Following the collection of stamps, football stickers and a host of other collectible items, Malta saw the launch yesterday of an album for people to collect euro coins of several countries which have introduced the single currency, likely to include Malta next year.

The album is the brainwave of Eleven, a Young Enterprise Company composed of students attending the St Aloysius College Sixth Form.

The launch of the album came a few days after the Maltese government submitted a formal application to the European Commission to join the eurozone and adopt the euro by January 2008.

Eleven’s operations director Luke Manduca explained that the album contains four sheets of hard cardboard with each sheet having space for a set of euro coins of two countries. The coins fit easily into their respective holders found in each sheet and can be viewed easily without the risk of them falling out, getting lost, or actually moving out of place.

He said the plastic which holds the euro coins in place was made to preserve the coins’ original lustre. Each sheet has holders for the 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, e1 and e2 coins of the respective countries.

Young Enterprise Malta chief executive officer Karl Gouder praised the students for their hard work and determination to develop the product from just an idea.

He said this was what Young Enterprise was all about: character formation through enterprise education.

He said the country needed people with a vision and with hands-on experience of what running one’s own business was all about.

Present at the launch of the product was the parliamentary secretary for small businesses and the self-employed, Edwin Vassallo.

Eleven may be contacted on [email protected] or on mobile number 9924-8111.

Meanwhile, the annual Young Enterprise National Trade Fair will be held between today and tomorrow at City Gate in Valletta where visitors will be able to choose from a wide range of products and services being offered.

The fair is one of the most important events in the HSBC Young Enterprise Company Programme calendar.

The National Trade Fair gives all the students who are taking part the opportunity to test their products on the market and to try to make as many sales as possible to see how their product is received by the public.