Zawaya - Lebanese Student Company Scoops Best Company Award at INJAZ Young Entrepreneurs Competition 2010

Judges select The Fifth Wheel for their product 'Carmate'

Marrakesh, Morocco, 9th November 2010: Following a period of intense deliberation, Lebanese student Company The Fifth Wheel was selected as Best Company of the Year at the annual INJAZ Young Entrepreneur Competition 2010 held in Morocco. The winning company was chosen by an esteemed panel of judges including Sam Schamma of Intel, Maher Qaddoura of Meydan, Hassan Ouriagli of ONA Group, and Hamad Al Ammari of FIKR Conferences.

The criteria on which the student companies were graded included their ability to demonstrate sound business acumen, financial knowledge, marketing support and feasibility studies. Students spent three days showcasing their products, presenting to the public, and had a private and quite rigourous Q&A session with the judges.

Commenting on her team's win, Gaielle Feghali, CEO of The Fifth Wheel, said, "We are extremely proud of our achievement. This whole experience has been very enriching and liberating - we now feel like we can take on the world with our new found knowledge and entrepreneurial skills. I, for one, am definitely going to look at starting my own company when I am done with my studies."

The INJAZ annual Young Entrepreneur Competition was launched in 2007 by INJAZ al-Arab, and is open to all the local competition winners from across the INJAZ Al Arab network in MENA. There are four awards to be won at the annual INJAZ annual Young Entrepreneurs Competition: Best Marketing Campaign, Best Innovative Product, Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Best Company of the Year. Thirteen student teams from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Yemen participated in the regional competition, all of whom were winners of the local INJAZ competitions in their home countries.

At this year's awards, the other winners included Yemeni student team, Port Mokha for Best Marketing Plan, Palestinian student company Grow Green for Most Innovative Product, and Egyptian student company Vintage Revolution for Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Commenting on the competition, Soraya Salti, Vice President MENA of INJAZ Al Arab, said, "The INJAZ annual Young Entrepreneur Competition aims to encourage and showcase the entrepreneurial spirit in Arab youth, and we are pleased that this year's competition has succeeded in both recognizing and rewarding The Fifth Wheel for their product and campaign. This all helps bringing us one step closer to achieving our target of reaching one million arab youth annually by 2018."

About INJAZ al-Arab

INJAZ al-Arab harnesses the mentorship of Arab business leaders to help inspire a culture of entrepreneurialism and business innovation among Arab youth.

Operating in 13 countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, INJAZ al-Arab is a confederation of national operations collaborating with corporate volunteers and Ministries of Education to provide experiential education and training to Arab youth in work readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

The only organization in the MENA region that aims to equip students with practical business-related skills as part of the regular educational curriculum, INJAZ al-Arab programs offer students an unbroken chain of educational opportunities that will strengthen their innovation, deepen their understanding of the business world, and give them professional qualifications to enable their success in the global economy.

In parallel, it fosters among business leaders a responsibility for investing their resources in the future of the region's youth and becoming the mirrors they want to see in the world by mentoring and inspiring young people to rise to their true potential. Since its inception in 2004, INJAZ al-Arab programs have reached 500,000 students and engaged 10,000 volunteers.

A National Board of Directors leads each INJAZ country operation, with the INJAZ al-Arab Regional Board responsible for directing overall strategy and organizational governance. These bodies comprise the region's top business leaders who share a common ideal for the Arab youth.

INJAZ al-Arab is a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JA Worldwide).

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