Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The British Council together with the London Metropolitan University (UK), with the support of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education in Uzbekistan held the largest video pitching competition Creative Spark Big Idea Challenge in 2020.

The competition provides thousands of young people (ages 18 to 35) with the opportunity to develop their own business ideas and entrepreneurial skills. The platform is also helping young entrepreneurs build their credibility and improve career prospects, while youth employment is becoming an increasingly serious challenge and the COVID-19 pandemic has affected economies around the world.

So, according to the results of the competition, the winner of Uzbekistan was the project "Nutcrackers", presented by the students of the Tashkent State Economic University. The idea of the project is to help children with diabetes to consume sweets that are not harmful to their health.

The winner in the Creative Category nomination was the students of the Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry with the Antivirus Brooches project, which provide protection against viruses through decorative fashion accessories.

The winner in the digital category is the "Step Towards Nature" project from the Tashkent University of Information Technologies with the idea of transforming cars with a standard engine into electric vehicles.

And finally, the winner in the social category was also the above-mentioned project "Nutcrackers".

The winners were selected by a jury of national and international judges with experience in corporate education and creative entrepreneurship. In addition, the public also had the opportunity to evaluate the work and determine its winner. This year, more than 50,000 people voted for an idea they liked. According to the results of public voting, the project "Safe baking" of the Tashkent Institute of Textile and Light Industry receives the audience's sympathy prize. The project is aimed at preparing baked goods for people with special dietary restrictions.

The competition was held in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan from 2 March to 19 July 2020. The shortlist included about 500 new business ideas, supported by 110 higher education institutions and creative organizations. Young entrepreneurs competed in three categories: digital technology, social impact, and creative ideas. In response to Covid-19, the British Council presented an additional part of the competition - “Innovation Prize in Response to the Pandemic”.

Richard Everitt, Regional Director of Education Programs at the British Council, commented:

“There has never been such a great demand for innovative business ideas to help stimulate economies around the world and cope with the youth employment challenge today. At the British Council, we are delighted to support students, alumni and entrepreneurs who can make a huge difference to our world. More than one fifth of the proposals were those related to COVID-19, we are pleased to provide funding to the winners to support the start of new businesses and help them fulfill their dreams.”