The Global Management Challenge continues its international expansion and this time reached one more country in the Middle East.
Lebanon is the latest nation to join the network of countries to participate in this Portuguese strategy and management competition, created 37 years ago by Expresso and SDG. The first Lebanese edition is expected to start next year.
“The opportunity to hold the Global Management Challenge in Lebanon arose due to the interest of our Kuwait and Qatar partner in expanding into this country. The success achieved in the last two destinations motivated our partner to extend the area of intervention”, says João Matoso Henriques, CEO of SDG. In this new destination the competition will be organized by the Adnar Group, who, together with the international organization, will try to go ahead with staging the first edition this year, or at the latest in early 2017.
In recent years, the global expansion of this initiative has focused mainly on the African continent and the Middle East. “In the current economic environment the focus on the Middle East is an inescapable reality”, said João Matoso Henriques. And the Global Management Challenge is no exception, taking into account the success that this Portuguese initiative has already achieved in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. It is in this last country that the next international final will be held, referring to the 2016 edition, which is scheduled for April 2017 in the city of Doha.
Iran and now Lebanon complete the list of Middle Eastern countries that have adopted this simulator.
The CEO of SDG also stated, “the intention is to continue to invest in this geography and grow in a sustainable way here”.
Present in more than 30 countries
In the summer of 1979 this competition was released in Portugal, the following year the first edition was held with the participation of about 100 teams.
A year later, in 1981, the process of internationalization began with the entry into Brazil.
Then a number of European countries came on board, followed in 1995 by China and then in 1996 by Hong Kong and Macau. The simulator’s arrival in Asia earned it great credibility and boosted its global expansion. In the year 2000 the competition arrived in Poland. This opened the door to the East European market, and today there are several countries from this region that are also part of the competition. Among them is Russia, which entered around three thousand teams in one single edition.
Today there are more than 30 countries where the Global Management Challenge is present. “Our strategic vision has a lot to do with our focus on the international area and much of our time is dedicated to business and international partners”, says João Matoso Henriques. The intention is to continue to grow, in and out of Portugal, and the organization is currently studying entry into more countries.
In Expresso, 18 June, 2016
Journalist: Maribela Freitas
