Six Malaysian students win FedEx entrepreneurship challenge

• Aims to equip students with business,project management skills 
• Competition began in 2018 has impacted over 7k Malaysian students 

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp together with Junior Achievement (JA), have announced the six Malaysian students who won the 2022 FedEx Express/ JA International Trade Challenge (FedEx Express/ JA ITC) Malaysian finals. 

These students will now advance to compete at the FedEx Express / JA ITC Asia Pacific Regional Finals, scheduled for August, the company said in a statement. 

FedEx Express Malaysia said the company and JA have been hosting the FedEx Express/ JA ITC since 2008 and to date. It claimed that the competition has impacted more than 7,000 students in Malaysia. 

It said the FedEx Express/ JA ITC aims to nurture students with relevant knowledge and experience as well as to equip them with business and project management skills that are beneficial for their entrepreneurial growth.

For the second consecutive year, the 2022 FedEx Express / JA ITC was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic and received the participation of more than 650 secondary school students from 21 schools across Malaysia. 

A total of six virtual workshops took place throughout the month of April, supported by FedEx employees as volunteers who facilitated the students throughout the workshop and competition, and guided them on how to present their business ideas and plans.

In the FedEx Express/ JA ITC Malaysian Finals, the participating teams presented their market entry strategy plans to a panel of judges comprising Lim Seng Giap, senior manager operations of FedEx Express Malaysia; Maran Virumandi, founder of Doctor on Call and Shobie Malani, festival director of Murfest. 

The teams were evaluated based on their market entry strategy for a health product in Cambodia by applying insights and knowledge gained from the virtual workshops, FedEx said.

Lim said, “It’s yet another challenging pandemic year, especially for students, but all the participants displayed a high level of passion, perseverance and competitive spirit which is truly inspiring.

“As the competition enters its  16th year, we are honoured to continue our strategic collaboration with JA in organizing this annual competition, in line with our quest to mould the entrepreneurial spirit of our future leaders and prepare them for the 21st century workplace.”

The winning teams comprise:

• Team Nimol: Goh Zi Yu and Low Yi Su from SMK Bandar Utama Damansara 3 who created a go-to filtration water bottle called CHANGE as Cambodians face poor water sanitization and waterborne diseases.;
• Team Nutriiene: Ahil Asif and Ong Wei Xiang from Tanarata International Schools, developed the Banthem sachets which contain all the necessary nutrients to boost the immune system in children, preventing premature deaths; and
• Team Healife and Co: Meenal Mech and Nakkesha Sathya Mathiazhagan from Global Indian International School, developed Campex, a modified sanitary pad that aims to solve the core menstrual problems of Cambodian women.

Maran, one of the judges said, “This is the first for me to be in a judging panel and I am delighted to be presented with the opportunity to contribute to the efforts by both FedEx Express Malaysia and Junior Achievement in nurturing the young leaders of tomorrow. 

“I am in awe of the solid ideation as well as sheer determination demonstrated by the winning teams – and they nailed it through their clear and structured presentation,” he said

Chairman of Junior Achievement Malaysia, Stuart Dean said, “JA Malaysia is once again privileged to collaborate with FedEx Express Malaysia in imparting invaluable skills and expertise to the younger generation.

“I am confident that the finalists will take into account the lessons taught during the workshops as well as the judges’ feedback when competing at the Regional Finals.”

At the regional finals, the three winning Malaysian teams will be paired up randomly with students from other countries such as – Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.