CAIRO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China was hailed as a role model for its efforts in supporting small businesses at an Arab youth council meeting attended by senior officials of Arab countries to address the economic challenges confronting young people in the Arab world.
"China has set a very good example to the Arab countries in taking advantage of the small businesses to uplift its entire economy," the Arab League's economic advisor, Bahgat Abou al-Nasr, said at a meeting of the Arab Youth Council for Integrated Development, headquartered in Egypt.
Topping the agenda of the conference was the discussion on how to encourage the young Arab people to push their small projects forward amid the obstacles settled by the Arab governments.
Nasr demonstrated in the conference a long presentation about how far the small business projects bolster the Chinese economy.
"Small businesses in China represent 60 percent of the entire economy, while they represent only 16 percent in the Egyptian economy, and 28 percent in the Emirates' ", he added.
In an interview with Xinhua, Nasr stressed the importance of small projects as they create many job opportunities. "The small enterprises reduced job vacancies by 75 percent in China, and we hope the same can be done in Egypt and the Arab world at large."
Some 68 percent of Chinese exports are made through small businesses, while the figure is only 4 percent for Egyptian exports.
Essa al-Suwaidi, owner of a commercial broker company the UAE, attended the conference and shared with young people his own experience of overcoming challenges and realizing his dream of becoming a successful business.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling