DIB presents awards to Iktasib trainees

The month-long programme allows high school and college students to get first hand experience of banking while giving the bank the opportunity to assess the ability of those considering entering the profession.

Awards were made to students for The best presented projects and The most distinguished trainees and DIB organisers and administrators were also recognised for their contribution at a ceremony held at the Emirates Institute of Banking and Finance in Sharjah. The ceremony was attended by senior executives from the bank, including Chief Executive Officer Butti bin Darwish Al Falasy. Mr Al Falasy said: "DIB recognises that it has a social responsibility and the Iktasib programme is one of a series of ways in which we try to meet these.

"The programme provides practical opportunities to improve the trainees' skills and knowledge of Sharia'a-based Islamic banking. At the same time it holds out the prospect of work with the bank at some future date for the most able.

"Our experience of the Iktasib programme has shown that we all have something to gain from it. The trainees gain experience and knowledge of the basics of Islamic banking and practical working life. At the same time it allows us, in the bank, to identify potential new recruits.

"We have seen real evidence of ability and some of the ideas and suggestions generated by the trainees about the bank's services and procedures have been very useful."

Ahmad Sarkal, DIB's Human Resources Manager, said: "The number of applications for places on this year's Iktasib programme was very high. There were 160 from all over the emirates and we had to split the programme into two rounds."

Sarkal added: "We are pleased with the progress made with the Iktasib programme and with the high regard in which it is held. The programme has helped us identify the available human potential in the local labour market while contributing to developing talent that can be spread across the local banking sector.

"DIB is especially proud of the programme's contribution to its localisation policy. It has certainly played a role in what we consider the great achievement of recording the highest percentage of localisation within the UAE banking sector."