As part of a unique partnership to create, nurture and develop an entrepreneurial culture in Qatar,Enterprise Qatar and INJAZ Qatar, a non-profit organization and member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, have celebrated the success of the first public Young Entrepreneurs Trade Fair on Thursday, March 27 at the City Centre mall.

Based on the success of the Trade Fair Tariq Al Sada Head of PR and Marketing of Enterprise Qatar mentioned, “We are so happy to see a high level of production and creativity from the youth. This portrays how the Qatari future leader are progressing in alignment of Qatar vision 2030, and there is a great promise of growth and diversity to Qatar's future economy."

Al Sada reassured the commitment of Enterprise Qatar to support new initiatives and potential start ups in partnership with INJAZ Qatar in addition to supporting the spirit of entrepreneurship and the companies to reach their goals

Aysha Al Mudahka, Executive Director of INJAZ Qatar, said, “We’re thrilled that so many members of the public were able to engage with students and support the shared goals of Enterprise Qatar and INJAZ Qatar to create, nurture and develop an entrepreneurial spirit within the youth of Qatar. It was a great platform to showcase the students’products and services to parents, family members and the wider community. We would like to thank Enterprise Qatar, all of our corporate partners, business leaders and volunteers who tirelessly support our ambition to create a culture of entrepreneurialism and business innovation among Qatar’s youth.”

The Trade Fair is an integral part of INJAZ Qatar’s Annual Young Enterprise of the Year competition ‘Mubadara’. Enterprise Qatar is a strategic partner for the 2014 competition, which is designed to help students set up and run a real organization and compete for four awards in entrepreneurship, including the ‘The Best Company of the Year’award.

With the support of Enterprise Qatar, hundreds of visitors were able to enjoy the first public trade fair event in Mubadara’s seven-year history. Shoppers browsed a selection of hand-crafted items created by students, who this year had a unique chance to market and sell their products at one of Qatar’s most popular shopping destinations

Following the inaugural ceremony, each student team was assessed by a high-profile judging team including; Ibrahim Al Mannai Manager Learning & Development, Enterprise Qatar Nasser Al Jaber, Community Investments Manager of ExxonMobil; Omar Aloyoun, Head of Marketing and PR, Qatar Business Incubation Centre; Dr Mohammed Al Mulla, CEO of QAPCO, Shareefa Fadhel, Managing Director, Roudha Center and Jassim Al Baker, Head of Development of Enterprise Qatar. The judges assessed students on the quality of their products and their overall marketing and sales techniques.

A total of 15 student-led companies from independent secondary schools and universities participated in the trade fair, as part of INJAZ Qatar’s Company Program™which mentors and coaches hundreds of high-school and University students on preparing a business plan, raising capital, developing a product or service concept and creating unique products which were on sale at trade fair. This year Enterprise Qatar and Boeing are the respective sponsors of the high-school and university tracks and have generously contributed volunteers to help train and coach local students.

The teams from participating high-schools and universities will now present their final business plans at the Mubadara competition which is scheduled to take place on May 11 at Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Center. The winning teams will represent Qatar in the regional competition to compete for the ‘The Best Company of the Year’award.

Participating schools and universities in the trade fair included: Al Kawthar Independent Secondary School, Al Bayan Independent Secondary School, Al Resala Independent Secondary School, Al Shaimaa Independent Secondary School, , Arwa Bint Abdul Muttalib Independent Secondary School, Omar Bin Abdulaziz Independent Secondary School, Tarek Bin Zyad Independent Secondary School, Mussab Bin Omair Independent Secondary School, Khalifa Independent Secondary School, Ahmad Bin Hanbal Independent Secondary School, Qatar University, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, Community College Qatar, Carnegie mellon University and Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

- ILQ News -

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