Minister of Education Prince Khaled Al-Faisal attended the annual ceremony of the Saudi Injaz Entrepreneurs Program 2014 under the slogan “Prepare Saudi youth as leaders of tomorrow in the world of entrepreneurship” at the Jeddah Hilton. The ceremony was held to honor the best supervisors of the program, best business idea, best marketing plan, best product, best young entrepreneurs and best sponsor companies. He also visited the stalls of the Saudi entrepreneurs to encourage them to start small businesses. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal lauded the efforts of the Saudi Injaz Entrepreneurs Program and expressed his joy at the celebration marking the success of the Saudi youth in the labor market. “I am delighted to be with you tonight and hope this program will play the role of constructive bridges and cooperation between human capital, families, schools and the business sector with developing and fulfilling the ambitions of our youth,” he said. He added that the success of the program lay in the concerted efforts of everyone. He further said that the best humanitarian work is public education, higher education and vocational training. “These works develop the talent of the youth so that they can build their future and guide them toward the labor market,” he said. This program, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education, represents a periodic review of the curriculum and the results, including the magnitude of the modern methods to enhance the economy and link early careers opportunities. Al-Faisal said that the youth have a valuable opportunity to reflect on the different aspects of the civilization of the country and the impact of education in economic development. “Saudi youth are in a race against time to participate in the development of the country,” he pointed out. He said that the youth have to take the right decisions and initiatives to overcome all the challenges which need the upgrading of skills, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, education and lifelong learning. He emphasized that the Ministry of Education is ready for full cooperation in the development plan for the youth and the country. “We are working on creating generations with talent and creativity and to support their innovative programs with the development of public education in the framework of strengthening the economic sector,” he said. Nael Samir Fayez, Injaz Saudi Arabia executive director and a member of the Board of Directors welcomed Prince Khaled Al Faisal, officials of the educational ministry, schools, universities, students and other dignitaries and elites. He explained that the Saudi Injaz Entrepreneurs Program, with its mission and vision of Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, and Workforce Readiness was aimed at preparing elementary, middle school, high school and university students to deal with life’s demands through developing their personal and practical skills. “Education is a key pillar on which nations develop and their people achieve distinction. A successful education system is characterized by its ability to bridge the gap between its output and the private sector’s requirements,” he said. He said Injaz-Saudi Arabia’s mission is dedicated to inspire and prepare Saudi youth to succeed in a global, knowledge-based economy with a vision of delivering pioneering hands-on programs to 250,000 male and female Saudi students Kingdom-wide by 2018, in partnership with the business community, ministries, educators and volunteers. The trend reflects a growing interest in preparing youth leadership unable to participate effectively in the development process. He explained that the Injaz Saudi entrepreneurship program has 25 district schools in 50 cities of the Kingdom, where 691 school programs were accomplished in the academic year 2013-2014. He said the program is working to anticipate the basic needs of the Saudi students in order to prepare them for the labor market and their goal is to implement the initiatives in more than 30 cities for more than 12 thousand students so they can actively participate in the development of society. The “best supervisors of the program in the Kingdom” award was received by Abdullah Haque from Al-Jouf. Quick Card Company received the “best product award,” while the “best marketing plan award” was received by Madinah company. The “best company at the school level award” was received by students of Tabuk School and Ewan Company received the award for “best company at the university ”
