Encouraging young designers and entrepreneurs

Encouraging young designers and entrepreneurs

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank is proud to have participated, as a sponsor, in the Benchmark Forum 2017, the 4th Annual Design Entrepreneurship Forum. Organized by yourAOK, the Benchmark Forum took place on Friday March 3 and Saturday March 4, 2017, in Dar Al Athar Al Islamiya, Yarmouk.

Benchmark Forum brings together innovative business minds and creative designers to share their experience and inspire young entrepreneurs and to provide them with the mentorship that may guide them down the road towards development and success.

Commenting on this occasion, Khaled AlOtaibi, Manager of External Relations at Gulf Bank said:" Gulf Bank has always placed entrepreneurship and youth at the core of its CSR strategy. We are proud to sponsor the Fourth Benchmark Forum as we are strongly committed to giving back to the Kuwaiti community by focusing on youth, education, health and fitness, helping the underprivileged, women's empowerment, as well as promoting Kuwait's heritage and culture."

With regards to the objective of the event, Ruba Al- Saleh, Co-founder and Managing Director of YourAOK stated: "We aim to bridge the gap between passion and profession to aid young designers in creating efficient, long term businesses for themselves and to aid in enhancing Kuwait's economy".

The event convened professionals from their respective fields, Kuwaiti and Arab designers and entrepreneurs who gave talks and lectures over two consecutive days. Additionally, the forum included an exhibition of design works and arts, on-the-spot consultation by incubators, and outdoor activities.

Free of charge, Benchmark is a non-profit event that aims to educate designers and creative professionals by providing them with a merging skill-set between design and business. It is the only Design Entrepreneurship Forum in the MENA region, with a focus on creativity and innovation as tools to become a better designer and entrepreneur.

YourAOK is a networking platform bringing together creative professionals, design firms and product suppliers together. It offers them a multimedia platform with digital portfolios allowing clients to easily browse through profiles and visual works to hire artists, photographers or designers. Gulf Bank is strongly committed to supporting youth initiatives and entrepreneurs and empower them to lead the next generation.