Egypt's industry and trade minister said on Thursday that some 20,000 new jobs will be available in the industrial sector as of April. Eng. Hatem Saleh, in a word during a ceremony marking the end of the training course of 708 persons as part of the National Training Program for Employment, said 20,000 job opportunities were provided in December, adding that 14,500 job seekers have applied for the vacancies and 10,500 of them were appointed so far. He said the program, carried out by the Industrial Cooperation Council in cooperation with the different industrial sectors, aims at training and rehabilitating 700,000 young people to meet market needs. He also referred to the Empowerment Initiative that aims at recruiting one million youths in seven years.