Harvard Business School presents programme for bankers

Prof Yaqoub S Y al Refaei, director general of the Institute of Banking Studies (IBS), announced that the IBS is conducting an executive education programme entitled ‘Leading Financial Services in a Rapidly Changing World’, in collaboration with the Harvard Business School (HBS) for banking and financial executives in the GCC region, from February 1 to February 6.

The programme is the latest in a series that has been presented for the last ten years in different GCC countries. In 2020, it is running in the Sultanate of Oman.

Prof Refaei pointed out that the programme is a part of the Kafa’a initiative which was launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait in September, 2019. The programmes included in this initiative are sponsored by the local banks in Kuwait and are organized and executed by the IBS.

The current Harvard programme aims to develop executive leaders and staff in all sectors generally and in the banking and financial sectors specifically. He mentioned that the Harvard programme was conducted in the GCC for the first time in 2010 as an exclusive event for the Central Bank of

Kuwait and the Kuwaiti banks. After the tremendous success of that first programme, and with the Harvard Business School showing interest in taking the program to the GCC level, the programme continued to be run on an annual basis since then, alternately in one of the GCC states. In 2019, the programme was conducted in Kuwait, which coincided with the tenth anniversary of the programme.

The outstanding success of the programme was an incentive to continue presenting and improving it to suit the rapid changes in the business field. The organisations that participated in the programme included a number of banks and Gulf financial firms, in addition to the Central Bank of Kuwait and the local Kuwaiti banks.

Prof Refaei affirmed that the programme will adhere to the Harvard Business School’s high standards; thus ensuring that the participants and their banks and organisations will be provided with the same quality of learning experience for which the school is so well known. The governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait elaborated that new case studies have been selected by the school’s faculty, to be related to the banking and financial sectors in addition to other sectors. In addition, participants carry out a number of interactive activities in groups throughout the duration of the programme which will enhance their analytic skills. At the end of the program, participants will receive a Harvard Business School certificate, verifying that they have completed the program.

Prof Refaei said that the development of talented and qualified nationals in the Kuwaiti banks and in all sectors in the State of Kuwait, and also in the GCC, will remain a top strategic priority for the IBS, considering the leadership role of executives in developing their organisations. IBS will continue offering the services that will fulfil their needs and matching with the market demands.

He went on to explain that collaboration amongst the GCC countries in areas of common interest, such as training and development, has always been and will remain a top priority for the IBS. He expressed his gratitude for members of the Kuwait and GCC banking communities who have continued to support the Harvard Business School strategic programs over the years. He thanks all participants participated in this programme from Kuwait and from GCC.

Prof Refaei also expressed his gratitude to H E Tahir bin Salim bin Abdullah al Amri, Executive President, Central Bank of Oman, and to Dr Nasser al Mawali CBFS, dean - CBFS Board of Directors, Member, Recorder – for supporting this programme.