What is the FedEx Express / Junior Achievement
International Trade Challenge?
The FedEx Express / JA International Trade Challenge (ITC) is a competition organized by JA Asia Pacific, and sponsored by FedEx Express. The ITC aims at nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit and business skills of students. During the event, students work to create international market entry strategy plans for a given product and target market.
Each year, more than 2,700 aspiring young entrepreneurs participate in local ITC workshops across 10 markets over a period of 8 months. tGELF/JA India, along with other JA Asia Pacific nations, has students create market entry strategies for a variety of products and services for their respective ITC local challenges.
Since its debut in 2007, the ITC has developed nearly 45,000 young entrepreneurs in the Asia Pacific region. The first ITC regional finals was held in Hong Kong in 2007; since then, ITC regional finals have travelled to different markets in the region including Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.
This unique competition was brought to India for the first time by FedEx Express,JA Asia Pacific and tGELF/JA India in 2021. It was started in India to nurture participants' knowledge of import/ export, international trade, and creating a market entry strategy.
ITC 2023 India Regional Finals
The 2023 program was held virtually with four workshops attended by nearly 500 students from 36 schools to heighten their knowledge of global trade and acquire skills to prepare a detailed market entry strategy plan. The students were challenged to develop a sustainable alternative to a single-use product of their choice for the South African market. This aligns with the FedEx approach to “reduce, replace, and revolutionize” across business activities to minimize environmental impacts and add value.
To foster collaborative thinking and encourage diverse ideas from different cultural backgrounds, the six India winners went on to work with students from other Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) markets at the 2023 AMEA regional finals in August.
“It was great to see these school students think this much about a sustainable future. The next generation is not taking the environment for granted. From the entrepreneurship perspective, I would advise only one thing to all of the students: “If one can solve just one problem in the industry, profits will automatically skyrocket."
“It was eye-opening, to see the Innovative ideas, passion, and commitment in the presentations. The next generation definitely has a lot to offer and make a huge impact on our society.”
Ilesh Ghevariya, ITC 2023 Judge
Founder and CEO @ French Crown
Nikhil Rai, ITC 2023 Judge
Senior Manager @ Providence Healthcare