Dubai hosts GCC executive education program next month
KUWAIT: Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Governor and Institute of Banking Studies (IBS) Chairman Mohammad Yousef Al-Hashel said yesterday that the ninth version of executive education program for banking and finance executives in the GCC region, and from other Middle Eastern countries, will be held in Dubai on January 27. The six-day program will be co-organized by the IBS and Harvard Business School for the Ninth year in a row, he said in a press release. As one of the strategic developmental projects organized by the IBS, the program aims to upgrade the skills of the Kuwait and GCC national workforce, of which executives comprise the key component, he said.
The program was conducted for the first time in 2010 as an exclusive event for the Central Bank of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti banks. After the tremendous success of that first program and with the Harvard Business School showing interest in taking the program to the GCC level, the program continued to be run on an annual basis since then, alternately in one of the GCC states, he elaborated. Communication with Harvard Business School started in 2009 to organize the school’s first custom program in the GCC region, he said, noting that the Harvard Business School is very selective in conducting custom programs, especially those beyond its campus in Boston, Massachusetts. The Governor explained that the title of the forthcoming 2018 program is ‘Leading Strategy Execution in Financial Services,’ and it consists of two integrated themes: ‘Strategic Management’ and ‘Leadership’ and will be held for six consecutive days from January 27 to February 1, 2018.
Executive education programs held by Harvard Business School in the GCC region adhere to the School’s high standards thus ensuring that participants and their banks and organizations will be provided with the same quality of learning experience for which the school is so well known, Hashel pointed out.
At the end of the program, participants will receive a Harvard Business School certificate, verifying that they have completed the program. The worldfamous Harvard Business School case studies will be the main learning tool in the program; these case studies are written by the school’s faculty and are used in numerous universities and executive development centers, he added. Development of the talented and qualified nationals in the Central Bank of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti banks will remain a top strategic priority considering the role of executives in developing their organizations, he stressed. Collaboration amongst the GCC countries in areas of common interest such as training and development has always been and will remain an item of top priority, he concluded. —KUNA