A group of senior high school students from Uruguay's interior regions pose with U.S. Ambassador Frank E. Baxter, Alianza Binational Center director Maria Blanco and DESEM/JA director Paola Rapetti during the opening of the "Virtual Enterprise" program in Montevideo, July 26, 2007.

The opening of a DESEM/Junior Achievement program aimed at senior high school students took place July 26 in Montevideo. “Empresas Virtuales” or Management & Economics Simulation Exercise is a computer simulated program in which different companies must compete in the production and marketing of a product. Each group of students, composed of three participants, must create a company, give it a name, and expose it to competition. The different companies must “elaborate” a revolutionary product that involves a technological advance.

The objective of the program is to introduce 17 year old students from the public sector to the competitive market and to expose them to making business related decisions. The program also aims at providing the participants with the opportunity to interpret and analyze financial reports of a company, put into practice economic and administration concepts and make strategic decisions based on a deep analysis of the information.

The best six teams will compete “face to face” in an event to be held at the U.S. Embassy Montevideo, followed by an Awards Ceremony. The winning team will participate in the 2008 “Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge” organized by The Jesse Helmes Center at Wingate University, North Carolina.

The program will reach 300 students throughout Uruguay. The competition will be between public high schools across the country through a web page specially designed for this game. (See Empresas Virtuales.)

A group of volunteers from the U.S. Embassy will work as assessors giving advice, guiding the participants and transmitting their knowledge and experiences of the business world.

 
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