Pinoy students shine in Fedex/JA challenge

MANILA, Philippines - A vuvuzela MP4 player won for Germaine Kaw and Sharmaine Yap from the Philippines third place in the recently concluded FedEx Express/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge (ITC) regional finals, a three-day competition designed to educate and build entrepreneurship and business skills in young people from Asia-Pacific.

This year’s challenge was to develop a market entry strategy for exporting vuvuzelas, a horn popularized during the recent World Cup, to South Africa.

Thai students Anchisa Pongmanaruth and Natharee Krabuantat beat 23 other teams with the ‘Vuvuseika’, an environmentally vuvuzela made from bamboo that can produce sounds of different musical notes with adjustable volume.

Second place went to Thiruvinothini Thiruvenggadarr and Sofea A. Ghani from Malaysia, who created a vuvuzela travel kit for tourists. 

Jointly organized by FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and the world’s largest express transportation company, and US-based JA Worldwide, the world’s largest organization dedicated to preparing youths for the working world, the ITC was launched in 2007 and is supported by a $1.2-million grant from FedEx Express over a four-year period involving major markets in the Asia Pacific region.

“At FedEx, we recognize that entrepreneurship and businesses are important economic growth drivers. The International Trade Challenge is part of FedEx commitment to inspire young people to become next-generation entrepreneurs by developing their entrepreneurial spirit, imparting business knowledge and transferable life skills,” said David Cunningham, Jr., president, FedEx Express Asia Pacific.

This year, 46 students between 16 and 19 years of age from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand were selected to represent their markets at the regional finals in Singapore after competing at the local challenge in their respective home markets. 

The panel of judges comprising successful entrepreneurs and esteemed business leaders evaluated the teams on their business acumen, concept and presentation. The students were measured on their thoroughness, creativity and professionalism in developing and executing their business entry strategy.

Sean Rush, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide, added, “These students epitomize how the next generation of business leaders will collaborate to solve problems and create value for their organizations.”