Young Arab Leaders come together for first annual meeting

It was announced, where they underscored their commitment to effecting changes in the region through the support for Arab youth and entrepreneurs as well as the further development of industries and communities across the Arab world.

Established in February 2004, as an independent pan-Arab organisation, YAL aims to galvanise some of the most accomplished, results-oriented individuals from the region who realise it is time to take a more active and responsible role in enhancing the opportunities available to Arab youth and the overall advancement of the Arab World and its economies. These are men and women from across the region in positions of responsibility and influence committed to the future of the region.

It is the mission of the organisation to bring together 500 Arab men and women from the business community, politics, academia, media, arts, culture and all other areas of civil society, who are committed to improving the state of the Arab world.

This group of Young Arab Leaders will leverage their ability to achieve in their personal and professional lives and extend it to developing their professional sectors and particularly to nurturing future leadership in these sectors. This is to be achieved through: Creating an environment to nurture future leadership in their professional sectors; Opening channels of dialogue with youth, offering them opportunities to interact with and learn from inspiring role models; Ensuring increased educational and practical training opportunities for youth; sponsorship programmes and mentorship opportunities.

In support of the YAL objectives, the YAL Bahrain Chapter Task Force announced a key step in its efforts to begin the practical implementation of these aspirations through collaboration at the country level with other youth and development-oriented organisations.

YAL Bahrain announced its first initiative by working in close cooperation with InJAz Bahrain, a non-profit organisation fully supported by leading corporations, headed by Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, in order to further its goals of inspiring Bahrainis and that of the entire organisation. YAL and InJaz Bahrain will combine their resources and efforts in Bahrain in order to put in place key Internship, Sponsorship and Mentorship programmes that fulfill both the mission of YAL and InJaz and reflect their dedication to supporting youth and the longer-term development of the region and its resources.

The initiative focuses on selecting outstanding participants from the InJaz Bahrain programmes and enrolling them into several of YAL's development schemes.

Some corporations including financial institutions have already expressed their full support to such initiatives, which reflects the high interest and social responsibilities of the business community in The Kingdom of Bahrain.

The YAL Bahrain members of the task force are:

Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa bin Mohammed Al Khalifa CEO of The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and Chairman-Elect of YAL Bahrain, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Duaij Al Khalifa President of the Crown Prince's Court, Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa Executive Director of InJAz Bahrain, Abdulhakeem AlKhayyat G.M of Kuwait Finance House Bahrain, Ahmed bin Hindi Executive Director A.A. bin Hindi Group, Ahmed Bucheeri M.D. Gulf House Engineering, Bassim Al Alawi, M.D, Gulf Equipment Technologies, Bassim Al Khan G.M Yaqouby Stores, Dina Shirazi M.D. Bahrain Jewellery Centre, Khalid Al Rumaihi Principal in INVESTCORP, Khalid Juman CEO of Miracle Graphics, Khalid Najibi M.D. Najibi Investments, Mazin Al Shehabi M.D. Mazin Computer Centre, Moanes Al Mardi Editor-In-Chief Akhbar Al Khaleej, Raed Al-Samahiji President and CEO of EAN Bahrain, Wajd Al Madani G.M ALBA, Zayed Al-Zayani M.D. Euro Motors.

Also present were guests of YAL Bahrain Essam Janahi CEO of Gulf Finance House, Tariq Al Saffar M.D. Fortune Promoseven and InJAz Bahrain board member, Yousef Al-Essa G.M Addax Bank.

Commenting on the Forum, Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa said "government, business and community leaders today have an important role to play in providing the necessary support and resources for the region's youth in order to help them and each of our countries and communities meet their enormous potential. The Arab world, over the ages, has made significant contributions in the sciences, literature and the arts and we must do everything that is necessary to ensure that as a people and a society we can continue to make even greater contributions that will both benefit our own region and the world over. We are confident that YAL and our partnerships with groups like InJaz can provide much support to this effort."

He added, "One of our objectives is to foster leadership in our country and the region. We have therefore expressed our interest to join forces with InJaz Bahrain to discover the opportunities of our collaboration in identifying potential Bahraini leaders of the future. In this regards we would also like to express our gratitude to Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa the Crown Prince and The Commander in Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force for his support and encouragement to start this cooperation with InJaz Bahrain."

Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al-Khalifa also member of YAL and Executive director of InJAz Bahrain said: "We are delighted to gather together in order to underscore our support and commitment to the mission and goals set forth by YAL and mirrored by groups such as InJaz that have been created to support our youth and help drive advancement across the Arab world. We have great hopes for the future of our region and our youth and we expect that such forums can play an important role in fostering the talent that exists among our children and young Arab scholars and entrepreneurs throughout the region. I am not only pleased to become a member of YAL, but also by the cooperation that will ensue between YAL and InJaz in Bahrain."