Training session to equip Kuwaiti youth with essential business skills

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank employees shared their expertise with Fikra Program entrepreneurs during a training session on Sunday at Al-Hamra Business Tower. Fikra Program was designed to equip Kuwaiti youth with the essential business skills and knowledge required to transform their ideas into businesses, with the goal of creating a generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

The two-hour training session was led by Gulf Bank's Rania Rasheed, Assistant General Manager of Consumer Banking and Hamad Bin Awadh, Relationship Manager, Business Banking. The session covered a range of topics, with a focus on understanding the techniques needed to conduct analyses of and make informed strategic directions about how to establish their businesses. Participants were provided with a range of knowledge and tools, from the factors to focus on in the establishment stage and SWOT analytics, to creating marketing plans. The session ended with a mini competition, with prizes awarded to the top performers.

Commenting on the session, Ahmed Al-Amir, Assistant General Manager for External Communication, Gulf Bank, said: "As a Gold Sponsor of the 4th edition of Fikra Program, Gulf Bank is proud to share the expertise and knowledge of our employees with Kuwait's younger generations. The business potential among the youth of Kuwait is exponential, and we are honored to support and guide them towards their business aspirations, and we wish them luck and success in the future."

Mariam Al-Rayes, Fikra Program Manager at Cubical Services, added: "There is great potential amongst Kuwait's aspiring entrepreneurs, and Fikra Program empowers them to turn their creative and innovative ideas into reality. Gulf Bank's collaboration with us in Fikra Program is of great added value in providing participants with the steps to successfully build their business ventures, and we thank them for their ongoing support."

Fikra Program was launched in 2015 as a corporate social responsibility program. It is an intensive entrepreneurship training program open to aspiring entrepreneurs with creative business ideas. Providing one-to-one mentorship for guidance and support as well as business training through workshops and field trips.

Fikra Program is under the kind patronage of Khaled Al-Roudan, Minister of Commerce & Industry, and supported by Ministry of State for Youth Affairs, The National Fund for SME Development, Al-Hamra Real Estate Company, Gulf Bank, Markaz Financial Center, KFAS (Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences) and KUWAITNET, and Grand Cinemas. Fikra Program is organized and managed by Cubical Services Business Incubator.

Fikra Program's three previous editions combined witnessed over 550 applications, 45 business ideas, 57 training sessions and 76 trained entrepreneurs. Following the third edition of Fikra Program which ended in May 2018, over 40% of the participating entrepreneurs have successfully established their businesses and are now fully operational.