DOHA: Injaz Qatar, a non-profit organisation, has held an event designed to equip and motivate 300 students entering the ‘2016 Company Programme’, the acclaimed ‘business’ competition for young entrepreneurs.
The entrants were given tips and advice on how to be prepared and achieve success in the 9th edition of the competition which facilitates opportunities for the youth of Qatar to set up, develop and run their own businesses following expert guidance and mentoring from local business leaders.
Injaz Qatar, which is also a member of Junior Achievement (JA) worldwide, hosted the event at the Qatar National Convention Center QNCC to gather and introduce all of the participating teams in this year’s programme. The JA Company Programme teaches entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy skills to students from grade 10 to students in universities, as they are provided with the unique opportunity of establishing and running a real company.
Attendees of this event were students who enrolled in this year’s Company Programme including 150 entrants as well as key teaching staff and volunteers. Injaz Qatar’s CEO, Emad Al Khaja shared the timeline for this year’s programme implementation with the students and briefed them about the competition’s guidelines, as well as encouraging them to self-register on the online portal.
Al Khaja said: “I wanted to gather all the participating students in the Company Programme this year in one room to give them an inspirational push using some interesting speeches and through getting to know other competing teams. I’m looking forward to seeing great ideas coming to life through the programme and I hope we were able to inspire the students through this event. Thanks goes to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for showing their support to Injaz Qatar and thanks to Boeing for sponsoring the programme at the University level”.
Haya Al Noaimi, an alumni of the programme, shared her experience with the participants and highlighted the value of going through this programme.
Alexander Nehmeh from the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) also shared his motivational speech with the students and announced a new collaboration with Injaz Qatar; this year’s judges for the Injaz Qatar Young Entrepreneurs’ Competition (Mubadara 2016) will be members of EO in Qatar, since they all have the right experience and entrepreneurial knowledge to conduct the judging process for these young participants and entrepreneurs.
During the Company Programme, which is run in countries all over the world, students experience the entire life cycle of a startup venture as they develop a business idea, devise business plans and produce and sell a product or a service.
The initial Company Programme journey in Qatar ends with Mubadara, the Awards’ Ceremony that is held under the patronage of the Minister of Education and Higher Education during which the local, annual winners are announced.
The Qatar winners then progress to a regional competition as one of fourteen teams who have won their respective country titles in the Arab Region and who then compete for the ultimate, regional Company Programme accolade.The Peninsula
