There is no need to go abroad to grab a top business school degree as Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is coming to Dubai. This will be for the first-time ever that India's top-ranked management school will be having an extension centre outside India, Errol D'Souza, director of IIM-A, said in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
IIM-A and BRS Ventures of the UAE on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard. According to the MoU, IIM-A will provide academic and training expertise while BRS Ventures will offer support including infrastructure, industry links and logistics.
The centre will have executive education programmes that are relevant to the region and will include both open learning and customised training programmes. "We do things outside India but this is the first time we are doing it in partnership and doing an extension of our centre," D'Souza told Khaleej Times after the signing ceremony held at Indian embassy.
"For an institute with a global footprint of alumni, it is important to have a physical presence beyond the national borders."
The director said Dubai is among the fastest growing regions in the world. "We picked Dubai as this is a gateway to the Mena region. We identified these regions foreseeing growth even in the next decade," he said.
Will there be further push into other regions? "Not yet. We are taking one step at a time," D'Souza noted.
The programmes being offered will be a two-phase process. Initially, there will be executive education and public policy programmes on offer. Once IIM-A establishes its presence in the region and gets a good feedback, it will start long duration programme.
"These programmes will be globally relevant to ensure the cohort being trained is not restricted to any region and the learning environment is in an international cultural setting."
More programmes being offered at the centre will solely depend on the success of the first phase. "We will energise business in the region through the initial programme offerings and understand the student body composition here before moving further," he added.
D'Souza said BRS Ventures has a deep understanding of the region. "This will help IIM-A in implementing the planned activities and programmes successfully."
BRS Ventures vice chairman and CEO Binay R. Shetty said the centre will commence operations in June this year. "We are confident this will be successful and beneficial for students," he said.
Meanwhile, BRS Ventures chairman Dr BR Shetty said IIM-A is a jewel of India. "This centre will benefit the UAE and Mena regions' economies, public policies, executive skills and industry overall. Later, when longer duration programmes are launched, the graduating students will be entitled for preferred employment at our own diversified businesses, while they will always remain of great interest to other government and non-government businesses in the UAE and internationally," Shetty said.
