Six Philippine students advance to FedEx/JA trade finals in Singapore
Six secondary school students from three Philippine schools will represent the country at the Asia-Pacific regional finals of the 2026 FedEx / Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge in Singapore this August. The teams developed market entry strategies for AI-powered warehouse drones target
Six secondary school students across three teams have been selected to represent the Philippines at the Asia-Pacific regional finals of the 2026 FedEx / Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge (FedEx / JA ITC) in Singapore this August.
Now in its 17th year in the country, the programme — co-organised by Federal Express Corp. (FedEx) and nonprofit organisation JA Philippines — aims to foster global business acumen among high school students through practical trade workshops and case competitions. This year's brief required participants to develop a Market Entry Strategy Plan (MESP) for artificial intelligence-powered warehouse drones to improve inventory accuracy and fulfilment efficiency in Vietnam's logistics and e-commerce markets.
Representing Mandaue City Comprehensive National High School, students Matthew John A. Hife and Lorente Jr. Berden presented ArkSight, an autonomous inventory drone that integrates computer vision, UHF RFID, and cloud analytics. Operating under a Drone-as-a-Service model tailored for Vietnam's SME-dominated logistics sector, the solution targets mid-sized e-commerce and third-party logistics (3PL) warehouses, projecting US$244,000 in first-year revenue with operational break-even expected by Month 8.
From the University of San Jose-Recoletos, Minette H. Cabaluna and Jim Niño C. Gonzales of Team The Visionary pitched Chuôn Chuôn, a subscription-based inventory automation platform featuring autonomous drones, wireless charging docks, and Chuôn2Bot, a Vietnamese-language conversational AI assistant. Designed to address labour shortages and audit inefficiencies in Vietnam's expanding 3PL e-commerce hubs, the strategy targets 10 enterprise clients in its initial year, with projected revenues of US$81,075 (approximately VND 2.1 billion).
Completing the Philippine delegation, Mico Alfonso Aviñante Nolledo and Nathan Trono Dy Pico of Team TeamMate from Everest International Academy developed Altius AI, an autonomous drone platform engineered specifically for cold-chain facilities in Ho Chi Minh City. The system combines inventory scanning, LiDAR mapping, and warehouse management system integration with environmental monitoring sensors to track temperature fluctuations and humidity risks in low-temperature storage environments.
“The future of innovation depends on giving young people the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and think big,” said Maribeth Espinosa, managing director of FedEx Philippines. At the regional finals, the Philippine delegation will collaborate and compete alongside students from across Asia-Pacific, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Since 2009, the FedEx / JA ITC programme has reached more than 12,000 students in the Philippines. Filipino students have delivered strong performances, including a first-place finish in 2020 and 2021, and second place in 2021, 2024, and 2025.
