SINGAPORE: The bilateral cooperation between China and Singapore has just gone up another notch, with the establishment of the first Business Process Outsourcing Management School in Jiangsu Province.

Supported by Singapore's PSB Academy and Wuxi College of Science and Technology, the school is expected to help China's skills development, to enhance its industrial standards. Housed in Wuxi's College of Science and Technology, the school is expected to start in the third quarter of 2008.

Singapore Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Lee Yi Shyan, said: "Wuxi is really very serious about training more people in the science and technology area to equip their people with the right skills to be suitable and relevant in the new industries that they attract."

China's Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is worth US$1.6 billion a year and is growing.

Jiang Qin Yu, Party Secretary, Wuxi Professional College of Science and Technology, said: "This co-operation between PSB will allow us to train professionals for the outsourcing industry and the various demands that it requires. It will hasten the development of China's business process outsourcing economy."

Dr. Steve Lai, Chief Executive Officer, PSB Academy, said: "We are looking at educating both fresh incoming students and have them graduate out as diploma holders and go into the industry. On the other side, we also have to educate people in the industry into specialist programmes."

At the inaugural meeting of the Singapore-Jiangsu co-operation council held in November 2007, the two sides have identified several areas for joint efforts. These include collaboration in education, training and development, and tourism.

And this cooperation between PSB Academy and Wuxi College of Science and Technology comes at a timely manner as the development of the BPO sector has been highlighted in Jiangsu's 11th five-year plan.

PSB Academy also said the BPO model is the first of many planned with its partners in China. - CNA/vm