Bir Welfare Society in Jeddah plans to increase the number of the beneficiaries on their welfare assistance program to 1,000, its secretary general Walid Bahamdan announced recently. Speaking at a forum of Saudi Productive Families that was sponsored by Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Bahamdan said the society would extend soft loans to Saudi women to start with small projects. “The fact that the recipients wouldn't ordinarily qualify for loans from commercial banks made the social impact of such loans disproportionately positive on society,” he said. Bahamdan said a large segment of the women borrowers live in south Jeddah in districts known to be occupied by low-income people. He revealed that about 31 percent of the women borrowers lived in Al-Jamia District, 27 percent in Ghulail, 22 percent in Quwaiza and the remaining 20 percent in other suburbs of the city. The secretary general revealed that the society had extended 127 loans totaling SR657,000 last year. Bhamdan said the society recently trained 40 women in handicrafts and sewing. However, he stressed the main difficulty facing productive families is successfully marketing the products they make. He proposed the establishment of a special company to market the output. Bahmadan also called for the public to support the commercial projects of the 600 productive families currently on their books.
