Banking Training Center (BTC) was established under to the Legislative Decree no. 52/2005, to realize Mr. President, Dr. Bashar al-Assad's willingness to strengthen the Syrian economy.

Supported by His Excellency, the governor of Central Bank of Syria, the center aims at becoming one of the most important training centers, as it undertakes the responsibility of developing professional capacities of banking employees to meet the needs of the developing banking sector in Syria; taking into consideration the procedures and working techniques applied in both private and state- owned banks. So, the main objective of the center is to train banking staff, improve their professional skills as well as deliver the information about the most recent developments in international money markets, such as services, products and systems.

The center benefited from both, Banking Sector Support Project (BSSPІІ) and Banking Training Project (BTP) that provided the center with techniqual assistance, according to the Agreement signed between Syria and the European Union.

In 2008, the center started its operational activities, after settling down in its new headquarters, in which all training chambers are provided with modern training equipment such as, projectors, flip, smart and white boards, charts as well as modern equipment of simultaneous translation and sound systems. The center is also equipped with a computer lab and training simulation system.

The center identifies and fulfils the actual training needs of all banks, in accordance with the requirements of their activities and their potential development and expanding areas. Thus, it concentrates on offering training on modern administrative techniques, best performance standards and customer service. The center also offers computer training courses including courses on banking and financial software, along with financial and banking English training courses.

The center offers a wide variety of training programs such as: Banking training program including risk management, banking practices and principles, treasury bills, banking credit, banking operations and Islamic banking operations and administrative and behavioral courses including excellence in customer service, financial services marketing, strategic planning, branches management and human resources management.

It is worth mentioning, that the center has already carried out a number of training programs such as: new employee program (350 training hours), combating money laundry (75 training hours), internal auditing (135 training hours), banking risk management according to Monetary and Credit Council resolutions (50 training hours) and financial analysis and credit classification (100 training hours).

The center offers also specially tailored courses for banks and insurance companies, some of which were: Banking risk management program for the Commercial Bank of Syria, the Agricultural Cooperative Bank and Popular Credit Bank, internal auditing program for the Central Bank of Syria, managing assets and liabilities program for the Real Estate Bank, the training course on banking principles and operations for Syria Gulf Bank and so on.

In cooperation with both Banking Sector Support Project and Banking Training Project the center started the first extensive training program, which is “the method of the new employee”, consisting of two levels, the first of which contains seven subjects, while the second contains six. Each subject in any of the two levels includes various topics, such as: financial sciences for bankers, banking operations, banking accounting and an introduction to risk management and financial analysis. Each subject is to be covered in five days. This program was carried out for the first time in 2009 for Popular Credit Bank.

The center’s administration exerts its utmost efforts to enhance cooperation with professional training institutions, whether European or regional, to fulfill the mutual interests of other parties and itself in offering professional training, as well as granting professional training certificates in banking sciences. As a first step, in this regard, the International Corporation for Building Competencies in Germany offered three training programs and is going to offer more in the future according to the bilateral agreement signed between Germany and Syria.

The center also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Islamic International Center for Financial Education (INCEIF), during the Islamic Banks Conference in Syria in 26/8/2008 that was organized by the Malaysian Institute and the European Union Project. The main aim of this memorandum is to set a framework for cooperation between the two centers, particularly in developing training programs in Islamic banking sciences in Syria, as well as benefitting from the Malaysian expertise. The center is now putting the final touches for another memorandum with the Academy of German cooperatives (ADG).

For more information visit our website:     www.btc.gov.sy