His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II on Monday visited Orange Digital Village in Aqaba.
 
The Crown Prince toured the village’s facilities and was briefed on the Coding Academy, which provides free training in coding languages and personal skills, and the Fabrication Lab, which provides training on the latest equipment, tools and software used to manufacture prototypes for entrepreneurial projects.
 
Orange Jordan CEO Philippe Mansour reviewed the sustainable impact of Orange’s economic and social digital programmes, which aim to spread digital skills, empower the youth, and prepare them for the job market across more than 50 locations. These programmes have contributed to providing job opportunities for nearly 21,000 young people throughout Jordan.
 
The Coding Academy has provided free training in coding languages and personal skills to 80 students, 50 per cent of whom are female, with a 60 per cent employment rate, while others are working on entrepreneurial projects and are self-employed.
 
A total of 173 students participated in the Fabrication Lab, of whom 58 per cent are female, with 9 per cent of graduates employed within five months.
 
The village also offers various programmes in Aqaba, including business incubators and an accelerator, as well as a digital centre for women and youth at the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development.
 
Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Minister Ahmad Hanandeh, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority Chief Commissioner Nayef Al Fayez, and Director of the Office of the Crown Prince Zaid Baqain accompanied His Royal Highness on the visit.