COMMITTED to ensuring school students in Penang do not miss out in building their entrepreneurial mindset and business acumen, Junior Achievement (JA) Malaysia and Young Enterprise Penang Secretariat have jointly organised a programme, known as Young Enterprise Penang Annual Sales Fair 2022.
The two-day programme, which officially started today and will end tomorrow (Oct 16), has received the participation of over 450 students, aged 15 to 17, from 15 schools in the state.
It is currently ongoing at First Avenue Mall in George Town.
This is an annual affair held to provide the students a platform to bridge the knowledge gap with experiential learning programmes, immaterial of being in urban or rural areas.
It was learnt that this programme is also supported by sponsor companies, mainly industry players from both the island and mainland, and their role is to primarily assist the students while they create and manage their own products.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who was present earlier to officiate the opening of the fair, thanked Junior Achievement for their dedication to youth education, which has an impact felt not only by us but in over 110 countries.
JA Malaysia, a member of JA Worldwide, is a youth-serving non-governmental organisation focused on growing and executing JA programmes on financial literacy, work skills and entrepreneurship throughout Malaysia for school students.
“The excellence of this impact can also be seen as JA Worldwide was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
“A nomination for such a prestigious award is a great testament of its value in education.
“The state wishes all the students the very best in their sales, and more importantly, hats off to all of you for coming forward to participate and showcase your skills through a platform deemed vital for the development of youth.
“And as for the state government, we will continue to invest in and support relevant initiatives and efforts through our own agencies, such as the Penang Youth Development Corporation (PYDC), the Penang Skills Development Centre (PSDC), Penang Institute, InvestPenang and others,” Chow said in his speech.
Also, Chow had the privilege of witnessing the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Universiti Sains Malaysia and JA Malaysia earlier.
The agreement is aimed at accelerating efforts to work collectively on bringing 21st-century learning and values even deeper to the Young Enterprise students.
Also present during the event were USM deputy vice-chancellor for Sustainability and Institutional Development Dr Mohamad Roslan Hashim, USM School of Management Dean Prof Dr Noor Hazlina Ahmad and JA board of trustee Datuk Kenny Goh.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Siew Chia En
Video by Law Suun Ting