The National Commercial Bank has been the largest commercial bank in Saudi Arabia since it was founded in 1953 and maintained high ranking in the whole middle east, providing diversified financial services to individuals, private sectors and governments. It was a rare opportunity to get inside the headquarters of the NCB and visit different divisions to learn about its mission, values, and responsibilities.

We went to the executives’ meeting room, chairman’s office, and treasure division. In the treasure division, we asked questions about a typical day of a trader, oil price fluctuation after the drone attack at Aramco’s several oil fields, and currency trading.

According to the Vision 2030 by HRH Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Saudi government is trying to diversify its economy and create a better business environment for private sector to reduce Saudi’s reliance on oil export. Therefore, we should be expecting that there are more and more newly founded companies in the market competing with existing government-owned and foreign-owned ones. The growth and development of new business requires the support from banks to provide them enough financial support, so I especially paid attention to the policies toward small business owners. Based on my knowledge and observation, national and regional banks in China have all set up departments to serve the interest of small companies. They simplify the application and fasten the review process. Some newly founded banks in China primarily focus on small business and constantly innovate, even customize, the financial products for small business. Their effort has facilitated the growth of startups and promoted the economic development of China’s economy. According to the South China Morning Post, the People’s Bank of China launched a new liquidity mechanism in mid 2019 to make funds available to small businesses and private firms, and “all loans agreed under the new mechanism will be provided at an annual interest rate of 3.15 per cent — 15 basis points below than the standard rate.” It also took other steps such as “[extending] its credit line to the nation’s lenders by 100 billion yuan to ensure sufficient funds were available for small businesses.” The principle is to make accessible for small business, and I believe the micro loan of NCB serves the same purpose.

Owned by the PIF, the NCB not only needs to maximize its profits, but also need to fulfill its social responsibilities. The mission of the NCB is “to be the leading bank in contributing to social responsibility,” and I am glad to see it is working toward this goal. I learned today that the Corporate Social Responsibility is launching program for women between 18-60 and teach them weaving, pottery and decoupage. It also has programs for empowering children and orphans. The Alahli volunteer program encourages employees to get involved in community service and so far there have been 1112 employees from both genders participating in the program. I believe the social responsibility programs of NCB will play an important role in the realization of the Vision 2030.

*****************************************************

Mengtao Zhao, Editor for China at KCL Dialogue Magazine, is studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at King’s College London and is a Chinese national. He is interested in the international politics of energy and banking.