JA Asia Pacific Celebrates 15th-Annual FedEx Express/JA International Trade Challenge
August 11, 2021
JA Asia Pacific celebrated its 15th-annual FedEx Express/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge Asia Pacific from August 9–11. Under the theme “empowering the next generation of Asia’s entrepreneurs,” students from mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam participated, with students from Indonesia and India joining for the first time.
The International Trade Challenge brings pairs together two students from different locations and asks them to work together to imagine a market-entry strategy for a product or service that solves a real-life problem.
Presenting partner FedEx has sponsored JA competitions around the world since 2007, including regional Company of the Year competitions, the FedEx Junior Business Challenge in the U.S., and the International Trade Challenge in Asia Pacific.
On Day 1, students were paired into teams, participated in the FedEx Guest Speaker session with Masamichi Ujie, Senior Vice President, Operations, North and South Pacific, FedEx Express; listened to a fireside chat with JA Asia Pacific alums and previous ITC winners, followed by the announcement of this year’s challenge: “With the world grappling with COVID-19, and specifically on how it changed people’s lives with social distancing, quarantine, and closed borders, create a market entry strategy for a physical product that enables people to recover from or overcome such impact.” The target market: United Kingdom.
On Day 2, students attended the Entrepreneurial Speaker Session with Neptune Factor, Founder & CEO of ECFulfill Inc. and participated in the first round of presentations.
Day 3 included the announcement of the six grand finalists, followed by their final presentations.
Team: Felicity – Seojin Ahn of South Korea and Riefka Azka Aulia Hasna of Indonesia
Idea: Felice-the-Bear, an AI-powered educational teddy bear, supports young children in the UK in distance learning through conversational and emotional support using big data.
Team: Kanina Jurong Ligers – Wong Yong-Cheng of Singapore and Aastika Jain of India
Idea: A DIY concert kit that contains everything needed to recreate a music concert right at home during lockdown, including Bluetooth speakers, sweatbands, and LED glowsticks.
Team: The Peak Performers – Chaerin Park of South Korea and Princess Cecile F. Gurrea of the Philippines
Idea: Seed Link greeting cards contain rosemary and orange blossom seeds. Use them to write a letter to your loved ones and allow the aromatic scent to help you relax and stay connected during lockdown.
Team: Zenith – Katherine Suk of South Korea and Diya Nair of Singapore
Idea: Otium is a data-driven essential oil diffuser that uses an app and ECG technology to customize scents based on user data.
Team: The League – Krithika Gigillan from Malaysia and Aastha Walia from India
Idea: SnoozePods noise-blocking ear-pods with binaural beats and sleep quality monitoring, help stressed moms sleep better.
Team: 14K Investing – Chang Ian Chun-Lam from Hong Kong SAR and Hugo Hiramatsu from Japan
Idea: EasyPads is an easy-to-use tablet designed to help seniors connect with their loved ones via calls, games, music, and email during COVID-19.
Meet the winners
Grand Prize: The Peak Performers
2nd place: Kanina Jurong Ligers
3rd place: Felicity