Bedaya and Qatar Shell have jointly kicked-off The ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ 2015 programme, aimed at training more than 1000 students. This year the annual challenge, which is designed to encourage and inspire the entrepreneurial spirit among young people in Qatar, has expanded and aims to reach all universities across Qatar.
More than 100 volunteer mentors, who have been trained by Bedaya and Qatar Shell, will coach the student participants on ethical business, and train them on how to navigate a computer-based business simulation, ahead of the Grand Finals.
A recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the ‘Qatar Centre for Voluntary Activities’ to enable more volunteer mentors to join the programme.
The Universities’ Grand Final will be held on 28th November 2015, where finalist teams will compete head-to-head for The ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ trophy.
Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Chairman of Bedaya and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Development Bank (QDB), commented: “We are extremely proud of the ongoing success of the ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ that has expanded this year to include all of the universities in Qatar to participate in this programme.”
“The ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ is a clear reflection of the sustained efforts of Bedaya and Qatar Shell to develop and encourage an entrepreneurial culture within Qatar’s society. We strongly believe that Bedaya plays a vital role in supporting the spirit of entrepreneurship within the local community, and we are delighted to continue working with Qatar Shell on this valuable initiative,” he added.
Michiel Kool, Managing Director and Chairman of Qatar Shell Companies, said: “Qatar Shell recognises that cultivating entrepreneurship begins by investing in young minds. Now in its fourth year, the ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ has engaged more than 1,200 students from 14 schools and nine universities across Qatar to encourage them to consider entrepreneurship careers in the future.
“We are very proud to partner with Bedaya on this initiative that is sowing the seeds of entrepreneurship culture and contributing to the human and economic development of the Qatar National Vision 2030,” added Kool.
The ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ programme has tiers for high school and university students, and comprises two parts; the Ethical Business Challenges - which tests participants’ ability to balance the economic, environmental, and social performance of their company; and the Business Simulation element - which familiarises students with business inception, trading, finance, sales, marketing and production. The competition culminates in two Grand Finals that see both university and schools teams compete online to achieve a winning score by displaying the best business skills. This year the Enterprise Challenge Qatar universities competition features an exciting new element, business pitching of ethical and original business ideas. This business idea will be of benefit to their universities and generate revenue in an ethical and sustainable manner.
The universities participating this year include Qatar University, Texas A&M University at Qatar, the Community College of Qatar, Stenden University Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar, College of the North Atlantic Qatar, Georgetown University in Qatar , UCL Qatar, HBKU Academic Bridge Programme , Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies.
In 2014, ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ received special praise and recognition during the ‘UK Mentor of the Year Awards’ hosted by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales at the Sandringham Palace in the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, Qatar Shell and Bedaya also won Social Development Center’s Reyada ‘Outstanding Entrepreneurial Support’ Award for their role in supporting Qatari entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises, including through the ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’.
The ‘Enterprise Challenge’ programme was originally created by Mosaic, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation established by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in 2007, with a range of mentoring programmes aimed at fostering opportunities for young people.
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