Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania Al Abdullah on Monday received Saudi Prince Talal Ben Abdul Aziz, president of the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND).

Their Majesties voiced appreciation for the prince's role in serving the cause of development in Jordan, through AGFUND.

The pan-Arab organization on Monday opened the National Microfinance Bank (NMB) in Amman, the first such institution AGFUND launches in the Arab world.

In addition to AGFUND, stakeholders include the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) and the private sector.

The King and Queen held a lunch banquet in honour of Prince Talal attended by KAFD Board of Trustees Chairman Faisal Fayez, his deputy Bassem Awadallah and Adviser to the Arab Open University Mohammad Hamdan.

According to the KAFD, AGFUND seeks to assist Arab countries in establishing their own microcredit organizations to finance projects for the needy, while ensuring sustainability of the beneficiaries' financial income.

NMB, previously known as Bank of the Poor, works to finance productive projects for underprivileged segments of the society, spread a culture of microcredit and carry out activities that are likely to serve its mission.

Queen Rania Al Abdullah, who has played a key role in supporting microprojects in the Kingdom, was named UN Microcredit Ambassador last year. She is also a board member of FINCA, an international organization that provides financial services to the world's poorest families so they can create their own jobs, raise household incomes and improve their standard of living.

The Jordan Times