China Trip 2005
The concept of NUS BINGO China Business Trip was initiated with an invitation for BINGO delegates to have lunch with Mr. Robert Kuok in Shangri La, Hong Kong. Mr Robert Kuok, is an NUS Alumni member, is the founder and owner of the noted multimillion dollar Kuok Group.Under the helm of Senior Executive Advisor of the Faculty of Engineering Technopreneurship Incubation Centre - Mr. Anderson Lim Ching Zhu, this meeting was subsequently bundled with an educational field trip which included visits to 12 Chinese universities and 13 companies covering 9 Chinese cities and territories over 18 days during December 2005. The places covered by this trip were: Hong Kong , Macau , Shenzhen, Guangzhou , Xiamen , Wenzhou , Shanghai , Suzhou and Nanjing . (In chronological order) The purpose of the trip was to allow 16 specially selected NUS BINGO student delegates to gain a deeper understanding of China as a place to conduct business activities. Through interaction with Chinese counterparts at different levels ranging from university students, to budding entrepreneurs to top CEOs, the China Business Trip allowed the delegates to benefit from the vast cumulative experience of their counterparts.To many of the delegates, the highlight of the trip must have been the chance to personally interact with Mr. Robert Kuok and listen to him share his wisdom, advice and experiences together with his youngest son and top executives of the Kuok Group. During which, Mr Kuok emphasized on business ethics as being one of the most important criterion of doing business, as well as the need to globalize whilst maintaining Singapore as our “spiritual home”.
NUS BINGO Delegates with Mr. Robert Kuok at Shangri La, Hong Kong
Objectives
1. Meet up with multi-billionaire and NUS alumnus, Mr Robert Kuok in his Hong Kong office for a formal dialogue and lunch session with him and top managers from the Kuok Group.
2. Understand the business operations in China by visiting factories and companies set up by NUS alumni or local entrepreneurs to understand more about the business operations such as marketing, manufacturing processes, channels for distribution, etc
3. Enable students to be better engage China and its booming economy. As China is expected to become one of the economic giants in the coming years, BINGO would like to take this opportunity to understand the market behaviours and the market demands in various parts of China.
4. Encourage students to cultivate interests in China. China has become one of the most popular spots for various business investments. Through this trip, BINGO would like to understand the dynamics of doing business in China by meeting local entrepreneurs to find out about the business opportunities that Singaporeans can have in China.
5. Establish networks with like-minded students in China for joint entrepreneurial activities. BINGO will be visiting universities like Fudan University and Shanghai Jiaotong University to establish ties with the students’ entrepreneur clubs for future collaboration.
6. Provide the opportunity for financially disadvantaged students to embark on this business trip to China. Many BINGO members have expressed great interests in this China trip. but are financially incapable to pay for the full amount. This problem was circumvented through generous sponsorships from NUS and Forever Living Products Singapore.
One of the most important objectives of the BINGO China Business Trip was to pave the way for future collaboration with Chinese universities in the area of promotion of entrepreneurship. BINGO is proud to annouce the signing of collaboration pacts with the following universites:
- - Southern China University of Technology’s ACDS
- - Nanjing University’s Firststep Club
- - Shenzhen University
(Association of Career Development for Students)
These collaboration pacts signals close collaboration in the following areas:
- - Sharing of software and network contacts
- - Organisation of joint events like international business plan compeitions and cross cultural and entrepreneural exchange camps.
- - Cross border internships with incubated companies in each incubation centre
Visits to Chinese universities saw the signing of pacts, paving the way for future collaboration of their business incubation centers with NUS’, enabling incubated companies within these centers to have access to a global network of contacts. These pacts also made possible any future collaboration on activities like seminars and residential programs featuring student exchange. On a lighter note, many meaningful friendships also blossomed between the delegates of the two countries during city tours, hearty meals at local restaurants as well as visits to places of interests in each city. Company visits also saw the adoption of several business leaders, including Mr Robert Kuok, as the Honorary Corporate Advisors of BINGO.
Overall, the NUS TIP BINGO China Business Trip has proven to be an unparallel success in terms of its achievements. It has bonded people, paved the way for future trips and provided the spark for future cross-border collaborations.
