The government said Sunday it will support more than 1,200 young adults in finding work and volunteer opportunities in the Middle East on the back of the region’s construction and investment boom.

Under the program aimed at raising “young global leaders,” a total of 1,247 individuals 18 or over will be able to land jobs, internships or volunteer work in the region in 2012, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

This year’s number is more than double last year’s 563, and about 10 percent of this year’s total beneficiaries of the global leader program, it added.

Such a move came after President Lee Myung-bak instructed officials to consider measures to create more employment and internship opportunities in the Middle East after his three-nation tour to the region last month, while repeatedly stressing good opportunities there arising from “the second Middle East boom.”

“Since 2009 when the program was first launched, the funding has funneled mainly into those trying to enter into such English-speaking countries as the U.S. and Canada. But the government is now looking to the Middle East,” Kim Sung-kyu of the PMO said.

To encourage more young adults to advance into the Middle East and effectively support them, the government plans to hold two rounds of career fair this year, and set up a Web portal to provide comprehensive information on the region, according to the PMO.

“Young adults are advised to proactively make inroads into the region with longer-term perspectives as it has emerged once again as a land of opportunities,” Yim Jong-ryong, minister of the PMO said. 

(Yonhap News)