KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al- Humoud Al-Sabah speaks during the Kuwait Banking Association forum. — KUNA KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al- Humoud Al-Sabah speaks during the Kuwait Banking Association forum. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah has emphasized momentousness of activating the principle of social responsibility as a method of work for the private sector.

Sheikh Salman, also chairman of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), made his remarks yesterday in his statement to a forum organized by the Kuwait Banking Association on the role of banks in social responsibility in Kuwait Capital of Islamic Culture 2016.

Sponsoring the event, the minister said that the principle could be activated through launching projects, financing programs and supporting initiatives in all fields, environment, health, education and employment.

Development affair has come to be basic in Kuwait's keenness on serving humanity, the minister said. He referred to the UN honoring of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as a 'Humanitarian Leader' and Kuwait as a 'Humanitarian Center.'

Sheikh Salman stressed the role of the private sector as a key source for development and charity work worldwide, and the banking sector is the backbone of private business. The contemporary trends of banks' social responsibility have established the concept as a sustainable one, turning it from mere financial support to development programs and plans to handle certain issues to improve the quality of life, he said.

The minister noted that the Kuwaiti financial institutions have come to been keen on the concept. He said that electing Kuwait Capital of Islamic Culture 2016 is huge support to the concept of social responsibility, since culture is the cornerstone in forming social thinking, especially for youth.

The minister said that state institutions, both official and private are responsible for preparing their staff of Kuwaiti youth and training them on applying social responsibility through advanced programs to consolidate values of belonging and citizenship.

The forum sheds light on the efforts by Kuwaiti banks interacting with humanitarian problems, as well as their role in social responsibility, urged by Islam, for a stable and well-established society, said chairman of the Kuwait Banks Association and the Burgan Bank Majid Essa Al-Ajeel.

Ajeel reviewed statistics on the donations and contributions by the Kuwaiti banks as part of their social responsibility, totaling KD 470 million ($1,555 billion) for the period 1992-2015, KD 167 million went to backing national labor and KD 128 million for the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). Over this period, banks offered KD 139 million as social and humanitarian contributions, and KD 12 million to cooperative societies. In 2015 only, Kuwaiti banks provided KD 4 million to the national campaign supporting Syrian refugees. - KUNA