The agreement was signed by Dr Abdulaziz H Al-Mutairy, General Manager the Centennial Fund and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees Arab Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training (ARCEIT) Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa in presence of other Fund and the UNIDO officials.
Dr Abdulaziz termed the agreement as a step towards Fund’s long-term strategy aimed at equipping youngsters with necessary knowledge and skills in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East and North Africa.
“The experience of UNIDO in creating a sustainable training model over the years will be of a great benefit as the Fund will be replicating this model in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the MENA region,” he said.
Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman ARCEIT, said the MoU would giant step towards enhancing further co-operation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Centennial Fund.
“We are positive that this initiative will help to achieve the goals of training and development aimed at creating a sustainable growth model including the job creation and encouraging the private sector enterprises,” Shaikh Ebrahim added.
Dr Hashim Hussain, Country Head of UNIDO in Bahrain said the Bahrain-Arab Model (Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion) has so far replicated by 37 countries.
“The MoU with the Centennial Fund will open a new era of co-operation and development for the Bahrain-Arab Model as it will focus on Saudi Arabia as well as the greater MENA region further enhancing the scope of this unique enterprise development model through intensive training and expert counselling,” he explained.
“Bahrain-Arab model developed by the UNIDO will continue to serve as a catalyst to develop the small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” he said.
According to experts Bahrain has become a center for some of the best practices on human development and entrepreneurship through economic empowerment.
“It has always been our belief that the route to sustainable development is based on economically empowering the people, and the level of its success is measured by how much support is provided to the human capital. Promoting investment and developing SMEs require well groomed entrepreneurs who seek opportunities and challenge themselves to succeed, coupled with a set of value added services; and this is exactly what the Bahrain – Arab Model methodology is able to do,” Dr Hashim added.
The Government of Bahrain had embarked on a strategic partnership with UNIDO in 1999 to provide full support to potential entrepreneurs, and all the relevant organs of Government have geared their efforts towards achieving this goal.
“Due to our success and achievements thus far, many countries have requested our support in developing the Bahrain Arab Model in their respective countries. Accordingly, the programme is currently being implemented in thirty seven countries from Uruguay through Sierra Leone and all the way to China; and proudly in Mozambique,” he said.
Nora Faisal Al Shaaban, President Ebda’a Exchange, who is also a certified trainer and UNIDO counsellor said the agreement would serve as a vital pillar to the human resources development initiatives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Nora, being the first Saudi woman, with a credit of training 9000 people said she would use this agreement to enhance the training scope of Saudi youngsters.
“We need to change the mindset of the youth by equipping them with necessary knowledge and knowhow about the economic empowerment through training and exposure,” she explained.