businesses are owned by women.
Bank of Palestine launched an exclusive program to support Palestinian women under the title "Felestineyeh, which aims to empower Palestinian women in all economic and social aspects. The program includes the provision of banking products dedicated to women, in addition to awareness workshops conducted in various governorates in collaboration with several local institutions and federations. "Felestineyeh” program also includes a specialized awareness Facebook page that provides women with important tips and information in the fields of health, nutrition, upbringing of children, and career and self-development.