Emirates NBD Bank, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkiye region, has signed a cooperation agreement with Jarir Bookstore, to enhance the customer experience by offering exclusive services and benefits to their clients.

This significant step embodies the vision of both companies to foster innovation and expand the range of services offered to customers, in alignment with market needs and customer aspirations.

Marwan Hadi, group head of retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD, said: “We are delighted with our partnership with Jarir Bookstore, the leading retail company in the region. This partnership reflects our joint commitment to providing the best services to our customers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to enhancing the status of both Jarir and Emirates NBD Bank as leaders in their fields.”

Meanwhile, Abdulkarim Al-Aqeel, CEO of Jarir Bookstore, emphasized the importance of the partnership, saying: “We are pleased to collaborate with Emirates NBD Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the region, to provide greater value to our customers. This strategic partnership allows us to offer distinctive benefits and enhances the shopping experience in our branches, aligning with our commitment to providing the best services to our customers.”

The signing of the cooperation memorandum took place in the presence of key executives from both organizations. Attendees from Emirates NBD included Hadi; Naser Yousef, CEO of Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia; and Ghassan Najmeddin, head of retail banking and wealth management — Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia. Representing Jarir Bookstore were Al-Aqeel, and Safi Alsafi, COO.

Almarai Company has signed a cooperation agreement with the Social Development Bank to launch a program to empower owners of very small cooking projects in the Riyadh region. The initiative — the “Almarai Chefs Program” — is part of the company’s support and encouragement for entrepreneurs.

The agreement was signed by CEO of Almarai Company Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Bader and CEO of the Social Development Bank Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Humaidi.

The agreement includes several areas of cooperation between the two parties. It stipulates that Almarai will commit to financing cooking training projects and contributing to the identification of targeted activities for financing and training, providing food products, equipment, and tools for projects participating in the program. Meanwhile, the Social Development Bank — represented by the Dulani Business Center — will provide solutions and services to qualify the targeted group through empowerment and development programs, in addition to nominating productive family projects to join the program.

Almarai CEO Al-Bader said the company’s partnership with the Social Development Bank to launch the Almarai Chefs Program will contribute significantly to empowering emerging entrepreneurs in the food sector. “The program will have a positive impact on owners of very small cooking projects, by supporting them continuously and enhancing their contribution to the development of this vital sector.”

Al-Humaidi added: “The cooperation agreement with Almarai Company targets owners of very small projects in the cooking and productive families sector in the Riyadh region, in an effort to develop small businesses and contribute to their transformation into sustainable projects, and achieve a tangible economic return for the participating projects, as we focus permanently on supporting innovators to launch qualitative projects that we are proud of in the Saudi food sector.”