The Judges

The judging committee included: Sami F. Bahrawi, Jeddah Economic Forum Chairman 2007 and member of the board of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Rami S. Abu Ghazaleh CEO of Al Baik Food Systems; Olfat Qabbani, member of the board of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Amin El Maghraby , President & CEO of Magrabi Optical Company; Rola Badkook, General Manager of Badkok Group and Fayyad Obeid, General Manager of Al Baik Food Systems.

The winning finalists

The Jeddah Economic Forum Collegiate Business Venture Award 2007 top 10 finalists have been selected from over 55 applications that have been received from across the region.

A warm congratulations to the winning team from the American University of Sharjah, Bedriyah Al Saeed and her team (which included: Ali Hashem Shekofti, Claudia Fermazi, Fatima Quraishi and Noha Pancha) presented a business plan on Al Saree3 – a door to door delivery service that will begin in Jeddah and expand regionally. AUS participating team was under the supervision of Mr. Ali Khawaja.

The first runner up, a team from the College of Business and Administration in Jeddah, Sondos Bawazeer and her team (Shumaila Jaffrey and Buthaina Albaity) presented the SWIFT business plan - a Student Women Initiative for Technology.

From Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Ahmed & Asma Mahayri from King Abdulaziz University presented a business plant titled the Middle East Innovators, and were selected as the third place winners.

The fourth finalist a group from CBA Fatima Gardezi and Hiba Ali presented a Public Transport System for Women, the team was supervised by Qurratulain Sikander – Head of the Marketing Department. From Dar Al Hekma Amena Syed presented a business plan on Mughal Catering. From Effat College Hudabia Tariq presented a business plan on an expansion opportunity for Toni & Guy in Saudi Arabia.

From the American University of Beirut the student Elias Njeim presented a business plan on EKN – Engineering Consulting Company. From Aleppo three finalists were selected: Hazem Arab presented a restaurant expansion business plan, Rami Al Esawi presented a business plan on a retain concept called BEETO and Yusuf Makhlouf presented a business plan on Financial and Exchange Center.

Congratulations to them all.. :)

Deadlines..

Dear readers,

We have been getting many comments on how tight the time has been for everyone to participate and submit their work for this competition, unfortunately this year the timing has been very critical what with finals and midyear breaks in most universities, a lot of students are afraid they wont be able to make the deadlines we have assigned, and have requested extensions of it and we would have loved to comply, but keeping in mind that the forum is to be held on the 24th till the 27th of February 2007, this makes matters complicated if the winner were to be from a country other than Saudi Arabia or the Gulf, traveling arrangements and visa issues must be taken into consideration therefore the deadline has been stretched to its limit as it is.
We are sure that for the most part its putting everyone under pressure, yet there have been a number of submissions so far, just keep in mind that you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to, remember that famous saying: "Where there is a will, there is a way"
Good luck everyone..

Al Yamamah College

Last Tuesday we went to visit Al Yamamah College for women in Riyadh.. Students expressed their keen interest in participating in the JEF Collegiate Business Venture Award 2007. In their first year, Al Yamamah College opened officially in 2006, the students were ready to take part and show their skills in preparing business plans.
Wishing them all the bestand we look forward to seeing their work.

GOING REGIONAL

This week we will be going on our regional road shows, starting off with 8 visits to different universities in Syria, as well as meeting with students from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Lebanon.
Also we will be visiting the American University of Sharja in the UAE, and then finally a briefing session will be held with participating students from Oman.

Effat College Road Show

This afternoon marked the completion of the scheduled road shows for Saudi Arabia, our team members, accompanied by Eng. Rami Abu Ghazaleh, CEO of Al Baik Food Systems, concluded the last Saudi road show when visiting with Effat College, attending the presentation was the dean of the college Dr. Haifa Jamal Al Lail, members of the board, students and faculty.
Feedback from the visit showed that the students were more than half way into their business plans.

Visit to Dar Al Hekma College

Eng. Rami Abu Ghazaleh, CEO of Al Baik Food Systems, visited Dar Al Hekma College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Over 50 students and a number of faculty members were in attendance along with Dr. Suhair Al Qurashi Dean of Dar Al Hekma College.The students showed admirable eagerness to be part of this initiative and asked a number of business expansion related questions guiding their development of the plans to be submitted.The best of luck to the girls at Dar Al Hekma..

King Abdul Aziz Road Show

An interactive briefing session for JEF Collegiate Business Venture Award was held at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Electronic ads announcing the award were shown throughout the Business and Administration College, encouraging students and faculty members to attend.
JEF Collegiate Business Venture Award team members addressed students questions guiding them in means to prepare their business plans, concentrating on methods of expansions.
A very successful visit, wishing the students all the best.

Official Signing Ceremony

In a unique experience bringing to light the new dimensions of the Jeddah Economic Forum vision, the JEF Collegiate Business Venture Award was launched via a signing ceremony between JEF Chairman Sami F. Bahrawi and Al Baik Food Systems CEO Rami S. Abu-Ghazaleh.

This prestigious award targets students in order to establish entrepreneurial training as a new discipline that will ultimately benefit both the public and private sectors in the region and create recognition of entrepreneurship as a dynamic factor in economic growth. Undergraduate students will have the opportunity to develop and present a business plan for an existing or a virtual proven local service concept that can be successfully expanded nationally and regionally. Vehicles of expansion of such a concept shall be either through company owned outlets, franchising, or through joint ventures. Students are expected to explain why they chose one method over others. All entries will be evaluated according to the highest standards by a preliminary judging panel provided by JEF, including JCCI officials, business leaders and academicians.

Over 30 journalists attended the signing ceremony which was hosted at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Kickoff of Award Road Shows

Our first road show was held today at the College of Business and Administration (CBA), in Jeddah-KSA. With the attendance of more that 23 female and male students, as well as a number of professors, administrators and supervisors. We were extremely impressed with the enthusiasm the students have shown towards the award, as well as the excitement they have expressed for being part of this competition and their aim to reach the top finalists and hopefully the winner!!
Wishing you guys all the best..

Dont Forget to Check Out...

Check out the side column if you need a few pointers to set you on the right track..
Try visiting the listed websites that we found, which contain useful information that could help you while working on your business plan

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL

Welcome All

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to come visit this blog, we hope that you would benefit from all that’s being posted on a daily basis as an attempt to update everyone on what’s going on with the award. You will find details concerning timelines, events, press conferences, media clippings, pictures, and advertisements, hoping to unify all who are participating in this first of its kind initiative within the region.
If there is anything you would like posted or know more about, let us know, and we will gladly comply to the best of our abilities, also feel free to post any comments, suggestions or questions you might have, and we will get back to you with the required information. :)
Waiting for your feedback..