São Paulo – This year’s edition of the Jeddah Economic Forum, in Saudi Arabia, will discuss ways to create jobs and promote the inclusion of young people in the job market. The event will be organised by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry from Wednesday (18) to Friday (20). The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce will be at the event.
The theme is “Growth through Youth.” Lectures and debates will discuss paths to job creation for young professionals via investment in tourism and transport infrastructure. According to data from the International Monetary Foundation (IMF), one of the challenges facing Arab countries is creating jobs for young people.
In its annual survey of Saudi economic performance, released in 2013, for instance, the IMF claimed the Arab country’s labour force country should grow by 3.5% per year in the next ten years. In order to take in these new workers, the country needs to invest in private sector’s development, because public services will not be able to employ all the new Saudi workers.
Lectures will be given by officials from state-owned companies and government agencies, researchers from several countries and private sector executives.
The New Business Development vice president at oil company Saudi Aramco, Motassim Al-Ma’ashouq, and professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin, of Columbia University, in the United States, will take part in the debate “The need for business environment reform,” on Wednesday (19th).
On the 20th, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes will present another lecture: “Global entrepreneurship in action.” A parallel schedule will feature debates on job creation for young women.
The forum was created in 2000 and every year it is attended by citizens from 60 countries, including businessmen, executives, government officials, sectorial organizations and university delegates. The Arab Brazilian Chamber director attending the event, Mohamad Mourad, has said he will seize the occasion to present the organization to those in attendance.
“This forum is a chance to do networking, an opportunity to see and be seen. I will introduce the Arab Brazilian Chamber to the attendees, some of whom represent major companies with vast investment capacity. I will speak with them to determine how we can interact,” said Mourad.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça & Gabriel Pomerancblum
