The Director-General of the ABJ, Dr. Maher Al-Mahrouq, participated in the graduation ceremony for the participants in the “Capacity Building and Entrepreneurial Behaviors” workshop organized by the Business Development Center as part of the training program held to obtain the certificate of the national self-employment program “Enhad”.

During the ceremony which took place on Thursday, February 4, at the center’s headquarters, Al-Mahrouq said that the launch of the “Enhad” program came to express the energies of the youth as they are the future of the nation. This came after several meetings held by His Majesty King Abdullah II with a group of young Jordanians who own projects and operational ideas, with the aim of overcoming challenges they face, namely, training and qualification, project management, economic and technical feasibility studies, easy financing, networking and marketing in addition to stability and sustainability. He added that his Majesty’s directives to the government focused on benefiting the youth of both genders through all the Kingdom by a new integrated program that includes guiding them with experts, technicians and economic system and lending agencies in addition to preparing all means to implement their ideas and projects which resulted in the launch of the “Enhad” program. In line with His Majesty’s vision of empowering youth, combating unemployment and supporting a culture of self-employment.

Al-Mahrouq said that “Enhad” program represents an integrated system to provide technical support to young people by training them, refining their skills, transforming their ideas into successful projects and qualifying them to benefit from the soft loans offered by Islamic commercial banks participating in the program within low costs and a grace period of up to a year. The program also provides guidance and counseling for youth during the implementation phase of projects in addition to coordinating between them and experts, technicians, and the economic system with the aim of achieving sustainability and stability as well as marketing services and products.

Al-Mahrouq touched on the issue of financing as an important aspect of the program indicating that type, nature and the idea behind the project are the main determinant of its success or failure, thus, determining its ability to access financing. The more distinguished, pioneering and economically feasible the project is, the greater the chances of its success, hence, the easier it will be to obtain necessary funding. Al-Mahrouq called on the graduates to move away from traditional and low-feasibility ideas and go towards pioneering thinking and search for viable ideas that can be converted into successful projects since “Enhad” program represents a great opportunity for promising and entrepreneurial youth that must be exploited optimally.