Afghanistan Banks Association

Date: 19 Oct 2016

On 19 Oct 2016, contract signing ceremony was held in Kabul between Afghanistan Banks Association (ABA) and Al Madina Group to manufacture and personalize the New Standardized cheque books, locally in Afghanistan for the first time.
The event was attended by H.E. Khan Afzal Hadawal First Deputy Governor Da Afghanistan Bank (Afghanistan’s Central Bank), H.E. Aimal Marjan Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technologies (MCIT), ABA Executive Director Mr. Najibullah Amiri, Ms. Sheila Hopper Jamal Al-Madina Group CEO, Mr. Mohammad Atif General Manager and Mr. Mohammad Kabir Essakhil Country Director Al-Madina Group, CEOs and senior officials of ABA's member banks and media reporters were present. The event commenced with recitation of verses from the Holy Quran.
Mr.Najibullah Amiri, Executive Director ABA, welcomed the delegates, member banks, he added: presently, the changes brought by technology, business processes have also been dramatically changed, in order to reduce the risk of at fraud and manipulation The Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) have taken a step forward and decided to establish modern and standard cheque note system and developed guidelines (Cheque Standard Specifications) for its member banks as standards and security preventive measures. DAB further plans to automate cheques clearance system using Automated Transferring System (ATS) project, which previously was done manually but with standard cheque notes this could be done by machines and clear cheques really quick.
Mr.Amiri further added that during the selection process of ABA, which was completed through a panel committee with the close coordination of member banks concerned officials and their CEOs confirmation, Almadina Group was awarded the contract. Al Madina Development and supply LLC is an international company, established in1984, Operates in Many countries, owns and operates its own security printing press in the Sultanate of Oman, Al Madina Group, is also locally registered in Afghanistan and already operates in banking and government sectors of Afghanistan. Through ABA’s long initiation process, Al Madina formally committed to its investment over One Million USD in the banking sector as its beginning phase. This is a major achievement for the banking sector of Afghanistan in terms of self-sufficiency and cost effectiveness.
Mr. Mohamed Atef General Manager Al Madina Group said: “It is a great honor for me to be here with you on this occasion of the signing of Contract for Manufacturing and Personalization of Standardized Secure Cheque Book between ABA and Almadina Group. Here in Kabul We started looking to Afghanistan Market almost 2 years ago, we done market analysis and study, we believe in Afghanistan future and its economic growth and we decided and commit to invest in Afghanistan market for long term. We are delighted to announce the opening of our branch here in Kabul”.
H.E. Khan Afzal Hadawal, First Deputy Governor of DAB, welcomed the contract between ABA and Al Madina Group regarded standardized cheques printing as one of very basic requirements of the modern banking systems. He added, after this, all the banks will have the new standardized cheques to meet basic cheque standardization. These cheques will not only be printed for local banks but also for branches of international banks inside Afghanistan and no foreign bank will be allowed to print cheques on their own without having to follow proper guidelines.
H.E. Aimal Marjan, Deputy MCIT Minister, appreciated the efforts of ABA together with Al Madina Group. H.E. Marjan welcomed the initiative of direct foreign investment and added many companies should be encouraged on government level to provide professional services locally in Afghanistan in different sectors. To date MICT has attracted over 2.2 Billion USD direct foreign investment in telecom and other private sectors of Afghanistan.
The Agreement between ABA and Al Madina Group was signed between Mr. Najibullah Amiri CEO of ABA and Ms Sheila Hopper Jamal CEO of Al Madina in the presence of respected CEOs/CMs and few authorized representatives of Azizi Bank, Arian Bank, Bakhtar Bank, Afghanistan Commercial Bank, Maiwand Bank, Pashtany Bank, Bank-e- Millie Afghan, National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Ltd, Ghazanfar Bank, The First Microfinance Bank, New Kabul Bank and Bank Alfalah Ltd. Afghanistan International Bank and Afghan United Bank also attended in the event . End of the Report .
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