Palestine Islamic Bank Opens a New Branch Office in the Village of Ein Yabroud
Palestine Islamic Bank Opened a new branch office in Ein Yabroud, a village located to the east of the Governorate of Ramallah and el-Bireh. It is the 36th branch for PIB in Palestine, and the 7th in the governorate. The opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Mr. Azzam Al-Shawwa, Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority, along with a number of official figures including Mr. Maher Masri Chairman of PIB Board, Mr. Hamdan Barghouthi, Deputy Governor of Ramallah and el-Bireh Governorate, Mr. Khalil Riziq, President of The Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Mr. Sameer Jabrah the Head of Ein Yabroud village council, and lastly Mr. Husam El-Din Afaneh Chairman of the Shari'a Supervisory Board at Palestine Islamic Bank. In addition to Palestine Islamic Bank executive management, staff and a crowd of businessmen, national and prestigious figures in the Governorate.
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, the attendees took a small tour inside the new premises where they were informed of the work mechanisms and equipment. Many of them expressed their admiration of the place and services provided to clients, both in terms of diversity of technological development and the qualitative jumps witnessed recently.
The attendees then headed to the opening ceremony where they were addressed by the PIB Chairman, Mr. Maher Masri mentioning the importance of the support extended by attendees to this event, ensuring that this is a sign of their admiration and satisfaction with the Bank and its services and strategy.
He said that Palestine Islamic Bank is working on providing distinguished and qualitative banking services, particularly electronic services that are Sharia compliant. He drew attention to the rapid development in banking services provided by the bank that will help with achieving financial inclusion and facilitate client’s access to services anytime and anywhere.
Mr. Masri stressed that the Palestine Islamic Bank is keen on being present in various Palestinian governorates with a goal of easing banking processes for customers in addition to achieving the policy of financial inclusion adopted by Palestine Monetary Authority. He revealed the Bank's intention to expand in various locations during the year 2018.
Mr. Masri concluded his address by extending his gratitude to the Palestine Monetary Authority for its continuous contribution to the stability and growth of the Palestinian banking structure, considering it the safety valve that preserves important tools for the Palestinian economy
In his speech, HE Azzam Al Shawwa, PMA Governor expressed his happiness for opening Palestine Islamic Bank’s first Banking office in Ein Yabroud and the first Islamic Bank to have an office in east of Ramallah and el-Bireh. He asserted that this step comes in conjunction with the vision and strategy for PMA for enhancing the spread of banking branches and offices to cover all areas and achieve the financial inclusion policy.
He praised what the banking system has achieved in stability, strength and rapid spread.
Mr. Al-Shawwa also praised the continuous and tangible development for Palestine Islamic Bank among Islamic Banking sector through the diversity of its products and Islamic banking services in addition to its leading contributions in CSR.
He added, “The financial indications for Palestine Islamic Bank showed that the bank has achieved special growth rates where the Bank’s net assets reached approximately $977.01 million by the end of October 2017 in comparison to net assets for Islamic Banks for the same period which was $ 2.1 billion. The total direct financing provided by the Bank for the same period was $ 609.8 million."
HE Governor asserted that the Palestine Monetary Authority is permanently working to achieve more financial and monetary stability in Palestine by developing the work of the Palestinian banking system, the Islamic Banking sector in particular. He stated that Palestine Monetary Authority will soon announce the formation of a Shari'a Supervisory Board which will function as Shari’a consultant for the Monetary Authority in regards to Islamic Banking transactions carried out by the Authority. In addition there will be preparation for implementing (IFRS 2) criteria on Islamic banks which is equivalent to (Basel II) requirements; the criteria will apply on capital adequacy, risk management, and governance in Islamic banks.
In his speech representing the Governorate of Ramallah and el-Bireh, Mr. Hamdan Barghouthi (Deputy Governor) emphasized the role of Palestinian private sector in managing and leading the economic empowerment for all the country, pointing out that the role of the private sector is not confined to this framework only, but extends to the mission towards community through social responsibility programs. Barghouthi praised the well thought out expansion of PIB Bank in all governorates in addition to its active participation in social responsibility programs. He called for higher cooperation between the governorate and Palestine Islamic Bank in the future.
Addressing the audience, Mr. Khalil Rizeq, President of The federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, exalted the role of Palestine Islamic Bank in particular and the Islamic Banking sector in general for the important role they play in building the national economy. He stated that the banking sector is the only economic sector to be considered free of Israeli occupation control.
He extended an open invitation to the Palestinian banking sector in general and the Palestine Islamic Bank in particular to increase efforts in developing products especially designed to serve the industrial and agricultural sectors, and secondly to continue with systematic expansion to the marginalized and remote areas, especially in Area C.
Mr. Husam El-Din Afaneh, Chairman of the Shari'a Supervisory Board at Palestine Islamic Bank, also had a word where he extended an invitation to the residents of Ein Yabroud to put their trust in Islamic Banking transactions and PIB’s Shari'a -compliant banking services package. He stressed that the Shari'a Supervisory Board is closely supervising the auditing of Shari’a related aspects of products and services. Afaneh drew attention to one of the main challenges facing Islamic Banking such as investing liquidity by diversifying investment formulas, speculation, Istisna'a, and S’alam. He said that “Releasing new products is considered to be one of the main priorities for Islamic Banks as well as working on recruiting competent employees to raise the level and training of staff, Shari’a education, and good handling of clients.”
The ceremony ended with a speech by Mr. Sameer Jabrah, head of Ein Yabroud village council, who emphasized the pride of the village to be the first location on PIB expansion map in the eastern area of Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate. He said that the village views the bank as a partner in the aspired development in the future. He stressed on the importance of the bank's decision to open a branch that provides Islamic banking services to the people of the village, facilitating their transactions and meeting banking needs.