The Exec-Ed Zone

Oxford Saïd Business School announced in January it was to run a series of exec-ed programs in India at the new hill station being built at Lavasa outside Pune following a link-up and sponsorship from the Lavasa developer. Today it has announced that it is to run its prestigious Advanced Management Programme (AMP) in Saudi Arabia with support from Rakisa Holdings the lead developer in PABMEC, the Prince Abdulaziz bin Mousaed Economic City, which is being built at Hail in north central Saudi Arabia.

When the development was first announced in summer of 2006 it made clear that Hail's location in the richest agricultural region of the Kingdom and at a nexus of transportation links would enable the new development to focus itself as a logistics hub for the country and thence the whole Middle East region. But no planner can resist the draw of educational institutions - probably quite rightly - and so educational excellence has also been built in to the blueprint:

"Covering an area of over 150 million square meters, the Prince AbdulAziz Bin Mousaed Economic City will incorporate a cluster-based development comprising: transportation, logistics and supply chain centers; educational services; agricultural and food processing services; mining and commerce services; housing; and infrastructure.

In the area of transportation, logistics and supply chain, an international airport is expected to capture 3 million passengers per year, while a railway station will cater for some 2 million passengers annually. Dry ports and operation centers will be capable of handling over 1.5 million tons of cargo annually.

The region will also benefit from a new international airport and a major expansion of the Kingdom's railway system, which will connect the main regions. In addition, major new highways are being constructed to link the Kingdom through Hail with Jordan, Iraq and also Madinah.

Furthermore, Hail's rich heritage, together with its wild beauty and moderate climate, make it a potential destination of choice for tourism. With over 260 historical and ancient sites, it is expected to attract over 700,000 visitors annually."

The chairman of Rakisa, Abdullah Al Rakhis, attended the Oxford AMP and was so impressed by it he asked if they would be happy to run a version in Saudi Arabia. SAGIA, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, has a remit to improve the managerial talent in the country and has supported the initiative.

The Oxford AMP usually runs for four weeks but the Rakisa version willhave two additional weeks that will focus on other functional and competitive areas in addition to the core program.

Gay Haskins, the Dean of Executive Education at Oxford Saïd, appears to have a knack of getting the school in on the ground floor of these large city developments.