NEW DELHI, January 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Tej Kohli, the Indian-born high-tech entrepreneur, global businessman and ardent philanthropist, today called on the 500 business leaders, academics, opinion formers, and politicians meeting at the 45th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (21-24 January 2015) in Davos, Switzerland to stop peacocking and focus on the critical and global threat of youth unemployment. Tej Kohli made the comments at a summit for the Tej Kohli Foundation which is passionate about addressing the needs of the disadvantaged; in India its focus is on helping to restore sight to the 4.8 million blind Indians who could be cured through having corneal transplants.
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Tej Kohli commented:
"Business leaders at Davos need to identify solutions to address one of the biggest single threats facing the world today - youth unemployment.
Youth unemployment is a global time bomb; recent events show that the fuse has been lit creating an international security crisis. Issues such as climate change and mental health are extremely important but youth unemployment, I believe, is the critical factor requiring urgent attention.
Close to 90 percent of the world's youth live in developing countries; there are around 74 million unemployed youth, and over 500 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 survive on less than $2 a day. Poverty, youth unemployment and the lack of education is driving the current global uncertainty and incubating terrorism, drugs, gangs and violence. The world needs a global solution.
Global terrorist organisations are hijacking the internet to attract young people to their cause; instead, the internet could be delivering education and facilitating opportunities to help the protagonists of our future. It is time for the power of the internet to be used to deliver positive answers to these problems, rather than providing the fuel for it. Unless we embrace the potential that lies in the youth market, in particular in emerging markets, we will lose a generation of pioneers to the clutches of the terrorists who are seducing their idle minds.
Forums such as Davos provide the perfect environment for the world's thought leaders to address this critical issue."
Tej Kohli graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1980. He has offices in Abu Dhabi, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Miami, San Jose and Vancouver with his global headquarters in London. In the Forbes feature of June 2014, 'Top 15 Entrepreneurs Who Give Back to the Community', Tej Kohli was ranked second after Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. He is the son of a respected Indian economist and journalist.
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