The government has agreed on a five-year plan to promote college students to start their own businesses as a way to raise the youth employment rate.
 
At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the government explained that there is a need to shift the focus on securing employment from job hunting to establishing businesses. The government noted that despite a drop in the young adult population, the youth employment rate remains stagnant due to weak links between growth and employment.
 
Under the plan, the government will have colleges devise startup-friendly programs, including a system that would allow students to temporarily withdraw from studies to start their own business. Plans also include supporting college students who failed in establishing their business to try again.
 
The five-year plan mainly seeks to expand the number of professional companies that commercialize patents held by colleges and affiliated companies to 500 by 2020. Currently, the number of such firms stands at 266.
 
The plan also aims to expand the number of firms founded by college students to 18-hundred by 2020 compared to 247 posted in 2014.