TOGETHER with Junior Achievement (JA) International, Federal Express Corp. (FedEx) — one of the world's largest express transportation companies — announced the winners of the 2024 FedEx/JA International Trade Challenge Asia-Pacific finals in Singapore.

This year's competition attracted over 4,500 students from 10 markets, including Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Sixty students gathered in Singapore for the Asia-Pacific finals and were tasked to create a market-entry strategy for a product that contributed to the circular economy with Turkey being the target market.

With growing discourse among consumers on how products affected the environment and what role corporations should play in shaping a sustainable future, the challenge was particularly relevant.

Students from different markets were paired into teams to foster cross-cultural understanding.

The student teams then pitched their ideas to a panel of judges, made up of Singapore's leading entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The first-place winners were Team CJ, consisting of Cheryl Lim Xin Yi from Singapore and Julia Jasmine Binti Jufri from Malaysia. They impressed the judges with their innovative idea of creating biofilm from seaweed.

The two runners up were Team Circuvate and Team ONE.

Team Circuvate, which included Wesley Ng Yu De from Singapore, developed bioplastic plates, funded entirely through advertisements for football stadiums.

Team ONE included Rysa Sumalinog from the Philippines and Clarisse Chee Qian Ying from Singapore. They proposed turning food waste into traditional Turkish carpets.