FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, together with Junior Achievement (JA), recently announced the six winners of the FedEx Express / Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge (FedEx / JA ITC) Malaysian Selections 2018. The winners will advance to the FedEx / JA ITC Regional Finals to be held in Singapore from August 12 to 16, 2018.

This year, ten teams were shortlisted to present their ideas for a food product to be sold in Japan. They were tasked to present their product’s unique value proposition, pricing strategies, marketing plans, market entry options, and sales and distribution channels. The students were also given the opportunity to experience being in a corporate setting, as they presented their business ideas to a distinguished panel of judges that included SC Chong, Managing Director of FedEx Express Malaysia; Christy Ng, Chief Executive Officer of ChristyNg.Com; Tan Lin Nah, Chief Operating Officer of INTI International University & Colleges and Kalai Ponniah, Assistant Vice President for Malaysia Operations of Upper Iowa University.

This year’s three winning teams are:

• Team Kooleme: Leong Yiq Zhenn and Poi Shie Xian from SMK Bandar Utama Damansara 3, reimagined the popular Japanese rice cake, mochis, into a healthy, high energy, high fibre alternative to power snacks and energy drinks, named “Monkey Wrench” which features bananas as the main ingredient for the filling.
• Team Unbeatable: Teng Zhen Fa and Lucius Khor Zhe Yi from SMK Seafield, developed a self-heating “Hot Box” for Chinese traditional tea rice. The reusable hotbox offers an eco-friendly, and portable way for commuters to re-heat food while the tea rice ingredients, inspired by Hakka Lei Cha, were specially chosen for benefits in reducing risk of stomach cancer.
• Team Oishi Fascination: Richelle Yucian Khor and Ng E-Shuen from SMK Seafield, developed an all-in-one instant (Bak Kut Teh) soup pack, “Kantan’na Niku”, complete with vegetables, meat and other side dishes for a complete balanced meal for 2-4 people in under 3 minutes.

The six winning students will represent Malaysia in a competition at the Regional Finals in Singapore from August 12 to 16, 2018 with 54 counterparts from nine other Asia Pacific markets, namely Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. These students were chosen for the thoroughness of their market research and market entry plans, as well as their creativity and entrepreneurial skills in presenting their ideas and in entering a new market. To further promote cross-border collaboration, finalists will not be competing in the same groups but will instead go through a random shuffle to form new teams consisting of participants from different countries.

“For 11 years, this program has seen over 5,000 Malaysian students share ideas that highlight a deep understanding of business and international trade. These students represent the future generation and we are proud to be able to nurture our future entrepreneurs. The regional finals in Singapore will be even more enriching for them,” said SC Chong, Managing Director, FedEx Express Malaysia.

“We are proud to be part of the FedEx / JA ITC program, it is not often that students have the opportunity to venture into the world of entrepreneurship and international business. As the judges mentioned, all students are already winners for making it this far. It is gratifying to know that their hard work and creativity shone through in their presentations and were able to have real-world experience in a corporate environment. I look forward to the Regional Finals to witness our Malaysian youths together with students across the Asia Pacific region,” said Ng Poh Choo, Teacher from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seafield who mentored the two winning teams.

Participating students were prepared for the challenge via a series of intensive workshops held earlier in April, where students were educated on the facets of entrepreneurship and international trade by a team of trainers. In addition, FedEx volunteers provided mentorship to the students by sharing their knowledge and real-life experiences as well as guiding them through the development of their product ideas and plans during the workshops.

Following the success of the 2 previous gala dinners held in Penang in conjunction with the U.S. Independence Day Gala Dinners in 2016 and 2017, the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) collaborated with its organising committees – First Solar, Jabil, Hotel Equatorial Penang, Plexus, Venessa Diamonds, SMART Modular Technologies,
Pentrac, Motorola and National Instruments to organised the gala dinner held on 5 July 2018 to celebrate America’s 242nd Independence Day.

The event was held at the Grand Ballroom with the gracious presence of Her Excellency Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, The U.S.
Ambassador to Malaysia and The Right Honourable Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow. About 500 distinguished was present to celebrate this auspicious day.

This event was organised with the support of the U.S. Embassy and the main objective for this gala dinner was to emphasize the strong bilateral relationship between Malaysia and the United States and to bring together the leading corporations in Malaysia to raise funds in supporting the needy in the local community. The charity organizations that was identified for the event are namely Penang Hospice Society, Kiwanis Club of Penang Central, Association Yee Ran Jing Sheh Handicapped Children’s Home and AMCHAM CSR Fund.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors and guests for making this event a success.

It’s a busy time under the MY AMCHAM CARES programme…

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): Upcoming Forum

While plans are still in the making, we are organizing a forum on the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), scheduled around 20 September 2018.

The aim of the forum is to initiate a dialogue with the United Nations and our AMCHAM members, with a focus on corporate involvement in achieving Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, through our on-going CSR initiatives.  The forum is intended to be a launching pad for action, as we all strategize our plans for 2019. We hope you will join us for this important dialogue session. Stay tuned for more details from the AMCHAM executive office.

Online CSR Survey:

The MY AMCHAM CARES online CSR survey is closed, as of 10 August 2018.  The response has been very positive and we would like to thank all the members who have completed the survey.  

Establishing the CSR Committee – efforts underway!

Establishing the CSR Committee represents another pioneering initiative of American companies in Malaysia.  Through the CSR Committee, AMCHAM members will be able to combine our individual achievements, network better, share our successes and overcome our challenges, based on the needs of our participating members.  

Ten years ago, only a handful of Fortune 500 companies issued a CSR or sustainability report. Now the majority of companies do.  If businesses want to stay relevant in this new era, we need to demonstrate strong commitments to CSR. The CSR Committee will help us to do this.

Sharing your CSR Stories

We want to hear from you. In our on-going effort to spread the good news about the excellent work many of you are doing, we hope your company will share with us your press releases and activities relating to CSR. A big thank you to member companies that have already started to share their CSR achievements.  We will be sharing these stories in The Pulse newsletter or on our website. Please email us your press releases, information, photos and social media links to [email protected]

We are sorry for the delay in getting Pulse to you this month but there has been a lot afoot.  AMCHAM is getting busier and busier and we hope, you as our members like some of the things we are doing as we see what resonates within the membership. The new Government has also made us much more active in our government relations areas as they seek to understand the nature of American business in Malaysia and how it supports the growth of the country at large. Your engagement from your various sectors, therefore, becomes even more important at this time. We want to hear from you.

Your business matters to us.  Please help us to help you.

While we are a small team and cannot handle everything but with your support we can do better. Please contact us if you are interested to see how you can help or if there are any issues you feel we should be putting some attention.

If you think you can help, even in a small way, please drop a line to our Public Affairs Manager, Lewis Walmesley-Browne:  [email protected]

I look forward to also seeing you at the upcoming Members Briefing this evening (August 16).  It has certainly been a busy summer s it will be great to catch up with everyone.