Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Minister of Education Azzam Al-Dakhil has launched an initiative to enable Saudi universities to actively contribute to the leadership, guidance and support of local economic development and help students and graduates establish small and medium enterprises. Announced recently at the Saudi Universities Exhibition in Jeddah, the “Business Makers” scheme began its activities in six cities of Saudi Arabia through a workshop on “disciplined entrepreneurship” delivered by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah hosted on Sunday the first workshop through its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Endowment Fund. The holding of the workshop coincides with the launch of a book on disciplined entrepreneurship in the Kingdom by Dr. Bill Aulet, dean of the Entrepreneurship Institute at MIT. “Business Makers” also encourages young people to invest and work in economic sectors in line with the Kingdom's objectives to diversify the national economy. The scheme aims to provide a development platform through which universities of the regions play a major role in embracing and adopting entrepreneurship programs and initiatives and also create an integrated infrastructure system for entrepreneurship and innovation by enabling universities to coordinate with government leaders at a national level. It will play a leading role in contributing to the guidance and effective management of academic, social and economic programs, projects and initiatives as well as strategic partnerships to meet the developmental and economic challenges in these regions. The initiative operates through the Al-Alia Program for the Development of Infrastructure for Entrepreneurship and Creativity in universities and schools. It promotes common interests and mutual cooperation between universities and private sector enterprises as well as generate quality job opportunities for graduates. It has been credited for carrying out its work according to national development plans as well as with the active participation of young people. It will develop the core structure of entrepreneurship by working with secondary schools and universities. The scheme's tools include the Al-Alia Gateway for Business Makers, pioneers guidance platform, the Al-Alia incubators and accelerators of starting up businesses, in addition to the programs of supporting small business and medium enterprises, industrial and services clusters of emerging business, technology valleys in the universities and research and industrial partnership programs with the private sector. The Al-Alia Gateway for Business Makers aims to make Saudi universities the first entry point of budding business entrepreneurs in the Kingdom.
