Al Khaliji sponsors World Environment Day 2012

"As a 'next generation' bank, our primary concern is - of course - the well-being of future generations," said Robin McCall, al khalij's Group Chief Executive Officer. "We firmly stand by initiatives that bring issues such as the environment to the forefront. The annual World Environment Day is an initiative at the global scale that highlights and raises awareness of the most pressing issues we face today. We are proud to yet again support Qatar's celebration of the event."

Under the theme 'A Green Economy: Does it include you?', World Environment Day kicked off on the 25th of May, and is again organized by the local organization 'Friends of the Environment Center' and under the auspices of Dr. Saif Ali Al Hajari, Chairman of the center and Vice Chairman of the Qatar Foundation. The worldwide campaign itself is managed by the United Nations Environment Program. Similar to last year, the celebrations are designed to directly engage the public with a painting contest encouraging people of all ages to creatively portray the contest's theme 'Save the Environment.' The celebrations will culminate with the award and appreciation ceremony to be held on the final day on the 5th of June.

"At al khaliji, we do not only stand side-by-side with environmental and social awareness initiatives, but are also ardently committed to Qatar's National Vision 2030," continued McCall. "The Vision calls for environmental preservation, and under our corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, we are committed to the same. We take our obligations to the community seriously, and our support for similar events in the past is testament to that fact. We are very excited about this year's event; last year, over 1500 families and 50 schools participated. We expect World Environment Day 2012 to see even bigger numbers participating."

Dr. Saif Ali Al Hajari warmly thanked Al Khaliji for the on-going support the bank has been providing for Qatar's World Environment Day celebrations.

"We are very honored to welcome the support of Al Khaliji as the Platinum Sponsor of World Environment Day 2012 celebrations in Qatar for two years in a row," said Dr. Saif. "al khaliji's initiative to take part in this special global celebration is indeed a testament to their commitment to take action in spreading environmental awareness to all. Based on this year's theme 'A Green Economy-Does it include you?', the event aims to establish corporate and community partnership towards commonly shared values to ensure a safer and more prosperous future."

al khaliji's support of World Environment Day 2012 falls under the bank's corporate social responsibility umbrella, whereby Al Khaliji lends support to social, environmental, and humanitarian programs that benefit the community, as explained by Abeer Al Kalla, Head of Public Relations and Communications at the bank.

"At al khaliji, we balance our financial obligations with our obligations to the community as a whole," explained Al Kalla. "We believe it is our obligation to commit ourselves to initiatives that serve the greater good. As environmental degradation has ramifications on everyone, it is in our power - in fact, everyone's power - to make a change now. And that is the very reason we again are supporting World Environment Day."