Emaar, The Economic City (Emaar.EC), the Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), has joined hands with Cisco for a pioneering educational initiative.

Steered by Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia), the prime facilitator of KAEC, the initiative aims to empower Saudi youth to be active participants in the growth of KAEC and Saudi Arabia.

Under the deal, Cisco will serve as Emaar.E.C’s training partner for the development and implementation of the educational initiative and will train a total of 5,050 students over the next five years in coordination with Emaar.EC.

The agreement was made in the presence of Prince Khalid AlFaisal, governor of Makkah Al-Mokarramah region; Fahd Al-Rasheed, board member and chief executive officer, Emaar.EC; and Dr Badr Al Badr, managing director, Cisco Saudi Arabia.

Amr Bin Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, governor, Sagia, said: 'KAEC is a powerful driver for the Saudi Arabian economy and is aligned with our objective of making the Kingdom one of the ten top competitive nations in the world by 2010.'

'Need-based education is a catalyst for fast-paced development and the partnership of Emaar.EC and Cisco will help in creating highly skilled young Saudi professionals who can take on responsible and leading positions in KAEC’s various high-growth sectors.'

Al-Rasheed said as a path-breaking socio-economic growth initiative, KAEC was setting new trends in infrastructure development.

'Today, KAEC is recognised globally as one of the most attractive investment destinations offering promising opportunities in varied growth sectors. To drive this forward, it is important to create a pool of skilled young nationals. The educational initiative with Cisco is aimed at enabling and empowering individuals and businesses for future needs,' he added.

“KAEC has the potential to create 1 million jobs, and the new training initiative will complement our efforts by developing a reliable team of professionals. Cisco’s global standing and in-depth industry expertise make it an ideal partner in this endeavour.”

“The abundance of human capital is critical to the success of King Abdullah Economic City and developing and addressing the growing skills gap, as well as creating entrepreneurs and leaders of the future, is at the forefront of Cisco’s mission for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said Dr Badr Al Badr.

“The strategic relationship with Emaar.E.C marks yet another key milestone in our journey to help create some of the many new jobs required over the next decade for the upcoming youth of this region. We are delighted that the Emaar.EC has chosen Cisco as a strategic partner for this momentous initiative,” he said.

The training initiative will focus on three key areas including leadership enablement through the Cisco NetVersity programme, Advanced Technical Training through Cisco Networking Academy and Mass Technical Training through IT essentials training.-TradeArabia News Service