Latest News / First Intilaaqah Syria Young Entrepreneur Awards Take Place

 

The first ever Intilaaqah Syria Awards for young entrepreneurs have taken place in Damascus, under the auspices of Her Excellency Dr. Diala Al Haj Arif, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour.

Attracting over 90 entries from all over Syria, the awards judging panel selected 12 winners to be presented at the ceremony, attended by ministers, ambassadors, leading industrialists, government representatives, Intilaaqah entrepreneurs, as well as a large media presence.

The top prize under the Best Business Idea category and USD $3,000 went to Mohammad Nasser of the Olive Mill Project. His business produces olive oil and organic soaps, and recycles waste from the olives, using it as fertiliser.

An award of USD $3,000 for the Best Business Plan went to Ghada Jarad for her business VOTEX. This innovative business provides software that can transform speech into text in both Arabic and English.

Khalid Musa won the Best Start Up award of USD $3,000 for his PR consultancy, The Publisher Company.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Her Excellency Dr. Diala Haj Arif said that she was extremely proud of the achievements of the Intilaaqah finalists, but not surprised as she has always believed that given the right encouragement and support, young Syrian entrepreneurs can achieve great success. Dr Arif acknowledged the value these new businesses add to Syrian society, and praised Shell for their Intilaaqah programme saying that it’s a role model for real partnerships between the public, private and civil society sectors.

Mr Ole Myklestad, Country Chair of Shell Syria said that as its flagship social investment programme, Intilaaqah is providing opportunities for young people to turn their ideas into viable businesses. He added that when Shell signed the agreement with the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour to launch Intilaaqah just over 18 months ago, he had never dreamed that the programme would have achieved so much.

Mr Myklestad congratulated the finalists and encouraged them to continue to create opportunities for others and to be good role models to inspire other young people to make enterprising career choices.