Traditional concept of return on investments changed after introduction of new criteria for project financing, risk management, Abdalla says The fourth and fifth groups of young bankers graduated from Mostadam Forum, which included 68 bankers from an array of banks in Egypt who were trained to implement sustainability approaches in banking transactions and to be qualified to finance clean energy projects, energy conservation, and small and medium enterprises. According to Hassan Abdalla, chief executive officer of the Arab African International Bank (AAIB), the traditional concept of the financial industry was how to maximise returns on investments but was later changed after the emergence of new standards for project finance and risk management, which stirred an urgent need to interact with industry developments, taking into account the three principles of sustainable financing: governance, environment, and society. Abdalla added that Mostadam Forum is distinguished by its belief in young people's ability to rephrase these concepts to promote sustainable development to activate balanced and meaningful growth. According to Nizar Samy, deputy executive director of training at the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI), the Egyptian banking sector now owns approximately 200 experts in sustainability through Mostadam Forum, stressing the importance of benefiting from them optimally. Samy called for the formation of a forum of the programme alumni to develop executive plans that would benefit the Egyptian banking sector and add to Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030. He added that he was confident that Egypt would become a role model for sustainable finance in the near future at the international level and not only at the regional level. He added that the EBI will continue to support initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable financing and will spare no effort to fulfil its mission of providing knowledge services to the financial sector and contribute to the financial awareness of society. For his part, Abdalla handed over the graduation certificates to the two groups that attended the course "Introduction to Sustainable Finance", which is accredited by the EBI. The graduation certificates were also given to the young bankers who were enrolled in the Mostadam Forum programme approved by the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
