Some 250 sixth form students representing 10 companies from the HSBC Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta are holding the 20th annual National Trade Fair over two days, ending today. They are showcasing and selling their products and services from an especially set-up structure in Republic Street, Valletta. The focus of this year’s fair is on the environment and information technology.

The fair is held as part of the HSBC Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Company Programme, which offers post secondary students the opportunity to set up and run their own business, while competing on both a national and an international level. The competition pivots around product concept, company performance, corporate social responsibility, company image, future potential, final presentation, as well as the skills and learning demonstrated.

This is the fifth year that HSBC is supporting the Company Programme both financially and in terms of expertise and consultancy by the bank’s staff. So far some e175,000 have been committed by HSBC towards the Company Programme to help these young entrepreneurs develop their innovative ideas into concrete products that make business sense.

The fair was launched by Clyde Puli, Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport, and Shaun Wallis, HSBC’s Chief Executive Officer, in the presence of Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Chairman Josef Camilleri and Chief Executive Officer Karl Gouder.

The products and services displayed to be sold in a real market scenario are the result of five months of solid work which the young entrepreneurs shall present for the final competition to be held later this year. Among the products proposed are a water-saving device, a T9 in Maltese for mobile phones, and an electronic translator in the Maltese language.

“HSBC recognises that small enterprises are crucial, particularly to Malta’s economy,” said Mr Wallis. “And in the light of the recent innovation report published by the European Commission on Malta’s levels of innovation, which is slowly but steadily catching up, HSBC is more than willing to support Young Enterprise in assisting young people take a business-minded direction and innovate the products and services they put on the market.”

“It is a great satisfaction for this organisation to see young achievers develop into good businessmen who owe their success to their innovative ideas and their ambition to grow,” said Josef Camilleri, Chairman of Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta.

Parliamentary Secretary Clyde Puli said: “The entrepreneurial spirit which such an experience instils in our young people is essential on both an individual level and for Malta. This becomes even more important in the context of the local economy’s transformation, to make it more competitive, innovative and creative. Our young people are the motor behind the success Malta aims to achieve.”