As Saudi Arabia continues to develop its entertainment and leisure sectors, its General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has been working on creating various projects and initiatives to facilitate the Kingdom’s efforts. This week, one such initiative was announced by the GEA: an international scholarship program for Saudi students looking to pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees in entertainment disciplines.
According to various news sources, the GEA has already instated the first batch of students in partnership with Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), and their program will include on-the-job training at a Six Flags Park in the United States, as well as a job at Qiddiya upon successful completion of the program. By designing the program in this format, Qiddiya, an entertainment, sport, and cultural destination being built 40 kilometers outside Riyadh, will be able to achieve its goal “of offering a significant portion of future employment opportunities to Saudi nationals, as over 25,000 jobs are expected to be available by 2030.”
As reported by Saudi Gazette, the scholarship program has been specifically designed to “educate and train students at the most prestigious universities in the world, including this first batch at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College, to enhance employability and skills that meet the labor market trends of the entertainment sector while equipping sponsored students with the skills and knowledge necessary to prepare them to work in this emerging sector.”
Michael Reininger, CEO of QIC, said, “Our partnership with the GEA is an example of QIC’s concerted efforts to build and foster a new breed of skilled professionals that will service newly created sectors in the Kingdom and cultivate the human resources that will be instrumental in developing them to their full potential.
“We are proud of this partnership, and we look forward to welcoming the sponsored students back, upon completion of their degrees, to work at Qiddiya and apply their learning and experiences to real life scenarios and begin their journey of successful careers in this rapidly growing sector.”
