Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh is nurturing the next generation of Khmer hospitality personnel via a new collaboration with Cambodia’s National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (NIEI).

The property late last month signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the NIEI. Through the agreement, which will span the next two years, the hotel will provide resources, workshops, training, technical and curriculum consultation to NIEI in order to develop candidates. It will also offer internships to NIEI students to help build their skills in key areas of hospitality.

“One of Cambodia’s most potent attributes is the natural hospitality of its people,” said Juan Mercadante, the general manager of Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh. “By refining skills through internships at our hotel, we can really maximize this human capital and offer these students invaluable experience and opportunities to grow their careers.”

The new arrangement between Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh and the NIEI is in line with the Hyatt RiseHY initiative. RiseHY is a new global program designed to pair the hospitality industry’s career opportunities with young people who need them. As part of the initiative, Hyatt hotels around the world will commit to hiring 10,000 Opportunity Youth – people ages 16 to 24 who are neither in school nor working – by 2025.

According to the International Labour Organization, more than 40 percent of the world’s young people are either unemployed or living in poverty.

“We understand the challenges young people face, and Hyatt hotels are uniquely positioned to be part of the solution. Hospitality is one of the few industries where entry-level opportunities often lead to fulfilling, life-long careers that can change the trajectory of someone’s life,” said Malaika Myers, chief human resources officer, Hyatt. “With the launch of RiseHY, Hyatt hotels will harness the power of technology in ways our industry has never done before, to scale career opportunities, bringing awareness to hospitality careers and setting up candidates for success from the start as it expands training programs as a path for employment.”