JEDDAH, 23 March 2007 — A new group of external trainees has completed a course on “How to Start Your Small Business” conducted by the National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) community service unit. The new group included 23 men and women trainees, some of whom were present at the graduation celebration held at the NCB premises on Wednesday.
Five groups of trainees presented their business plans and marketing strategies as part of the celebration.
The course is one of the NCB’s corporate social responsibility activities and aimed at reducing unemployment by encouraging capable individuals to launch their own business.
“We are very pleased to initiate programs such as this in order to support and enable Saudi youth to play a part in developing the national economy through small-scale business projects,” Abdulrazak Elkhraijy, chief of the Islamic retail development group at the NCB, said.
The Arab world is now facing a huge challenge in creating career opportunities, he said, adding that this is the time for the private sector to play a part by training and educating young people to enable them take initiatives in setting out and shaping their career.
“In fact, the NCB, as a national institution, has taken the lead in establishing programs to encourage young people to start their own small-business projects after equipping them with basic skills,” Elkhraijy said. “By doing so, our aim is to reduce their dependency on the public sector in finding jobs. In addition, we seek to expand the national economy’s base by encouraging small-business projects.”
Expressing his satisfaction over the success of the training course he said: “The NCB’s community service unit has accomplished much in a short period of time in implementing the ‘How to Start Your Small Business’ course, which reflects the bank’s effort to assist individuals in achieving success.”
Speaking on behalf of NCB’s partner in the project, Dr. Mohammad Noori Kootuh, vice dean of the Business Administration College said: “The ‘How to Start Your Small Business’ program has produced extraordinary results, thanks to the cooperation between the college and the NCB.” He referred to the NCB’s efforts to support the small-and medium-business sector, which contributes to the diversification of the national economy, and thanked the bank for its responsive and lasting cooperation with the college in adopting such programs. He pointed out that this was by no means the first initiative made by the NCB, since the bank has been contributing to the Kingdom’s economic development by financing strategic projects.
Elkhraijy and Kootuh presented certificates to the graduates and wished them success in the implementation of their business plans.