News
Silatech and the Financial Times close the Doha Summit Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned of Qatar ascertains actionable commitment towards young people, enterprise and employment with the launch of Silatech's partnerships.
Doha, Qatar , 3 June 2008 - At the closing ceremony of the Doha Summit, Her Highness Sheika Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned addressed leaders, entrepreneurs, think tanks and policy makers thanking them for their participation and determination to make a difference.
More than 200 participants from the private sector, the public sector and civil society completed sessions over the past two days to tackle the region's youth employment challenges and to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship and access to capital and markets.
"The summit marked a milestone for Silatech and a manifestation of its role as a catalyst. It triggered momentum with real commitments from our board and our partners who have unveiled different innovative initiatives to address young people and employment in the Arab world." Said Rick Little, Chief Executive and Member of the Executive Committee of Silatech's Board.
In addition to announcing Silatech's board of trustees which was chaired by Her Highness, the summit witnessed the roll out of breakthrough partnerships geared towards creating new jobs in the Arab world.
A strategic collaboration with Cisco, who dedicated its globalization centre to support Silatech, will accelerate the development of a technology platform to create favourable environment for ICT education and to allow individuals to interact with their respective employees in a fast and highly secure manner.
One of the most significant regional announcements was that Silatech established a strategic partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation across the Arab World. Silatech and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation will work together to increase young people's access to job opportunities, capital and market support across the region, as well as in the development of training programmes. In addition, the two organizations will coordinate with financial institutions to offer attractive incentives for youth-led small and medium enterprises."
As a founding member of Silatech, the World Bank Global Partnership for Youth Investment will enable the initiative to offer financial products and business development service support to encourage financial intermediaries to invest in high-growth niche youth micro enterprise market across the region. This will further be enhanced by the strategic alliance between Silatech, Qatar Financial Markets Authority and FTSE to launch a new index project, the first ever in the world, which seeks to attract global investors to support youth-led businesses in the Arab World.
On a wider scale, a Youth Knowledge Consortium was founded by Silatech, the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings Institution, the Dubai School of Government, Arab Labour Organization, Gallup, and the World Bank's Global Partnership for Youth Investment, ImagineNations Group, International Labour Organization and the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The consortium members will convene in the coming months to launch several cutting-edge initiatives such as a youth 'job-readiness' index; new research to address unemployment and skills mismatch; action-oriented new research to stimulate financial access for young entrepreneurs; and dialogue with policymakers, civil society groups, government officials and the private sector to develop effective policies and programmes.
About Silatech
Established in 2007, Silatech is an innovative initiative that aims to improve the social and economic status of young people through the creation of progressive, entrepreneurial market, employment and business opportunities globally and in the Arab world.
The "Silatech" initiative was initiated and launched by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned at the Annual Forum for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in Madrid on January 15-16, 2008. It stems from Her Highness’ drive and determination to address the critical and growing need to create new jobs and opportunities for young people globally, starting in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a pragmatic initiative which aims to offset the lack of opportunity and economic marginalization of many young people throughout the Arab world by enabling systemic changes, in policy and mindset, at regional and global levels.
Silatech objectives include promoting market based job training; enabling state-of-the-art contact and counseling centres; experimenting with cutting edge technologies to connect young people with each other and potential employers; providing access to business development services and capital for aspiring young entrepreneurs; and breaking down cultural barriers to risk taking and entrepreneurship.
Silatech has established a network of stakeholder partners and support from other leaders and organizations regionally and internationally, including Cisco, the International Labor Organization, and the World Bank Global Partnership for Youth Investment, among others.
For more information, please contact:
Silatech
P.O. Box 34111
Doha, Qatar
Tel : +974 (499) 4800
Fax : +974 (472) 7651
Info@Silatech.com
