To promote entrepreneurship, enable development of innovative technologies for youth

KUWAIT: Limak Investment Chairperson Ebru Ozdemir and SACGC Chairman Barrak Al-Subaih shake hands after signing the agreement. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Under the patronage of the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh, Limak Insaat Kuwait SPC yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity (SACGC), founded by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).

Under the agreement, both parties will explore areas of cooperation including but not limited to stimulating the initiation and coordination of cooperative activities, promoting the technical training of engineers and technical staff and exploring areas of cooperation leading to the establishment and operation of the Kuwait Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (KIEC).

Over 350 Kuwaiti inventors will benefit from the new KIEC project that will provide them with total care from the beginning of their invention till realizing it into a commercial project. "Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) has a budget for public projects, and SACGC is a nonprofit organization, so they will finance this project while Limak will execute it. Workshops at KIEC will provide financial and technical help to inventors through experts in the field," SACGC Chairman Barrak Al-Subaih told Kuwait Times.

KIEC is an incubator project that aims to promote and enable intensive and innovative technologies in Kuwait. Limak Insaat Kuwait SPC is an independent subsidiary of Limak Holding, one of the world's leading contractors currently constructing the New Passenger Terminal II at Kuwait International Airport (KIA).

KIEC will be an enabler for driving entrepreneurship through promoting collaboration and interaction between innovative ecosystem entities to accelerate technology commercialization and start-up enterprises. The center will provide its services to various individuals in different business sectors including the fields of energy, chemical technologies, polymers, metal based industries, electronic based products and control systems, smart devices, and software applications and solutions.

Hosted at KFAS, the MoU was signed by Limak Investment Chairperson Ebru Ozdemir and SACGC Chairman Subaih. The event was attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Kuwait Ayse Hilal Sayan Koytak and her supporting delegation, General Manager of the Public Authority for Industry, Director General of the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) Sheikh Dr Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and senior executives and board members from Limak Insaat, Limak Holding, SACGC and KFAS, and other senior members of the business community.

"Following the celebration of 30 Kuwaiti engineering graduates from our Kuwait's Engineer Girl's program, today we are taking the next step forward in our efforts towards supporting human capital development in Kuwait. At Limak we believe that education is a never-ending commitment by all sectors of society and industry. On the back of the success of student education programs in collaboration with Kuwait University, we are proud to announce today another partnership with Kuwait and its institutions through this agreement," Ozdemir said.

"This partnership reflects our desire to contribute to the development and strengthening of youth capabilities and consolidates our strong, lasting relations with Kuwait's various education and development institutions. We first began our journey with a goal to educate and empower Kuwaiti girls to join the private sector through our joint venture with Kuwait University and Turkey's Bogazici University, the Kuwait's Engineer Girls program, and today are celebrating another milestone in our mission through our agreement with SACGC," she added.

"I highly believe that our new collaboration with SACGC is yet another indication of Limak's role in developing Kuwait's society and strengthening our commitment to the country. This collaboration will foster a culture of creativity, entrepreneurship, expertise and knowledge exchange in the industrial landscape, and will be a great opportunity to highlight the achievements of partnerships projects between public and private institutions in Kuwait," concluded Ozdemir.

"Today we signed an agreement with Limak, one of world's leading construction and engineering firms, to explore areas of cooperation for the development of KIEC. KIEC aims to serve Kuwaiti innovators and entrepreneurs who are keen on patenting their innovative or reengineered offerings. Our goal is to provide a research and development environment that is conducive for creativity and innovation within a range of manufacturing-based industries," Subaih said.

By Nawara Fattahova