Pledge Session – KIPCO & American University of Kuwait

The Pearl Initiative launched the Business Pledge to call upon senior business leaders in the Gulf Region to make a public commitment to adhere to principles of ethical and responsible conduct when carrying out business and interacting with society.

The Business Pledge allows business leaders to showcase their best practices in ethical business conduct while uniting students and business leaders to discuss the four pillars of the Pearl Initiative’s Business Pledge programme.

Acknowledgements 

The Pearl Initiative team would like to thank the following organisations and individuals for their valuable input, time and engagement with our programme:

KIPCO
Eman Al Awadhi, Group Communications Director, KIPCO
American University of Kuwait and Dr. Subhra Chakrabarty 
American University of Kuwait Students

The Pearl Initiative team would also like to extend a special thank you to PepsiCo as supporters of the programme and the Business Pledge Initiative. 

Event Summary  

Event Location: American University of Kuwait, Kuwait

The Pearl Initiative held a collaborative event between KIPCO and American University of Kuwait on 11 April 2019. This event was a Business Pledge session held as part of the Pearl Initiative’s student engagement initiative.

The Business Pledge is designed to connect students with business leaders, affording them the opportunity to learn more about the practical aspects surrounding the implementation of sustainable best practices in business.

This session was delivered by Ms. Eman Al Awadhi on the pillar of ‘Collaborations & Partnerships’. Ms. Awadhi explained what the meaning of collaborations and partnerships means to KIPCO, and differentiates the two from each other. 

At KIPCO, collaborations take place with companies that are within the KIPCO group of companies, where KIPCO and the collaborator work jointly in an intellectual endeavour – whether contractual or otherwise. Ms. Awadhi mentioned that partnerships include a third party, and can be contractual. 

Ms. Awadhi discussed a partnership at KIPCO called ‘KIPCO Tamkeen Award for Young Entrepreneurs’, which is a partnership between the KIPCO Group and the Youth Empowerment Organisation. The partnership was established in 2015 and focuses on start-ups in e-media & technology. The motive behind such an initiative and partnership was for the diversification of the economy, empowering youth in line with the Kuwait Vision of 2035, and to invest in the youth and encourage them to be creative and innovative. This initiative includes a monetary reward of $100,000, which aims to help budding entrepreneurs establish their product/services through insurance coverage, market feasibility studies, consultations, and other business services.
 
The partnership between KIPCO and the Youth Empowerment Organisation has been impactful, and has helped young entrepreneurs establish themselves in the Private Sector by giving them exposure to developing entrepreneurial trends and helping propel their ideas into actions.