Doha, May 29 (QNA) - Silatech and Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) have started a new partnership that will expand the funding of the European Union-financed project focusing on enhancing the socioeconomic empowerment and resilience building of youth in Yemen.

The collaboration agreement was signed by Silatech's CEO Hassan Al Mulla and Executive Director of AGFUND Dr Nasser Bakr Alkahtani, in the presence of HH President of AGFUND Prince Abdul Aziz bin Talal Al Saud, Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance in Qatar Saud bin Abdullah Al Attiyah, and Mohsen Al Bahili, member of AGFUND's Board of Directors, and HE Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to Qatar Rajeh Hussain Farhan Badi.

The Support to Youth Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion II project comes as a successful continuation of a previously implemented EU-funded project, which generated over 30,000 employment and self-employment opportunities for young Yemeni women and men. The project, funded by the European Union aims to empower economically more than 50,000 young women and men in different governorates of Yemen. The four-year project will establish a grant-funding scheme for youth-led and owned enterprises and provide capacity-building to young entrepreneurs to generate employment, income, and financial inclusion.

The second phase of the partnership will concentrate on green economy principles, including equitable distribution of opportunities and outcomes, financial inclusion, provision of innovative services through digital solutions, and women empowerment through support for youth-led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

It is hoped that the project will contribute towards supporting Yemen's youth and breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and unemployment that plagues the country. (QNA)