Testing the water: the JAYE Malta Company Programme product launch

Eighteen teams from 10 post-secondary educational institutions in Malta and Gozo came together on 14 December at the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry to launch their products and services as part of their Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Foundation Company Programme journey. The launch, attended by parents, advisors, teachers and business partners, was also attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Chris Agius.

Taking the stage for the first time, over 100 young people addressed those present to introduce and describe the products and services their JAYE minicompany would be putting together as a team. This was the first time the participants had the opportunity to test the commercial viability of their ideas that were crafted at the beginning of the programme on 22 October.

Participants are guided by volunteer business advisors and college link teachers as they navigate their way around the intricacies and challenges of setting up their own mini company. Sourcing the necessary resources and identifying key channels for sales and marketing, while understanding their respective strengths and weaknesses in order to successfully build a strong team that can weather the eight-month challenge is no mean feat that they all have to tackle head on!

The JAYE Malta Company Programme comes to an end in May 2017 with the National Finals and awards night, sponsored by HSBC Bank Malta. The winners of the National Finals will represent Malta at the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition in Brussels from 11 to 13 July.

JAYE Malta thanks all its sponsors, business partners, volunteers, schools and teachers – as well as the parents of all the participants – for facilitating and supporting the 2016-2017 Company Programme.