Bedaya and Qatar Shell Announce School Semi-finalists for ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ 2016
Apr 11, 2016
Doha, 11 April, 2016: Twenty-five high school teams have made it through the semifinals of ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ 2016 to reach the Grand Final, which will take place on April 21 at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
Now in its fourth year, the annual programme is designed to encourage and inspire young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career option. This year, the programme is reaching out to international schools in addition to the independent schools, with the participation of more than 800 students from over 25 schools across Qatar.
Reem Al Suwaidi, General Manager of Bedaya Center, said: “We are proud of our partnership with Qatar Shell and the growing success of the ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ for the fourth consecutive year. The ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ programme is fully aligned with Bedaya’s mandate to develop and encourage an entrepreneurial culture among young people in Qatar. ”
“At Bedaya, we will continue to support and develop the spirit of entrepreneurship among the local community, and laying the infrastructure for a knowledge-based society,” added Al Suwaidi.
Qatar Shell's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Mohammed Abu Jbara, said: “I am extremely proud to see a significant growth in the number of students and mentors participating in the ‘Enterprise Challenge Qatar’ programme this year. The programme has gone from strength to strength, since its inception; we began with only 37 students from 3 universities in Qatar in 2012, and this year we are reaching to over 1,000 students from 25 schools and 13 universities across Qatar.”
“At Qatar Shell, we recognise that cultivating and nurturing entrepreneurship begins with another kind of investment – in young minds. Therefore, providing students with business skills and the practical tools to ultimately succeed in a real business environment is of crucial importance to fulfill the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030,” added Abu Jbara.
Last year, Qatar Shell signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Education to support Enterprise Challenge Qatar, and promote the competition in independent and private secondary schools in Qatar. In addition to this agreement, Qatar Shell partnered with the Qatar Volunteer Center in September to engage more volunteers in training students.
In preparation for this year’s competition, more than 100 volunteer mentors, the vast majority of whom are Qatari, delivered coaching sessions on core business concepts. The teams’ performances as businesses were evaluated using a computer-based business program, which simulated a competitive marketplace over a three-year period. Students also received mentoring on ethical business, which tests participants’ ability to balance the economic, environmental and social performance of their companies.
Competing semi-finalists that made it through to this year’s Grand Final include students from Al Zubara Boys’ School, Al Shamal Boys’ School, Abdullah bin Ali Musnad Boys’ School, Qatar Leadership Academy, Qatar Independent Technical School, Ahmed Bin Hanbal Independent Secondary School for Boys, Omar bin Abdulaziz Secondary School for Boys, Al Doha Boys’ School, Finance and Banking Boys School, Ali Bin Jassim Al-Thani Secondary Independent Boys’ School, Musab bin Omair school, Al Ghuwariyah Girls’ School, Al Shamal Girls’ School, Al Khor Independent School for Girls, Um Hakeem Secondary Independent Girls’ School, Al Shahaniya Independent School for Girls, Qatar Complex Girls School, Finance and Banking School Girls.
Participating international schools include Qatar International School, Sherborne School, Al Arqam Academy, Aspire Academy, Newton International School West Bay, Newton International School Barwa City, the Lebanese School and the Tunisian School.
The Enterprise Challenge competition was created by Mosaic, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation established by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in 2007.
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this press release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to “joint ventures” and “joint operations” respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov ). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this press release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release 12 April 2016. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this press release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.