Arab workforce is this year's winner

Monday, the not-for-profit organization announced the Oman team as the 'Company of the Year 2009' award winner at the Competition, which was held from June 21-23 2009 in Beirut, Lebanon.

Manal Omar Alnadabi of the Oman Team was also awarded the 'CEO of the Year', with Morocco taking the title for Best Innovative Product.

Students from Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia all competed against each other during the hectic two days by presenting their innovative ideas to the judging panel, which included Youssef Nasr, CEO HSBC Middle East, Hani Kablawi, Managing Director and Head of Middle East & Africa, Bank of New York Mellon, Walter Sufi, Citibank, Waleed Al Banawi, Chairman of Young President's Organisation (YPO), ٍٍShehab Nawawi, Chairman and Managing Director of Giza Systems, and Michel Fattal of Fattal Holding.

The competition is based on a 15 week INJAZ Company Program held at the student's schools throughout the year which concluded yesterday with an assessment of criteria including the strength of reports to management, marketing plans, thorough budgets and environmental considerations.

Soraya Salti, Regional Director, INJAZ al-Arab said, "This year's competition was testament to the innovative spirit and determination of our young people as they applied the skills from INJAZ's Company Program at this year's competition. We were so impressed by the caliber of competitor teams and are thrilled about the positive impact of their experiences."

While young people constitute a third of the working age population in MENA, they account for half of the unemployed, the highest rate in the world. INJAZ al-Arab works to combat this problem by recognizing the validity of self employment as a career option and by teaching practical business and economic courses.

With the help of 10,000 corporate volunteers, INJAZ has already trained over 500,000 students since its inception in Jordan in 1999.

"INJAZ al-Arab's efforts to alleviate the employment challenges in our region would not generate such exceptional results without the support of the private sector. We thank our sponsors for supporting us in these efforts, look forward to continued cooperation and together, will work toward enhanced awareness of the challenges that face our youth."

This year's competition was sponsored by BankMed, Abraaj Capital, Barclay's Bank, Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Arab Finance House (Islamic Bank), Bank Audi sal - Audi Saradar Group and hosted by Ecole Superieure des Affaires (ESA).