Student organisation AIESEC yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Small Businesses and the Self-Employed with the aim of obtaining assistance in its mission.

AIESEC is the world’s largest student organisation. Based in over 84 countries worldwide, AIESEC provides its members with leadership and interpersonal skills, as well as practical business and management experience to complement university degrees.

It also offers the opportunity for short-term international internships to add value to university studies.

Students involved with AIESEC gain skills in a variety of fields, including marketing, management, information systems, finance, languages, leadership and community service. AIESEC aims to promote cultural understanding and cooperation between students in different countries through work abroad programmes. Furthermore, it aims to bridge the gap between the student, academic and corporate communities.

Through the memorandum, the secretariat became one of AIESEC’s business partners, and will provide assistance, including that of a financial nature, under the Discover Enterprise project launched by the Small Enterprise Directorate within Malta Enterprise.

During the signing ceremony, Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo said the secretariat was proud to be collaborating so closely with student organisations such as AIESEC and urged students to use the service provided by the secretariat for anything needed concerning business. He said students in AIESEC, just like Young Enterprise, learned by doing, adding that the secretariat believed that enterprise education was very important for the country.

“We have done a lot and we are achieving good results. The secretariat is there to bridge the gap between students and industry, putting into practice the theory that is learned at school or university,” he said.