Shell launches the first Regional Intilaaqah Award

Intilaaqah is a non-profit programme modeled on an initiative called "LiveWIRE" developed by Shell. The purpose of Intilaaqah is to stimulate and encourage young people to consider the option of starting their own businesses, and to provide assistance to help them realize their dreams.

The Regional Intilaaqah Awards ceremony, taking place on December 3rd in Muscat, will bring together current and prospective young entrepreneurs and businessmen from the region to celebrate the spirit of enterprise inspired by the Intilaaqah programme. The event will also celebrate the 10th anniversary of Intilaaqah Oman.

Nominees from the three countries where Intilaaqah is currently active have been shortlisted and have submitted their entries for the awards. There are four award categories and a nominee from each country is represented in each category. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners in each of the four categories: Business Success or Significant Progress, Most Promising Start-Up, Best Business Plan, and Best Business Idea.

Commenting on the Regional Intilaaqah Awards, Raoul Restucci , Executive Vice President, Middle East Caspian and South Asia, Shell Exploration & Production International, said:

'Entrepreneurship is a vital element to the world's economic development. The Intilaaqah Programme has been playing an important role in encouraging young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses and providing them with the knowledge and know-how to help them in materializing their dreams."

To date, 2825 people from the region have benefited and graduated from the Intilaaqah programme and 358 have established a diverse range of viable and successful businesses operating today.

The twelve nominees will be interviewed by a judging panel before the event, and the winners will be awarded cash prizes to help further develop their businesses.