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MBA fair sees huge potential in Dubai

This is the first time that the 10th World MBA Tour is being held in Dubai, where 32 schools from UK, Europe, India and Singapore were present to meet professionals and judge the suitability of the candidates, provide information on courses, costs and post-qualification recruitment.

"This is the first World MBA Tour in the Middle East, and we are very happy with the turnout of the Dubai MBA Fair 2003. This is a very positive sign that there is a huge MBA recruitment market in Dubai and the UAE," Biren Patel, account manager of topcareers.net and coordinator of the event, told Khaleej Times.

"We are conducting the tour in Dubai in response to the expressed demand of the world's leading business schools who are interested to recruit more professionals from Dubai. We will definitely hold another World MBA tour in Dubai next year," Mr Patel said.

Hanna Khan, in-charge of Asia Pacific and Middle East for World MBA Tour 2003, said that 300 top business schools are part of the 10th World MBA Tour at 40 key cities around the world.

Chris Brady, associate dean at the Cass Business School of London, said that it offers two executive MBA programmes in London and Shanghai. "We are interested in offering an executive MBA programme in Dubai which is similar to that of Shanghai where the course is conducted for four days a month. We want to negotiate with the Dubai government and certain banks. Negotiations are in the early stages with HSBC, and I am optimistic that within two years, we will have an MBA programme in Dubai," he said.

Vinoo Urs, director of Indian School of Business for Admissions and Financial Aid, said that the school, based in Hyderabad, offers a one-year residential MBA programme. "We are affiliated with the Kellogg Wharton and London Business School. We have decided to come here as we get a lot of expatriates from India. We see Dubai as a good market. The marketing here is focused as well as cost-effective," he said.

Dr Theodore Panayotou, Director of Cyprus International Institute of Management, said that the school offers a one-year residence MBA programme with 19 full credit courses. "Our faculty are from Harvard, Standford, London Business School, Cambridge and The Wharton School, among others. "We believe that this region is a sleeping giant which will become an engine of growth and Dubai is leading the way."

Cynthia Zoubir, Director, European Admissions and Student Services at American Graduate School of International Management-Thunderbird, said: "We offer a full-time MBA programme in two campuses which are located in Arizona and in Archamps, France. It is a one-year programme spread over 12-16 months. A small percentage of our students are from the Middle East, and we would like to see an increase this year. We definitely see a high growth of potential in Dubai and the Middle East."

The business schools that had participated in the Dubai MBA Fair include Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Cyprus International, INSEAD France and Singapore, GISMA-German International Graduate School of Management and Administration, HFB-Business School for Finance and Management, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, National Health Career School of Management, Indian School of Business, MIP-Politecnico de Milano, Nanyang Business School, NTU Singapore, Universitas 21 Global, IE-Instituto de Empresa Madrid, IESE Business School, Ashridge Business School, Cass Business School, Henley Management College, Imperial College Management School, Judge Institute of Management-Cambridge University, Manchester Business School, Oxford Brookes Business School, University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, University of Wales, University of Westminster, London Westminster and Harrow Business Schools, Warwick Business School, American Graduate School of International Management-Thunderbird, The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, The Wharton School-University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan Business School.

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