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Agthia Launches Work Readiness Programme for Young Emiratis
The project includes training of 2000 Emirati students in the first year
Agthia Head Start Programme® to be rolled out in UAE for the first time
Three year agreement with business education provider INJAZ UAE
Abu Dhabi: 15 June 2015
Agthia, a leading UAE-based food and beverage group, has signed an exclusive three year partnership with INJAZ UAE, together launching the "Zaheb" initiative, which crowns Agthia as the leading work readiness champion in Abu Dhabi.
Supported by Agthia's Chairman, H.E. Engineer Dhafer Al Ahbabi, and its Board of Directors, "Zaheb", the local dialect Arabic word for "ready", is aimed at developing workforce readiness skills for Emirati youth. "Zaheb" consists of a number of training activities and international business programmes organized by INJAZ UAE, a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide - the largest experiential business education provider in the world. The partnership will offer four cutting-edge work readiness programmes benefiting 2000 Emirati youth in the Abu Dhabi emirate in its first year.
The partnership will link 200 private sector mentors to students through up to 200 ongoing business mentoring sessions, workshops and the signature "Agthia Head Start Programme®" - which is to be piloted in the UAE for the first time. Agthia employees will be actively involved as well, acting as hosts to the popular JA Job Shadow Day® programme - thus demonstrating a hands-on approach to business mentoring using the JA Worldwide model.
H.E. Dhafer Al Ahbabi, Chairman of Agthia, said "This programme directly addresses one of the UAE's most pressing challenges, which is to guide and encourage young Emiratis into the workplace, and more precisely into business and private enterprise. Teaching young people about work skills and business is key to building their own job security and an economically prosperous future."
Iqbal Hamzah, CEO of Agthia, said "Agthia has an excellent track record of recruiting and training young UAE nationals and giving them an opportunity to build interesting and enjoyable careers with us. We thank our Chairman and Board for leading this latest initiative: through Zaheb, we believe we can make a meaningful contribution in developing work readiness among Emiratis in Abu Dhabi and the country as a whole".
Sulaf Saleh Al Zu'bi, CEO of INJAZ UAE, said "We are absolutely delighted to welcome Agthia as a new strategic partner with INJAZ UAE and our family of existing partners. The commitment and scale of Agthia's support of work readiness programmes for Abu Dhabi represents a real quantum shift for us and subsequently our educational partners in terms of the impact we can make in the UAE."
INJAZ UAE's model works on building partnerships between the business community, educators and corporate volunteers, to work together to empower youth to own their economic success. This partnership is the largest of its kind in the UAE, and makes Agthia the largest contributor to INJAZ UAE's work readiness youth programme to date.
The Agthia Head Start Programme® - From the School to the Talent Pool - meets the needs of a diverse group of university students by providing engaging, academically enriching, and intense experiential learning seminars in work-readiness and career perspectives.
Piloted for the first time in the UAE, the programme will consist of a series of student conferences designed to 'jump start' youth's careers and prepare them for better internship opportunities through cutting edge assessments and matching mechanisms.
Another ingredient of the Zaheb initiative will be to offer business training programmes to youth during the summer months that don't have access to international training opportunities during the academic year. Zaheb will also reward the efforts of its participants with an Annual Awards Ceremony for top students, educators, and volunteers in the Abu Dhabi emirate who make a difference for tomorrow's workforce.
Agthia's CEO Iqbal Hamzah and Vice President - Human Capital & OD Toufic El Chaar will join INJAZ UAE's national board, whose members include presidents, chief executives, country heads and senior representatives of Bin Zayed Group, Boeing, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ExxonMobil, HSBC, Citi, Accenture, Omnicom Media Group, Shell, and Brunswick Group.
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About Agthia
Agthia Group is a leading Abu Dhabi based food and beverage company established in 2004.
The Company is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and has the symbol "Agthia". 51 percent of the Company's shares are held by Senaat (General Holding Corporation), an Abu Dhabi Government entity, with the balance held by individual and institutional investors.
The Company's assets are located in the UAE, Egypt and Turkey. Agthia offers a world class portfolio of integrated businesses providing high quality and trusted food and beverage products for customers and consumers across the UAE, GCC, Turkey and the wider Middle East.
Agthia employs over 2,200 employees and has two business divisions in various food and beverage segments:
• Agri Business: UAE - manufacturing, distribution and marketing of Grand Mills, the leading high quality flour and Agrivita leading animal feed products;
• Consumer Business: UAE - manufacturing, distribution and marketing of several brands including Al Ain Water, the leader in bottled drinking water; Capri-Sun juices; Yoplait fresh dairy products. Egypt - Al Ain Pure Natural tomato and chilli paste, and fruit puree. Turkey - Alpin, natural spring bottled water.
About INJAZ UAE
INJAZ UAE is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world's largest and fastest growing non-profit business education organization -a partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers, working together to empower young people to own their economic success. The organization links corporate volunteers to youth to mentor them on work readiness, entrepreneurial, and financial literacy skills to ignite the spark in young people to learn and experience the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century. It is dedicated to giving youth the knowledge and skills they need to plan their professional future and make smart academic and economic choices.
Over 28,000 students benefited from our programmes since its first pilot in 2005. With the help of +2500 corporate volunteers reaching over 40 schools and universities and growing! For more information visit: www.injazuae.org or www.jaworldwide.org
© Press Release 2015
