| Danial Norjidi |
JUNIOR Achievement (JA) Brunei held its annual JA Company of the Year competition yesterday morning at the Design & Technology Building, Kampong Anggerek Desa.
The event saw the finalist student representatives from three upper secondary schools – Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (Maktab Sains), Tutong Sixth Form Centre (PTET) and Sengkurong Sixth Form Centre (PTES) – compete in this year’s JA Brunei Student Company of the Year Competition.
The participating student companies were assessed by a panel of judges based on their four-minute business presentation and 10-minute interview.
Prior to the competition, judges were provided with a company report from each student company. The company report serves to provide background and accomplishment of the student company.
Yesterday’s competition featured a panel of judges comprising: Pengiran Azaleen bin Pengiran Dato Haji Mustapha, Head of Retail Banking and Branch Network at Baiduri Bank Berhad; Pengiran Sarimah binti Pengiran Haji Abdul Latiff, Co-Founder, Co-Partner and an Entrepreneur Coach of Startup Hub BIMP-EAGA at iCentre; and Captain (Rtd) Zailan bin Pehin Dato Mohd Don, Advisor to the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Brunei Darussalam and Principal Mentor of the Cottage and Youth Initiative Programme at iCentre.
Ultimately, PTES JA Company from PTES, whose product of stickers with images raising awareness on issues pertaining to health, the environment and cyber security, was named the winning student company. Bruzece & Co from PTET was the first runners-up, followed by second runners-up The Little Cove from Maktab Sains.
The winning team will represent Brunei to compete in the next Asia Pacific JA Company of the Year Competition, which is to be held February 2018 in Beijing, China.
The competition is JA Worldwide’s annual celebration of the achievements of JA Company Programme students. JA Asia Pacific, the Regional Operating Centre of JA Worldwide, is the organiser of the competition in the Asia Pacific region. At this event, JA student companies proudly present the results of their enterprise and learning experience.
JA student companies appear before a panel of judges who determine company performance against the awards criteria as compared with other JA student companies.
According to a press release from JA Brunei, “The competition is not simply a business competition for the young people. The goal is to balance the business achievements of each student company as a whole with the personal development of each individual member within the student company.
“Therefore, for a company to win the award, it is not sufficient just to run a financially successful JA student company or to have created an exciting product or service. JA student company members also must demonstrate that they understand how and why the company performed as it did.”
Judges look for evidence of innovation and the application of new ideas in all aspects of running the student company. They also look for an understanding that continuous improvement through innovation is essential to the success of a business.
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