Nearly half of Arab youth aspire to start their own business in the next five years

Nearly half of Arab youth aspire to start their own business in the next five years

Entrepreneurial spirit strongest among GCC youth, with majority (58%) saying it is easy to start a business in their country Arab youth say financial incentives and better training programmes would encourage more of them to start a business More young Arab men and women prefer to work in the private sector than pursue government jobs Dubai, UAE: The Arab world has a promising opportunity to promote youth entrepreneurship with nearly half of young Arabs saying they plan to start their own business in the next five years. This entrepreneurial zeal also reflects an increased preference to work for the private sector rather than the government. These are some of the notable findings of the landmark 15th annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey, the largest study of its kind of the Arab world’s largest demographic, its over 200 million youth, by ASDA’A BCW, the Middle East and North Africa’s leading communications consultancy. Youth unemployment in the region is one of the highest in the world at over 26% with nearly one in three youth (32%) aged 15 to 24 not engaged in employment, education or training, according to a World Bank report. The United Nations observed that the region must create