JEDDAH, 22 May 2007 — The College of Business Administration in Jeddah has opened an enterprise consultation center aimed at helping business students launch their careers.
“The consultations include designing business plans and providing a ‘Business Village’ equipped with all the facilities that would help business students,” said Zaina Zaidan, director of CBA’s Academic Support Center, who said the center hosts volunteer business executives from the community to help guide the next generation of entrepreneurs.
“In case the businessmen like the students’ projects, they can adopt and finance them,” he added.
The center had a soft launch in March, but CBA officials have maintained a low profile until now because they wanted to assess the services offered by the center, which is open to both men and women.
“We wanted to make sure it will be successful, and it has been a big success,” said Zaidan. “The CBA is the first college in the Kingdom to have such a center.”
The CBA is a private college that teaches men and women in Jeddah. The new center provides consultation services to women even if they aren’t students at the college.
The center also offers a program to help CBA students start their own business and become entrepreneurs.
Consultations follow theoretical and practical approaches in order to improve the performance of the Saudi work force. “Enterprise is not a choice,” said Alaa Nasief, dean of the women’s section of the CBA. “It is a must to be able to contribute to the global economy by providing global citizens with exceptional understanding of the global market.”
Zaidan said the consultations cost a “reasonable” fee. “Adapting enterprise is the culture of the CBA that generates income and revenue in order to enhance the quality of the provided education,” added Nasief.
