Injaz Qatar to host Mubadara 2013

The initiative is part of the commitment of Injaz Qatar - a non-profit organisation and member of Junior Achievement Worldwide - to motivating, inspiring and developing the country’s youth.

Student companies will present their projects to a panel of judges, which includes Hassan Ibrahim al-Asmakh, vice-President (business development) at Regency Group Holding; Saud S Alarifi, vice-president and HR manager (Qatar/Abu Dhabi), ExxonMobil Qatar Inc; Sharoq al-Malki, chief human capital officer, Museum of Islamic Art; Munther al-Dawood, projects and investment manager, Social Development Centre (SDC); and Abdulaziz Rashid Abdulla al-Kubaisi, acting assistant manager, National Manpower Development, Ministry of Labour.

Mubadara 2013 is sponsored by ExxonMobil Qatar Inc (platinum sponsor), Katara (strategic partner), Siemens (silver sponsor), ibTECHar (partner) and Afif Program (partner).

The competition, first organised in Doha in 2008, will see six student-led enterprises established through Injaz’s Company Program - an initiative designed to help students set up and run a real organisation - compete for five awards in entrepreneurship, including the Best Student Company award. The term “Mubadara” means initiative in Arabic.

Afif Program, a non-profit Qatari initiative established jointly by Al Asmakh Charity and SDC, is partnering with Injaz Qatar to honour the winners of the Best Student Company of the Year Award (university level) with Islamic financing to help the team create its own company. Afif has also pledged to enrol the winning team in its four-year-long business coaching programme.

The competition consists of four stages: students have drafted an initial report detailing their business and company approach, following which they will give a business presentation; they will then hold a trade fair exhibition at Katara. Finally, they will be interviewed by the panel of judges. Students were also given a presentation on skills training by communications agency Hill+Knowlton Strategies for the second consecutive year.

Aysha al-Mudahka, executive director of Injaz Qatar, said: “Injaz Qatar is dedicated to empowering the youth by supporting them in developing their entrepreneurial skills and bringing their original initiatives to fruition with a full-fledged professional path like the Company Program. We are privileged to have the corporate volunteers, schools and universities, sponsors and supporters for Mubadara 2013.”

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, general manager of Katara, said: “Educational outreach is a crucial dimension of Katara’s mission and we are proud to be the strategic partner of Injaz Qatar, as they roll out the Sixth Annual Young Enterprise of the Year competition.”

Bart Cahir, president and general manager of ExxonMobil Qatar Inc, said: “We are proud to be supporting Injaz Qatar since its inception and today, we are pleased to sponsor the Mubadara competition. Our support for Injaz goes beyond funding - we also encourage our employees to be part of its activities in Qatar.”

Corporate volunteers who have mentored the student teams belong to organisations such as Roudha Centre, Ooredoo, Qatar Development Bank, Institute of Development and Training, Cloud Media, Qatar Olympic Committee, Comtec, Afif Program (Al Asmakh Charity), PwC, Yashfeen Medical and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.

The participating institutes include Al Resala Independent Secondary School for Girls, Al Kawthar Independent Secondary School for Girls, Amna Bint Wahb School for Girls, Tarek Bin Ziyad Independent Secondary School for Boys, Omar Bin Abdulaziz Independent Secondary School for Boys and Qatar University.