DUBAI: YouTube plans to open an incubator space in Dubai to help nurture budding video creators from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The “YouTube Space” will open through a collaboration between the video-sharing site and the Dubai Studio City free zone, it was announced on Thursday. 

It will give YouTube creators the tools and guidance to help remove barriers to creating quality videos, enabling them to innovate and experiment with content.

YouTube content creators from Dubai, to Jeddah, Cairo and Casablanca will have free access to high-end audiovisual and editing equipment, to enhance their production values.

The YouTube Space will also offer training programs, workshops and courses.

This collaboration follows in the footsteps of nine other YouTube Spaces around the world — in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, New York, Berlin, Sao Paolo, Mumbai, Toronto and Paris. 

Since the first YouTube Space was launched in 2012, more than 150,000 people around the world have attended over 19,000 hours of workshops and over 15,000 videos have been

created.

Lance Podell, director and global head of YouTube Spaces, said the MENA region has one of the world’s most vibrant YouTube communities. 

“This collaboration with Dubai Studio City will help us support this incredible community of YouTube creators as well as continue to boost the growth of Arabic content on the web,” said Podell.

The YouTube Space in Dubai Studio City is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2017 and construction is scheduled early next year.

Malek Al-Malek, CEO of TECOM Business Parks, said: “TECOM Group’s partnership with YouTube to establish the region’s first YouTube Space, reflects our commitment to creating an ecosystem conducive to innovation that will ensure Dubai remains at the forefront of a competitive global media industry.”

According to the Arab Media Outlook report, 50 percent of the region’s population is under the age of 24, and the youth spend almost two hours a day watching videos and on social networks.