His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday commended the entrepreneurial spirit of young Jordanians, stressing the importance of small and home-based businesses, as well as self-employment projects in reducing unemployment.

King Abdullah, accompanied by Her Majesty Queen Rania, viewed samples of products by young Jordanians who started small art and handicraft projects in several governorates after receiving training through the Productive Youth Initiative, launched by the Royal Hashemite Court in 2019 to address the needs that youth expressed at meetings with His Majesty, according to a Royal Court statement.

The King urged the youths to share the experiences gained through the initiative with their peers, to promote the culture of entrepreneurship and self-employment instead of job seeking, highlighting the need to market their products locally and internationally in cooperation with the private and public sectors.

Exhibited products included high-quality handicrafts inspired by Jordanian culture and folklore, with each small-sized project complementing the other to create competitive products and providing employment opportunities for youths across the Kingdom.

According to the Princess Taghrid Institute for Development and Training, which had a role in the implementation of the Productive Youth Initiative, 35 young Jordanians have received training in the first phase to enhance the quality of their products in line with international standards and to market them online.

Their products will also be on exhibition at Dar Nemeh in Amman’s Jabal Luweibdeh area and other locations, while work is underway to build partnerships with the private sector to market them further.