Bahrain Development Bank (BDB), the Kingdom’s leading provider of financial services to small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs), recently announced the appointment of Mrs. Dalal Al Qais as the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Currently well placed to become a regional leader in the financial industry, BDB remains purposefully committed to emerging as a key catalyst contributing to the growth of the Kingdom’s entrepreneurial pool of talent with ambitions to be the leading financial partner for the SME community.

Commenting on the appointment, H.E. Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chairman of BDB, said, ‘In spite of the ongoing circumstances of the pandemic, BDB has achieved great strides in the past two financial years, securing a significant increase in disbursements, swiftly adopting the requisite technologies, and reacting to the current market climate and operating environment, under the prudent leadership of the Bank’s Group CEO, Sanjeev Paul. I have no doubt that Mrs. Al Qais will passionately lead the transformational efforts through value-adding strategies to propel BDB forward in line with the Kingdom’s Economic Vision and Team Bahrain’s approach, as a thriving model of public-private sector collaboration.”

Mrs. Dalal Al Qais, newly appointed CEO of BDB, added, “It’s a great privilege for me to lead BDB and I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their trust. I am committed to deliver on the strategic objectives of the Bank which has positioned itself as one of the leading financial players supporting the growth of the Kingdom’s start-up and SME sector. I believe that BDB’s distinct business model, propelled by an unparalleled pool of talent, uniquely positions the Bank to add value to the ever-changing SME environment in the Kingdom, which is brimming with creative and pioneering ideas, and is in need of continued support on its road to recovery from the ongoing pandemic. I look forward to deploy the Bank’s digital transformation strategy, explore new streams of business development opportunities, and ensure the Bank maintains an upward trajectory of innovation and impressive track record of growth.”

Prior to joining BDB, Mrs. Al Qais was the Chief Retail Banking officer at Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) and held various leading roles at Standard Chartered Bank and United Bank, with a strong background in retail banking, and a well-rounded portfolio of technical experience across retail, credit, technology, and risk. Mrs. Al Qais holds a BSc in Management and Marketing from the University of Bahrain as well as a Master’s degree in Finance from AMA University. Mrs. Al Qais recently completed an Oxford Fintech qualification from Oxford University in 2020. Mrs. Al Qais is currently pursuing a Business Doctorate from Swiss Business School.

It is worth mentioning is that for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Bank posted a profit of BD 489 thousand (PY 1.06 million) continuing its trend of a positive bottom line to remain sustainable. During this period BDB disbursed loans/Islamic financing aggregating to BHD 23 million. Of these disbursals BHD 6.7 million were under the Liquidity Support Fund Scheme (LSF) sponsored by Ministry of Finance and National Economy (MOFNE). Loans under the LSF scheme provided at a concessional rate of interest cost together with the instalment deferments in line with CBB guidelines amounting to BHD 84.5 million went a long way to help 734 SMEs mitigate the impact of the pandemic.