Business & Money | Sunday 13 October, 2019 1:15 pm |

Under the patronage of H.E. Eng. Ahmad Bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi, Minister of Labor and Social Development, Jana Center (a Bena’a Productive Families Center) celebrated the fundraising of SAR one billion as an investment portfolio aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

During the occasion, H.E. Eng. Ahmad Al Rajhi honored Sipchem, which was represented by the CEO Eng. Saleh Bahamdan, for its continuous efforts in supporting sustainable projects in cooperation with Jana Center.

Jana Center is one of Sipchem's strategic partners. Sipchem works closely with the Center to empower women socially and economically through social responsibility initiatives, most notably is the establishment of a loans portfolio to support 85 women in SMEs. Sipchem has also sponsored the Jana project to support street vendors by offering dedicated sales kiosks in an initiative to eliminate random selling.

Commenting on the event, Eng. Saleh Bahamdan, CEO of Sipchem, said: “Sipchem is always committed to empowering women and supporting their professional development. Sipchem adopts and implements several policies and initiatives aimed at enhancing women’s ability to deliver and effectively participate in the Saudi economy. We are pleased to work with the Jana Center, which is one of the most prominent programs supporting families in need. Our mutual aim is to reduce poverty and unemployment in the community and empower Saudi women, in line with Vision 2030 objectives to achieve social and economic prosperity.

Jana Center was established in 2010 as one of the programs of Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi Charitable Foundation, a socio-economic project that provides goodwill credit services for women to establish businesses to ensure the improvement of their financial statuses as well as occupying a more effective position in society. The importance of the Center lies within its social dimensions, which focus on women – especially the unemployed – in hopes of transforming them into working, self-sustaining businesswomen through microloans and establishing a culture of productivity.