Officials from Haas School of Business' new Asia Business Center signed agreements with two Asian universities last week, which will establish programs to improve understanding of business in Asia.

Haas partnered with the City University of Hong Kong and the National Taiwan University to allow UC Berkeley professors to teach in each university and business students from those schools to take classes at UC Berkeley.

The Asia Business Center was officially launched last Tuesday, said Ute Frey, the associate director of marketing and communications for the business school. The agreements with the Taiwan and Hong Kong universities were signed last Monday and Thursday respectively.

Teck-Hua Ho, director of the Asia Business Center, said he hopes the agreements will achieve a two-way current of business education and provide opportunities for international research collaboration.

"The key is to develop high-impact programs to train leaders about Asian businesses," Ho said.

For Ho, the Asia Business Center also represents a way for UC Berkeley to remain connected to its numerous Asian alumni while being active in economically booming Asian countries.

"Asian countries are eager to learn and eager to be global," Ho said. "In a way, this is a win-win situation for both countries."

A central part of the two agreements was the launching of the Berkeley Asian Fellows program, an exchange program sponsored by a gift from Taiwan-born U.S. citizen Stanley Wang. The fellows program will bring leaders from China, India, Japan and South Korea to the Haas school, Ho said.

One or two leaders in business, government or non-profit organizations will be selected to travel from each of those four countries to Berkeley for a three-month stay during which they will attend intensive leadership classes, Ho said.

"We are reaching out to a wide spectrum in Asia," Ho said. "The learning goes both ways-between Asian (leaders) and leaders in the U.S. and Europe."

Frey said the partnerships will focus on marketing, finance and entrepreneurship in the Asian countries.

"The main purpose is to strengthen our relationships with the strategic partners the school has in Asia," Frey said.

With this in mind, Ho said he hopes to eventually implement a joint-degree program between Haas and its partnered Asian universities.

Ho also anticipates a student-exchange program that would bring UC Berkeley business undergraduates to study in Asia and give students an opportunity to be exposed to business practices in Asia.

Officials said they hope the program will establish a stronger connection between the Haas School and Asian universities than has previously existed.

"Berkeley has not been active in Asia and now we want to do more," Ho said. "When you come over here (to Asia), you can see the excitement."

Tags: HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY