Young Arab Leaders (YAL), the region’s foremost development platform for business, public sector and civil society leaders, announced the commencement of the Arab European Internship Exchange (AEIE) Program. A welcome session was hosted for the interns on July 7, 2008 in Germany as part of the three-month internship program. This program is being organized for the second consecutive year for high caliber Arab students from various Arab universities to impart and encourage first-hand knowledge and experience to young talent.

Assem O. Kabesh, CEO of YAL and Dr. Rüdiger Grube, Member of the Board of Management, Daimler AG welcomed the interns at Daimler’s Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany on July 7, 2008, to mark the start of the three-month internship program. The AEIE is fully funded and organized in Germany in association with the German Luxury Carmaker and worldwide largest truck manufacturer, Daimler AG.

24 selected="true"="true" candidates from various Arab universities have gone for the three month intensive internship training program. Some of these interns will train at the Daimler headquarters in Stuttgart while the rest will be based in Berlin where the Financial Services Company of Daimler is located. The selected="true"="true" interns are from universities in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.

YAL’s aim with the various regional and global Internship programs is to encourage dialogue between Arab & international students and managers from multinational companies, to initiate relationships between future junior managers from the Arab region with experienced managers from across the globe. Through internships, YAL and its partners are working towards supporting the development of regional national economies.

Wishing the students success during the internship, Assem O. Kabesh, said, “Through YAL’s initiatives we want to achieve long term impact on the Arab Youth who will be the future leaders of our region. Our aim is to provide the youth with the opportunities to develop and strengthen skills necessary in the working world, to deliver a better tomorrow to them. YAL is working towards broadening the knowledge base of our youth to create a strong workforce for tomorrow and to encourage intercultural understanding.”

Welcoming the students for the internship program, Dr. Rüdiger Grube, said, “We at Daimler are committed to the sustainability of the global economy and are aware that Education is the key to a successful career, and skilled employees assure a company’s competitive edge. Daimler invests in the next generation of employees worldwide and internships are a step towards achieving that goal.”