Corporate social responsibility – Al Faisal Holding
Al Faisal Holding has a rich history of corporate social responsibility, a history that has grown and evolved to meet the complexities of today’s business world and the challenges of a global society. The Founder, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, is a strong believer in the role of the private sector to develop and enrich the communities. Al Faisal Holding’s commitment to being a good corporate citizen includes:
- protecting the environment
- investing in education
- acting with integrity and adhering to the highest ethical standards
- promoting diversity in the Company work force and partnering with diverse suppliers
- ensuring a safe, healthy workplace.
Al Faisal Holding has introduced many programmes and partnered with organisations working together towards developing the community. One of these frontiers, Al Faisal Educational Fund, has been established to provide Qatar University students with a unique opportunity to learn first-hand about socially responsible investment and to gain a practical understanding of the operation of the Qatar Exchange and other regional securities exchanges. The development of a robust and dynamic financial services industry in Qatar is a key part of the country’s continuing broad-based economic diversification and the growth of Qatar’s asset management industry in particular has been identified as one of the central pillars of that development. In that context the importance of this initiative is clear.
The programme has been designed to enhance the learning experience within existing courses in Investment and Portfolio Management by providing capital to allow students to make real investments to create real portfolios for them to manage. Any profits generated from the programme will be dedicated back to the fund which will be administered by the Qatar National Bank through a Capital Guarantee System.
Plans for the Al Faisal Educational Fund, a joint initiative between Qatar University, Qatar National Bank and Al Faisal Holdings, were officially announced in November 2009. Since then a lot of progress has been made to develop the full mechanism for its administration. Today students are able to make real investments and manage real portfolios as they work towards their financial qualifications. It is hoped that up to 120 students will benefit from this programme every semester.
Recently, Al Faisal Holding and Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar announced a landmark cooperation agreement, cementing the link between business and education in Qatar. Under the agreement, the two parties will coordinate on scientific and strategic research, sharing professional expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, and staff and faculty around the world.
Al Faisal’s commitment to social responsibility is as strong today as it was when the company was founded. We are proud of our progress, but there is still much we can do.