FedEx and Junior Achievement support future entrepreneurs

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Photo: FedEx


FedEx Express and Junior Achievement (JA) Asia Pacific have announced the top three winners of the 16th annual FedEx Express/JA International Trade Challenge (ITC) finals. Students from India, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines comprised the winning teams.

Over 4,800 participants representing 10 AMEA markets – Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam – competed for the top spots.

This year, the student teams were tasked with creating a market entry strategy for a physical product that places ‘sustainability’ at its core, and Germany was the target market. The challenge was particularly timely due to consumers increasing focus on the environmental impact of products and the escalating discussion on what role businesses should play to help tackle climate change.

Read more: FedEx Express strengthens connectivity between Asia-Europe

The winning team J Cubed, comprised of Jakecob M. Jacob from the Philippines and Yau Li Ting Jamie from Singapore. Their idea was a sustainable beer called ‘Loaf’ brewed from surplus bread to address food waste and promote sustainability as well as German culture.

“We are overjoyed to be named the winners of the competition, especially to be chosen among a very talented peer group. Through this competition, we have worked together as a team, learning from the experience of our mentors and judges, which has been really inspiring and made us even more committed to begin our entrepreneur journey,” said J Cubed team members Jakecob M. Jacob from the Philippines and Yau Li Ting Jamie from Singapore.

Read more: FedEx establishing new South China Operations Center at its APAC Hub

“We chose to center this year’s theme on sustainability as it is such a prescient issue for FedEx, the business community, and everyone on our planet. The knowledge and ideas these young entrepreneurs demonstrated throughout the competition on these real-world challenges was truly inspiring,” said Salil Chari, senior vice president, Marketing and Customer Experience, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, FedEx Express.

 “Since its debut in 2007, the FedEx Express/JA Asia Pacific International Trade Challenge has been invaluable in transforming traditional classroom learning to real-life, hands-on experiences. At JA Asia Pacific, our belief in the youth of this region has never been stronger. I am so pleased to see a truly representative group of participants and a crucial and timely theme focused on sustainability, that supports JA’s global vision and demonstrates that young people truly have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities,” said JA Asia Pacific President and CEO Maziar Sabet.