Saleh Fareed

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — INJAZ Saudi Arabia celebrated its fourth year of operations in Saudi Arabia at a ceremony held in Jeddah recently under the aegis of Minister of Education Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah.



‏The event was attended by Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al-Thaqfy, director of th Department of Education in Jeddah, INJAZ’s board of directors and advisory committee members, along with business leaders and chief executive officers of leading private sector companies.

The ceremony honored INJAZ Saudi Arabia’s strategic partners, individual and business sector volunteers. ‏Al-Thaqfy announced the two winning student companies established through INJAZ’s Company Program.

‏Al-Hayat Company won the best university student company award in Saudi Arabia, while the Better Life student team won the best public school student company award.

Both teams will represent Saudi Arabia in the regional competition to be held next December in Kuwait. ‏The company program is one of the most important initiatives offered by INJAZ Al-Arab and INJAZ Saudi Arabia.

Under the close mentoring of a group of volunteers from leading companies, the program provides students with the necessary skills and hands-on experience to establish their own companies through practical training and according to precise scientific methods.

‏The event included a roundtable discussion entitled "Unleashing the Entrepreneurial Capacities of Saudi Youth", in which Faris Al-Turky presented his “Fotour Faris” project and his experience as a successful entrepreneur.

Having faced different challenges and difficulties as an entrepreneur, Al-Turky introduced several effective means to empower Saudi youth, unleash their capacities in the field of entrepreneurship, and create suitable job opportunities for them to face the challenges of the new age.

‏"Working with more than 500 boys and girls schools in 26 cities throughout Saudi Arabia, INJAZ introduces new educational initiatives in collaboration with civil society institutions and other ministries concerned with educational outputs," said Al-Thaqfy.

Abdel Kareem Abo Al-Nasr, chairman of INJAZ Saudi Arabia, said: “Through empowering Saudi youth with different skills outside their university and school curricula, INJAZ Saudi Arabia seeks to bridge the gap between the outputs of the education sector and the labor market needs.

“In so doing, INJAZ Saudi Arabia equips youth with the necessary skills to prepare them for the labor market and helps them find suitable job opportunities or start their own business. "Operating in Saudi Arabia for four years, INJAZ has successfully reached out to 110,946 students through its professional career training programs.”

Nael Samir Fayez, INJAZ Saudi Arabia executive director, said: ‏"In the near future, INJAZ Saudi Arabia plans to launch more initiatives on a broader scale and to invite more companies and institutions to invest their time and effort in supporting youth and nurturing their creativity to serve the national economy.”

‏Introducing a medical alert bracelet that could potentially save the lives of patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as heart diseases, diabetes, epilepsy, and blood pressure conditions, Al-Hayat CEO Deema Abd Allah Kedsa and her team presented their company’s idea to several hospitals and medical institutions, which all hailed the concept and assured its feasibility.

With the support of INJAZ Saudi Arabia, the Al-Hayat team intends to establish a real company to implement their idea. Better Life Company Chief Executive Officer Abdel Hakim Soliman Al-Herz and his team of nine students from Al-Thaghr School in Jeddah explained the idea of their project, which aims to protect the environment through recycling used tires and converting them to lamps using origami paper.