Business school alliance will help educate firms

Chinese universities are forming a global alliance with influential business schools in Belt and Road economies.

The move will help in research and development, as well as educate and train the next generation of business professionals, technicians and creative talent.

"This alliance will help young talent globally, as well as a growing number of Chinese companies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative," said Jin Jiafei, secretary-general of the Alliance of Belt and Road Business Schools.

The project was rolled out last month under the leadership of a Chinese consortium of business schools from nine universities. They included the Harbin Institute of Technology, or HIT, Xiamen University and Beijing Jiaotong University.

Nearly 30 business schools from economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have joined the network so far.

They include the Audencia Business School in France, the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw in Poland, the Almaty Management University in Kazakhstan and the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

"By the end of next year, the number of members is expected to grow to more than 60," said Jin, who is also a professor at the HIT's School of Management.

A key element of the alliance will be to help "going-global" companies with a "localization strategy".

Firms often lack knowledge of the local business environment, investment policy and employment situation.

"To solve these problems, the common practice is to hire consulting firms, which usually charge high fees," Jin said. The alliance hopes to change that situation and help companies gain a strong foothold in new markets and projects without high costs.

"We aim to provide a convenience for firms who are setting foot on foreign markets," Jin said. "The alliance, or ABRBS in short, has set a goal to promote capacity cooperation, collaborate on projects and share innovative technologies among nations."

Sarwar Uddin Ahmed, a professor with the School of Business at the Independent University of Bangladesh, felt the network would accelerate investment.

The university is an alliance member and Ahmed said the network would broaden the talent pool, as well as build relationships with local potential partners and policymakers. It is a "win-win" for companies, consumers and destination economies at a most opportune time, he pointed out.

Qin Jiang, director of Jie Chuang Institute of High-Technology Service in Heilongjiang, was just as bullish about the project. The alliance would give companies easier access to the global market, he said.

"It will also be conducive to commercializing scientific research and help more tech startups get up and run," Qin added.