Kick-off session at Qatar University.

Bedaya and Qatar Shell have jointly kicked off the Enterprise Challenge Qatar 2015 programme, aimed at training more than 1,000 students.
This year, the annual challenge, which is designed to encourage and inspire the entrepreneurial spirit among young people in Qatar, has expanded and aims to reach all universities across Qatar, according to a statement.
More than 100 volunteer mentors, who have been trained by Bedaya and Qatar Shell, will coach the student participants on ethical business and train them on how to navigate a computer-based business simulation ahead of the Grand Finals.  
A recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Qatar Centre for Voluntary Activities to enable more volunteer mentors to join the programme.
The Universities’ Grand Final will be held on November 28, where finalist teams will compete head-to-head for the Enterprise Challenge Qatar trophy.
Abdulaziz al-Khalifa, chairman of Bedaya and CEO of Qatar Development Bank, said: “We are extremely proud of the ongoing success of Enterprise Challenge Qatar, which has expanded this year to include all the universities in Qatar to participate in this programme.”
Michiel Kool, managing director and chairman of Qatar Shell Companies, said: “Now in its fourth year, Enterprise Challenge Qatar has engaged more than 1,200 students from 14 schools and nine universities across Qatar to encourage them to consider entrepreneurship careers in the future.”
The Enterprise Challenge Qatar programme has tiers for high school and university students and comprises two parts: the ethical business challenges - which test participants’ ability to balance the economic, environmental and social performance of their company; and the business simulation element - which familiarises students with business inception, trading, finance, sales, marketing and production.
The competition culminates in two Grand Finals that see both university and school teams compete online to achieve a winning score by displaying the best business skills.
This year, the Enterprise Challenge Qatar universities competition features a new element: business pitching of ethical and original business ideas. This business idea will be of benefit to their universities and generate revenue in an ethical and sustainable manner.
The universities participating this year include Qatar University, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Community College of Qatar, Stenden University Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar, College of the North Atlantic - Qatar, Georgetown University in Qatar, UCL Qatar, HBKU Academic Bridge Programme, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies.