Under the patronage of Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism and the Minister in Charge of Bahrain Bourse and inn the presence of Rasheed Moh’d Al-Maraj, the CBB Governor, the final TradeQuest Awards Ceremony was held here today.
High private school students who took part in the TradeQuest Programme, organised by Bahrain Bourse, were honoured at the ceremony, attended by students and their families, senior representatives from sponsoring organisations, other invited guests, as well as the officials of the bourse.
Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani delivered a speech in which he emphasised the commitment of the Government of Bahrain to taking all required actions to prepare the youth to face the upcoming future challenges and turn them into opportunities for them and for their country. 
"A strategic decision has been taken to invest more in education and training in order to ensure sustainable growth rate that enhance the country’s competiveness" he said. 
The minister also assured the Government’s support to all programmes and initiatives that prepare well trained employees who are capable of meeting the demand of all the economy’s sectors.
He clarified that TradeQuest offers the participating students a unique experience that enables them to interact in a virtual environment similar to the real work environment with all realistic requirements. He also said that TradeQuest is one of the programms that give students the opportunity to learn the basic principles of portfolio management. 
The programme also inspired many students who participated in the previous years and encouraged them to occupy leading positions in many financial organizations.
Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa praised the patronage and presence of Industry Minister as well as the presence of Rasheed Al Maraaj to the TradeQuestAwardsCeremony which reflects the support that the program receives from the top officials of the Government. 
This support is considered an incentive for us to continue organising and improving this programme." he added. 
He also expressed his delight in the organisation of the programme that will complete its 20th anniversary next year and we at Bahrain Bourse are proud to adopt this programme. Shaikh Khalifa said that this year’s TradeQuest programme witnessed the official launch of its edition directed to the government secondary schools and allows more than 100 students to benefit from this program.
The CEO of Bahrain Bourse appreciated the support and commitment of the strategic partners and sponsors and their major role to make TradeQuest a successful programme.
Minister Al-Zayani presented Bahrain Bourse’s Trophy and reward of BD5,000 to Ibn Khuldoon National School, the first place winner, and a reward of BD3,000 to the St. Christopher’s School, the second place winner and BD2,000 to Abdulrahman Kanoo International School, the third place winner.
TradeQuest is a simulated business-education partnership program that focuses on investment trading in world financial markets, which operated for the first time in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1996 in cooperation with financial institutions and educational parties. 
The programme is geared to give high school students close-to-life experience in the stock markets, with focus on understanding the rules and regulations implemented in those stock markets, the analysis and selection of stocks, and portfolio management for equities listed on NYSE and BHB.
The TradeQuest 2016/2017 programme includes 8 school teams, and they are Abdul Rahman KanooInternational School, Bahrain School, Al-Hekma International School, Ibn Khuldoon National School, Naseem International School, Al Noor International School, St. Christopher's School and Al Wisam International School.
Several financial and banking institutions in Bahrain sponsored theTradeQuest programme and they are: Tamkeen,Mumtalakat,Economic Development Board, BBK, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, Securities & Investment Co. (SICO), United Gulf Bank,Gulf International Bank (GIB), GFH Financial Group, Al Salam Bank Bahrain and Solidarity.

Source: BNA