It's called "Partners in Development" and it's a memorandum of understanding between the University of Belize and the Belize Business Bureau. This morning at a ceremony held at the Faculty of Business, the alliance between the private sector and our national university was finally solidified after two years of working at it. It's a union that is based on reciprocity -where both parties will help in the development and enhancement of each other while working together to expand the growth and function of our country's business sector. Dr. Angel Cal, President of UB and Mrs. Lourdes Smith, President of the Belize Business Bureau told us how significant this partnership is.
Dr. Angel Cal
The partnership will be an on-going, growing partnership. So it will start probably with those areas in which we have the most immediate mutual interests. And this includes research and demand, and this will also look at areas in which our students need to have very good hands-on practical experiences in the private sector. Each student from the Faculty of Business is required to do a thorough internship as a requirement for graduation. This will ensure that there is proper linkage, that there is hands-on experience, even before the graduate goes out to work. That is a tangible area, we have to strengthen that area and make it better. The other area is that of research. We have a whole team of faculty who are specialists in their field who can take on and help improve certain areas in which our private sector needs help.
Mrs. Lourdes Smith
We're hoping that this can develop long-term into whereby we can develop incubation component of the program where we can assist small and medium businesses to grow and to develop using mentoring and consultances so that there is like a division where you can have a building where people can come in and utilize the services available there to the development of the small business sector.
Indira Craig
Could you tell me what are some of those benefits from the business sector that you are hoping will materialize as a result of this alliance?
Mrs. Lourdes Smith
One of the major things would be consultancies, technical assistance, consultancies that the business community can, or members, will be able to benefit from students who are doing the business programs. They have to do a business plan as a project or a marketing plan as a project, they do it on something that is actual and real, right. The students, they don't charge a fee, so, the small business house gets that done at no cost. The technical assistance that can be obtained is for research from the faculty of UB and we would be working out an arrangement of what the fees would be. But it would always, it always works out less than if your own business had its research and development unit, right. So you are working through the university, which gets to make some money, you get to pay less than what it would cost if you had to put in your own research scientists in your business.
A working plan to enact the memorandum has already been established.