27 October 2009,Amman- Mr. Ziad Al-Refai, CEO of the Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom), participated in two global conferences held in Washington as the representative of the micro-finance institutions in the Middle East.

The first conference was entitled “Investors of the Microfinance Sectors”, while the second was the annual youth conference held under the title “Support Youth Creativity.”

The first conference included a comprehensive presentation of the experiences of microfinance companies in all parts of the world, in which more than 300 microfinance institutions participated.

The conference also included topics related to the investment and legal environment and investment opportunities in each region separately.

Al-Refai presented Jordan and the Arab world’s experiences in the microfinance sector, indicating that the activities and events of the second conference (the annual youth conference) focused on means of supporting youth and the importance of providing services that target this group, especially financial services from micro credit companies, something that is clearly absent from the message and market strategy of these companies.

Al-Refai stressed the importance of supporting the youth’s ideas, and gave the Microfinance Network of Arab Countries (SANABEL) as an example of global interest in supporting this group, which stems from the conviction in their future role in building the necessary competence to induce change and economic development.

He indicated that through the conference, participants learned about the experience of a wide range of youth experiences worldwide, as young participants presented their creative ideas to fight poverty and unemployment and help less fortunate people.

Al-Refai added that there will be focus in the upcoming stage on developing a set of products and services in the microfinance industry in the Arab world, aiming to attract the youth in order to develop their creative ideas and support their role in social development.

Tamweelcom is a leading non-profit microfinance company in Jordan that endeavors to fight poverty and unemployment.

It was founded in 1999 and is owned by the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation (King Hussein Foundation).

More than 124 thousand projects have been financed using more than JD 58 million, 95% of the projects were for women.