Held under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tariq bin Taimur Al-Said Deputy Prime Minister for Relations and International Affairs and Special Representative of His Majesty Sultan INJAZ Al Arab concluded its 13th annual entrepreneurship competition which saw over 80 students across MENA compete for the coveted Company of the Year, Product of the Year and Social Impact awards.

INJAZ Al Arab The MENA regional operating center of Junior Achievement Worldwide hosted over 400 people including senior government officials, ambassadors and esteemed public figures at the awards ceremony. This years competition was a culmination or 19 teams from Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt Tunisia, Palestine, Qatar, Yemen and Palestine.

Stealing the lime-light were Mahya from Oman winning The Soray Salti Company of the Year award for the University track and Forsa from Palestine for the High School track; Al Fazza from Bahrain winning Product of the Year for the university track and Small Brains from Morocco for High School track; Hive from Lebanon winning Social Impact of the Year award for the university track and Seuse from Kuwait for the High School track. Citi Client Focus Award by Forsa from INJAZ Palestine and Balda Tayba INJAZ Yemen, the FedEx Access Award by Small Brains from INJAZ Morocco, MBC Al Amal Pitch of the Year by Small Brains from INJAZ Palestine and Point from INJAZ Saudi Arabia , Boeing Business Challenge by Al Fazza from INJAZ Bahrain and MetLife Innovation Award by Mahya from INJAZ Oman and Small Brains from INJAZ Morocco, Investcorp Value Creation Award by Point from INJAZ Saudi Arabia, Mastercard Excellence in Technology Award by Learn and Play from INJAZ Tunisia and Small Brains from INJAZ Morocco.

The Middle East is land of motivated entrepreneurial talent whom are striving to be the leaders of tomorrow. Our annual competition provides a platform to aspirational young Arabs to instill essential business & leadership skills and celebrate innovation & creativity. Im highly proud of our students, partners and volunteers who have made to life a yet another successful competition and looking forward to our continued journey to build a generation of inspired, empowered individuals who contribute to the development of economy for their countries said by Akef Aqrabawi, CEO, INJAZ Al Arab.

The 13th regional competition is organized in strategic partnership with Al Zubair Group, and with in-kind support from Ooredoo. The event is regionally supported by strategic partners including Citi Foundation, FedEx, Boeing, Mastercard, MBC, MetLife, Investcorp and in a strategic Media partnership with Hill + Knowlton Strategies.

In addition to the three main awards, students also competed over the Citi Foundation Client Focus Award, FedEx Access Award, Boeing Business Challenge, MBC Al Amal Pitch of the Year, Mastercard Excellence in Technology Award, MetLife Innovation Award and Investcorp Value Creation Award.

The Judging panel hosts representatives from Mastercard, ExxonMobil, Expertise France, H+K Strategies, Kijamii, Investcorp, MBC Group, MetLife, FedEx, Citi Foundation, Boeing, McKinsey and Ithmar Invest PSC.

Named one of the top 100 Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) in the world by NGO Advisor, INJAZ Al-Arab has influenced the lives of over 3.5 million students since 2004.The annual Young Arab Entrepreneurs Competition was introduced in 2007, the INJAZ AL-Arab competition aims to nurture the entrepreneurial skills of the Arab youth and help create future job opportunities.

The annual competition follows the completion of individual country rounds and closes six months of training in work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy based on INJAZ Al-Arabs internationally acclaimed Company Program.