Program launched to enable young entrepreneurs

Dollani Assook (show me the way to the market), is a social responsibility program aimed at enabling work-at-home families and young entrepreneurs to enter the marketplace wisely. It was initiated by Arabian Centers, a company in the Fawaz Al-Hukair Group that manages shopping centers. 
Improving personal and practical skills and contributing to the country’s economic and social development is an essential factor in securing its future, said Muna Abu Sulaiman, the well-known media personality who, along with other prominent members of Saudi society, attended the launch ceremony. Small enterprises are a great resource for the country’s development, she added. 
The initiative is not confined to activities inside shopping centers. It will adopt different social-responsibility programs aimed at assisting the needy and encouraging volunteer work, according to the company’s regional director, Majed Al-Juaid. “Creating job opportunities is a priority for the program. We seek to adopt similar initiatives that contribute in developing our national manpower,” he said. 
Tajra.com is a similar initiative aimed at assisting productive families that work from home. Ali Al-Ghamdi, the website’s founder and head of the program, said he started it with the goal of marketing the families’ products online instead of in the traditional way. Now there are 700 families and businesswomen benefiting from Tajra society’s interactive marketing services that involve social networking websites — Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “The idea is the first of its kind in the Middle East,” he said. 
Another similar program is the Bebi Mamool project that produces date-filled cookies made the traditional way. “In the beginning, my brothers and I thought of selling mamool made according to my grandmother’s traditional recipe, which we did and the demand for it was high,” said founder and owner of a one-year-old mamool shop, Abdullah Al-Sheikh. “Later we taught the recipe to a number of girls who are now involved in the business,” he added.