The four-day Global Business Conference 2011 led by undergraduate students from the HKUST Business School's BBA in Global Business program successfully concluded today (30 September) with a closing ceremony officiated by honorable guest Dr. William Fung Kwok Lun, Executive Deputy Chairman of Li & Fung Limited, who congratulated the students on the success of the Conference and shared with delegates his achievements and leadership insights as an internationally recognised entrepreneur.
Echoing the Conference's theme of "Emerging Markets' Opportunities", Dr. Fung's keynote speech highlighted how young business leaders can best equip themselves for capturing opportunities in China and the emerging markets in a new era after the financial tsunami.
Dr. Fung's remarks marked the final note of a Conference that celebrated HKUST's 20th anniversary and the Global Business program's 10th anniversary. The event attracted around 100 top undergraduate students from 30 universities located in 17 countries, who made use of the dynamic platform to discuss global business issues and broaden their international perspectives.
Over the past three days, the delegates participated in academic panel discussions on sustainability and RMB offshore market, and joined seminars and workshops on leadership, entrepreneurship, community investments and career management. They also visited companies including the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Cathay Pacific Airways and Bloomberg to learn from corporate leaders. A cultural night and city hunt offered cultural exchange opportunities to the international delegates. The Conference activities were strongly supported by faculty members of the HKUST Business School and many invited honorable speakers, panelists and guests.
International delegate Kana Hashimoto from Japan Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, said, "The content-rich Conference is a truly inspirational experience. Through the keynote speeches and interactions with speakers, I learnt much about the opportunities in the emerging markets as a student. The firm visits allowed me to have a better idea about the differences in working culture between Hong Kong companies and those in my home country. The Conference also served as a good chance for me to make friends from all over the world."
Teresa Chan, student representative of the Global Business Conference Organizing Committee and Year 3 student of the BBA in Global Business program, shared her experience in organizing this large-scale, student-led event. She said, "The preparation and implementation work of the Conference undoubtedly offered a precious opportunity to apply what we learnt from the Global Business courses. A key challenge was that members of the Organizing Committee were physically located in different parts of the world since some of us were attending overseas exchange or internship during much of the preparation phase. This required us to skillfully maintain very close communications. It was excellent training on effective ways to keep a strong global connection."
Learn more about the Global Business Conference 2011 at: https://archives.ust.hk/dspace/bitstream/9999/37787/1/pao-03b-b488.pdf
