Enterprise Qatar has entered into a strategic partnership with INJAZ Qatar, a non-profit organization and member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, to host the Young Entrepreneurs Trade Fair on Thursday, March 27 at the City Centre mall.

The trade fair forms 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.

This is the first public trade fair showcase in Mubadara’s seven-year history. With the support of Enterprise Qatar, students will benefit from a unique opportunity to market and sell their products at one of Qatar’s most popular shopping destinations. Visitors will be able to purchase hand-crafted items ranging from jewellery, prayer kits, IT accessories and home decorations, all of which have been created by local school and university students.

The public event will increase public awareness and understanding of Enterprise Qatar’s mission to create, nurture and develop an entrepreneurial spirit within the youth of Qatar. It also provides a community platform to showcase INJAZ Qatar’s mission to channel the mentorship of Qatar’s business leaders to help inspire a culture of entrepreneurialism and business innovation among Qatar’s youth.

In addition to its strategic partnership with INJAZ Qatar, Enterprise Qatar is also sponsoring high-school activities within INJAZ Qatar’s Company Program™, with additional sponsorship being provided by Boeing for the university track. Volunteers from INJAZ Qatar’s corporate partners supported by advisors from Enterprise Qatar provided mentoring and coaching to hundreds of students across Qatar. Focus areas include preparing a business plan, raising capital, developing a product or service concept and creating unique products which will be on sale at trade fair.

Each team at the fair will be visited by a high-profile judging team and assessed on a range of criteria including the quality of their products, marketing, and sales techniques.

Commenting on the strategic partnership and sponsorship, Ali Al-Khulaifi, CEO of Enterprise Qatar said: “EQ as the driver of the SME sector in Qatar sees itself as an important enabler in entrepreneurial activity. A partnership with INJAZ Qatar to host a Trade Fair such as this is an opportunity for EQ to demonstrate its commitment towards encouraging and supporting the young generation to overcome the vulnerabilities of smallness and newness in creating their own start-ups and to make existing small-scale firms more competitive by exposing them to successful business attitudes them and international best practices’.

Aysha Al Mudahka, Executive Director of INJAZ Qatar, said, “We are delighted that Enterprise Qatar is providing such a rich and rewarding level of support through our strategic partnership, and its sponsorship of our Company Program™ and Mubadara 2014. We would like to thank the leadership team from Enterprise Qatar and its business advisors for supporting us in our goal to create, nurture and develop an entrepreneurial spirit in Qatar.

“We look forward to welcoming members of the public to the Young Entrepreneurs Trade Fair which will be located on the first floor of City Centre mall. It will be a great opportunity to support Qatar’s entrepreneurial youth and browse some of the wonderful hand-made products they’ve created, which reveal just how much passion the students have for making their business plans a commercial success.” Al Mudahka added.

Participating schools and universities include: Al Kawthar Independent Secondary School, Al Bayan Independent Secondary School, Al Resala Independent Secondary School, Al Shaimaa Independent Secondary School, Um Ayman 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 and Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

- ILQ News -

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