Through a strategic partnership, TikTok, INJAZ Al Arab and INJAZ Saudi are leveraging the content platform to raise awareness of key employability skills among Saudi youth.
Together, they are set to launch groundbreaking initiatives aimed at inspiring 2 million Saudi youth with essential employability and entrepreneurial skills, in alignment with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. These initiatives, which include a dynamic mix of in-person and virtual activities, are designed to inspire high school and university students to explore various career paths and ignite their entrepreneurial spirit. This significant collaboration was formalised at LEAP KSA on March 5, 2024.
TikTok and INJAZ-Al Arab will develop content centred around success stories, advice and guidance from the real life experiences of entrepreneurs and how to navigate the workplace successfully. Likewise, the organisations will also host face-to-face and virtual experiential learning sessions for 6,000 high school and university students across 85 educational institutes across the country on both employability and entrepreneurship skills. TikTok employees will also have an opportunity to engage with students through ‘career sessions’.
The collaboration will also aim to create at least 50 student enterprises across universities, which will then compete on a national level for the ‘Company of the Year Award’. The winning team would then advance to the regional competition, INJAZ AL Arab’s capstone event the “Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration”, which would gather students from across 13 MENA countries.
TikTok Vice President of Public Policy Emerging Markets and Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility Helena Lersch shared, “Entrepreneurship and employment initiatives are critical to realizing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the nation’s ambitious roadmap for economic transformation. TikTok is committed to working with local leaders to support initiatives that will help realize this Vision and be a platform to inspire the next generation. Our collaboration with INJAZ Al Arab and INJAZ Saudi is an important element of our commitment to working with the local population to mobilize the economy and align with the visionary leaders of the Kingdom.”
INJAZ Al Arab CEO Akef Aqrabawi also said, “The mentorship of global and regional business leaders is critical to inspiring a culture of entrepreneurship and business innovation among Saudi youth. Partnering with TikTok helps us drive the economy of the Kingdom and the MENA region and create a lasting impact not just to the economic landscape but also the cultural attitudes towards the youth’s entrepreneurial pursuits