The Smart Investor Program, organized by Bahrain Bourse in collaboration with INJAZ Bahrain, was concluded at Bahrain Bourse’s premises with the attendance of the Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Bourse and Her Highness Shaikha Hessa Bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairperson of INJAZ Bahrain alongside INJAZ Bahrain officials, Mrs. Latifa Bunudha, Assistant Undersecretary for Education and Ms. Lulwa Al Muhana, Director of Directorate of Licensing and Follow up of Private Schools at the Ministry of Education, school coordinators and students.
This year’s edition of the Smart Investor program included a national competition for Smart Investor Program’s participants to spark engagement and inspire students to participate utilizing their learnings during the program. The competition included a 3-phase winner selection process to select three winning teams out of more than 34 teams. The first phase included short-video clips submission demonstrating a number of concepts learned during the program. The second phase of the winner-selection process included interactive activities with a focus on Bahrain Bourse and stock market concepts. The selection process was concluded by presentations conducted by the program’s participants on topics related to financial planning.
The three finalists were Modern Knowledge School winning first place, Mariam Bint Omran Primary Girls School Second place and Al Hekma International School Third Place. Winners of the “Best Video” from stage 1 from the Smart Investor National Competition are A’ali Primary Boys Schools, Al Farabi Primary Boys School and Al Mustaqbal Primary Girls School.
On this occasion, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Bourse, commented: “At Bahrain Bourse, we take pride in supporting this initiative to raise awareness on the vital role that stock exchanges play in building the milestones of financial literacy and stability for students at a young age. By enabling students to develop their understanding of financial markets, exchanges can play a vital role to promote financial education and investor protection in the long term future.”
“Bahrain Bourse offers a board range of financial literacy and awareness programs for a wide range of target groups, beginning at elementary school with the Smart Investor program in collaboration with INJAZ Bahrain, in addition to TradeQuest program and the Investment Academy in collaboration with the BIBF as well as other awareness events including ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ and ‘Global Money Week’. Those programs form part of our coordinated efforts as an exchange to embed financial literacy concepts, with more than 6800 participants of our various awareness programs in 2021.”
Commenting on the successful implementation of the program and its reach among students, HH Shaikha Hessa Bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairperson of INJAZ Bahrain said: “In line with our mission to support the next generation of Bahrain’s business leaders, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, resources and opportunities to excel as future captains of industry, INJAZ Bahrain is proud to partner with Bahrain Bourse to bring this crucial program forward. With the success of the program’s execution as well as its reach, many students have found an impactful value-driven opportunity to learn real-world scenarios, increase their entrepreneurial mindset, and financial literacy with the guidance of experts in the field.”
The Smart Investor challenge inspires a competitive spirit, and supports the Kingdom’s youth to gain a better understanding of the program’s concepts along with engaging key partners and stakeholders. The program reflects Bahrain Bourse’s strategic efforts to enhance investment awareness providing a combination of financial awareness, knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviors necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve financial well-being across various age groups within the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Smart Investor program is a national awareness program that was launched in 2018 in collaboration with INJAZ Bahrain. The program equips young students with basic concepts related to money management, savings and smart financial planning through interactive edutainment activities in order to assist them in making sound financial decisions.
The Smart Investor program for the academic year 2021-2022 was conducted both physically and virtually with the participation of around 7,000 students.
Bahrain Bourse and INJAZ Bahrain extend their gratitude particularly to the Ministry of Education for their support to ensure the successful implementation of the Smart Investor program as well as the following institutions who have sponsored the ‘Smart Investor’ program for the academic year 2021-2022 with the aim of spreading financial knowledge across the youth: Gold Sponsor: Ahli United Bank. Silver sponsors: Bank ABC and Ithmaar Holding.
