Help for enterprise culture

The Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth and Sports will be financially assisting Young Enterprise Malta (YEM) in its endeavours to spread an enterprise and innovation culture in Malta, Parliamentary Secretary Jesmond Mugliett said.

Touring the organisation's new premises at 36, Old Mill Street, Valletta, Mr Mugliett said the government had decided to assist Young Enterprise Malta financially in view of the ambitious projects the non-profit making organisation has in the pipeline.

The new premises have been made available for YEM after the secretariat relocated the Malta Council for Science and Technology to Villa Bighi in Kalkara.

Mr Mugliett also met members of Mixables, the Maltese team which won the most prestigious award available at the Young Enterprise European Final Competition - that of European Company of the Year, held last August in Paris, France.

Young Enterprise Malta currently organises the HSBC Company of the Year Competition, which is in its 15th year. The programme exposes 16 to 18-year-olds to the business world by assisting them to take part in a competition based on running their own company.

As in real life, the young first-year sixth form students set up their own company, come up with a product or service, manufacture it, market it and finally sell it to the public.

This year's programme began over the past weekend, when the participating students attended a three-day seminar at Hal Ferh complex in Ghajn Tuffieha.

This year there are 19 teams taking part in the HSBC Company Programme, with a total of 350 students.