Labor minister hands out SR200,000 in prizes for best job seeker, entrepreneur

Minister of Labor Adel Fakeih handed out SR200,000 in prize money on Thursday to two Saudis for the best business start-up and the most dogged attempt to find a job.
Saeeda Al-Amri, from a small village in Dammam in the Eastern Province, won in the job seeker category, while Thamer Al-Farshooti won for being the best entrepreneur. Each received SR100,000.
The Labor Ministry and the Human Resources Development Fund jointly organized the awards dubbed “Israr,” Arabic for “Determination,” which was held at the Abu Dawood Hall at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In his speech, Fakeih said the awards were aimed at motivating young Saudis to take charge of their lives by focusing on finding jobs or starting up their own businesses. He hoped that next year's awards would reveal more hidden Saudi talent.
The contest was launched in Sep. 30 last year. About 800 Saudis submitted entries. A panel of judges chose the best 20 stories and then whittled it down to six.
A professional producer created videos of the finalists, which were shown at the awards ceremony on Thursday. Over 2 million people watched the videos online.
The panel of judges and the audience had 50 percent of the vote, while online voters were allocated the other half. Over 40,000 people voted online for their favorites.
The final six were Al-Amri, Mohammed Sharaf, Nawal Al-Shummrani and Abdullah Al-Shilaqi. In the second group, the two entries for setting up private businesses were submitted by Ali Abu Saq and Al-Farshooti.
Al-Shilaqi, a losing finalist from Hail, told Arab News he overcame his disability by working hard and is now the head of a charity helping people with disabilities. He urged government and private firms to support the more than 60,000 people with disabilities in Hail.