Innovative recommendations mark Third Annual Forum of Young Arab Leaders 2007

The Young Arab Leaders are grateful and would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force for his support under whose patronage the event was held which was attended by over 200 YAL members from private and public sector firms and civil community organizations from 10 Arab countries who came together to discuss key challenges confronting young people in the Middle East.

Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa's Chairman of the Young Arab Leaders, Bahrain chapter asserted that he was pleased at the outcome of the Forum.

'We managed to show the delegates a bit of Bahrain and simultaneously showcase how members of Young Arab Leader contribute to the society in the Arab World,'

he added.

Tariq Al Saffar, Vice-Chairman of the Young Arab Leaders-Bahrain felt that Bahrain proved to be an ideal place for the Third Annual Forum and other similar events. 'Furthermore we boosted the importance of the Arab youth with the support of our forum partners, Economic Development Board, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co. B.S.C, Al Arabia Channel and sponsors Investcorp Bank, Kuwait Finance House, Phillips, EuroMotors BMW, Fortune Promoseven and Mazen Computers,' Mr. Al Saffar added.

A host of topics ranging from exploring methods of harvesting innovative ideas from the Arab region and how best to address the regions development needs to the necessity of environmental sustainability in the Arab region were covered in the discussions during the three day Young Arab Leaders Third Annual forum.
Panel discussions included Hiwar Al Arab, a dialogue forum implemented by Al Arabiya Channel as a special episode, which was aired last week.

The theme for discussion was Innovation: Harvesting Ideas from the Arab World. Panelist dissected and explored one of the most important issues affecting the economic and social future of the region, How to manage and foster Arab innovations which could ultimately benefit Arab youth as they look to future employment possibilities and opportunities.

Voices from Nature was another dialogue with well known members from the environmental protections societies and business community. They spoke about environmental protection policies and programmes and came out with strong recommendations with regards to the Arab World taking serious steps towards addressing environmental challenges. Global crises that could soon affect the world including water scarcity, population growth, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution were some of the subjects discussed.

Dr. Rüdiger Grube, Board of Management Daimler AG, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company who participated in the forum explained about The Power of Cross Cultural Dialogue amongst the Youth.

A number of interesting recommendations were noted at the conclusion of each panel discussion. The recommendations included

1) Involvement of the business community in funding and investing in Arab youth. Panelists agreed that the investment could effectively bridge the gap between the labour market and prospective employees.

2) The development of a job search webpage which would be appended to the Young Arab Leaders website. It was noted that the site would be like the two sides of coin. One, it would allow youth to plan and decide their education and careers according to jobs listings on the site. Two, Educational institutes could benefit from the site by studying the needs of the labour market and introduce new subjects and training methods accordingly.

3) A proposal was made to establish a fundraising and marketing committee within the Young Arab Leaders members and led by a board of directors to achieve the goals set by the Young Arab Leaders for Arab youth development.

4) A panel of Young Arab Leaders also suggested the initiation and implementation of successful programs from one Arab country into another Arab nation witch has a similar economic environment to the first.

Young Arab Leaders (YAL) is an independent pan-Arab organization that aims to create a new generation of young leaders capable of actively participating in the region's development process and driving it into a new phase of growth. It is a network of the region's leaders from the business community, politics, academia, media, arts, culture and civil society, who are committed to improving the state of the Arab world.