KUWAIT: Kuwait Institute of Banking Studies (KIBS) has trained up to 50,000 people, mostly Kuwaiti citizens, over the past 10 years, the institute's director general Rana Al-Naibari said. Naibari, in an interview with KUNA, said the institute held 130-260 training programs annually in recent years. And, over the past 10 years, it organized nearly 2,500 training programs on professional accreditation, upgrading leaders' skills and updating various works. Some 4,000 people register for these programs every year, Naibari added.

The institute, established according to an Amiri Decree in 1970, currently operates under the auspices of the Central Bank of Kuwait. It partly aims at sharpening professional skills of the banking personnel. Naibari said KIBS had overseen the CBK initiative "Kafaa" designed to secure highly qualified national cadres. "Kafaa" includes programs for developing executives' skills in coordination with Harvard's business faculty, habilitating newly graduated Kuwaiti citizens and granting scholarships for studies abroad.

The institute, which has a website headlined "bayanti" including specialized banking studies, regularly coordinates with banks to examine their issues, particularly with respect to human resources, and offers solutions. - KUNA