FedEx Express announced that the Asia Pacific Finals of its annual youth entrepreneurship competition, the FedEx Express / JA International Trade Challenge (ITC), will take place virtually from March 1 to 3. The competition, which fosters entrepreneurship and international business acumen in secondary school students, will continue uninterrupted in a virtual format to ensure students continue benefiting from this valuable learning opportunity while staying safe during the pandemic.
This year, 52 high school students, aged 14 to 20, representing nine Asia Pacific markets will compete in the Asia Pacific Finals. Over a period of seven months, the competition drew more than 2,900 aspiring student innovators from across the region to create market entry strategies for a variety of products and services for their respective local challenges. The finalists comprise the local market winners from China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The virtual format of the competition has attracted a broad panel of influential judges from around Asia Pacific, ranging from venture capitalists to founders of successful startups, all of whom will also provide guidance and advice to the young entrepreneurs during the competition. These include:
- First Round Judges:
- Mainland China: Kim Wang, Marketing Director, Shanghai Timespin Education & Technology Co., Ltd
- Hong Kong SAR:
- Jessica Ye Trainor, Founder and CEO, Mulberry House Education Group
- Natalie Chan, Founder & CEO, OWN Academy
- Patryck Pimpao Merhy, Partner – Head of Asia Pacific, Patria Investments
- Philip Liang, Chairman and founder, General Sensing
- Rodney Geres, Senior Director Business Development APAC, ICE
- Malaysia: Stephanie Sitt, Co-founder & Group CEO, Inmagine
- Philippines: Dennis Velasco, CEO, Prosperna
- Singapore: Robin Teurlings, CEO, The Startup Buddy
- Thailand: Net Supatravanij, Co-founder, ila
- Grand Final Judges:
- Hong Kong SAR: Darius Yuen, Founder, Zhong Yi Investment Managers
- Malaysia: Naysan Munusamy, Co-Founder, MoneyMatch
- Philippines: Neptune Factor, Founder and CEO, eCFULFILL, Inc
- Singapore: Jenny Kwang, Co-Founder and Managing Director, J&CO Jewellery
“A post-pandemic world will require fresh perspectives from curious young minds that have a passion for learning and solving challenges,” said Kawal Preet, president, Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, FedEx Express and board member, JA Asia Pacific. “By envisioning new ways to do business and work together, these students are helping to create a bright and collaborative future for our region. I am looking forward to listening to their business strategies, fresh inspiration and learnings from their presentations in the Finals.”
“JA’s mission to prepare young people for the 21st century workplace has never been more relevant. As we are all witnessing, resiliency, creativity, and entrepreneurship are the hallmarks of work-readiness – both now and going forward. I believe our best and most important work is directly ahead of us and we at JA Asia Pacific are incredibly grateful for the unwavering support of FedEx Express in helping to nurture young entrepreneurs through the ITC program and competition for the 14th consecutive year. We wish all participants success, both during and beyond this competition.” added Maziar Sabet, President and CEO of JA Asia Pacific.
The FedEx Express / JA ITC is a competition organized by JA Asia Pacific, and sponsored by FedEx Express. In addition to supporting young entrepreneurs through JA ITC, FedEx Express is an advocate for and supporter of small-and-medium-enterprises (SMEs) around the Asia Pacific region.