CIBT Signs Agreement With ITT Education Services, Inc.
CIBT Canadian Institute of Business & Technology Corp. (CIBT), a subsidiary of Capital Alliance Group Inc. and a prominent business school providing corporate training and academic degree programs in Beijing, China, has entered into a licensing agreement with ITT Educational Services, Inc. and ESI Services Corp. (NYSE:ESI) (collectively, ITT), which provides CIBT the right to deliver ITT information technology courses on an exclusive basis in Beijing.
According to China’s state development plan committee, China’s information technology industry is expected to create 20 million jobs in the coming five years. China expects to invest approximately $121-billion (U.S.) over the next five years in its technology sector, which, over this period, is expected to double in size to $242-billion (U.S.) in revenue. A recent Lehman Brothers report indicated China’s entry into the World Trade Organization and opening of its service sector will increase foreign direct investment to $65-billion (U.S.) in 2003, from $47-billion (U.S.) last year.
“At a time when the Chinese government is committing sizeable resources and accelerating its drive to become a worldwide information technology leader and foreign companies are dramatically increasing investment in China, the introduction of ITT courses will fill the corresponding urgent and rapidly growing need for training solutions,” said Toby Chu, CIBT president and chief executive officer. “This agreement expands the exposure of CIBT to a much broader segment of the marketplace and reaffirms our strategy of forging partnerships with recognized and established international education companies. Additionally, our partnership with ITT brings programs into China that fulfill the needs of employers and assist Chinese students pursuing jobs at international companies in China.”
Under the terms of the agreement, CIBT will offer a variety of information technology, software and hardware engineering, software development, and e-commerce related courses in Beijing to employees of foreign and Chinese corporations and individual students. Diploma-level information technology programs offered by CIBT will be accredited and recognized by the Chinese government, as compared with unaccredited technology certificate programs offered by most Chinese competitors. An additional benefit to Chinese students is the ability to transfer their course credits earned in China toward requirements of associate and bachelor degree programs offered by the ITT Technical Institutes in the United States or migrate credits to CIBT’s existing undergraduate and graduate programs in Beijing. To accommodate anticipated demand for ITT courses, CIBT plans to expand its facilities in Beijing from 30,000 to about 70,000 square feet.
“We are very pleased to enter into a relationship with CIBT to provide information technology programs of study to students in China,” said Rene R. Champagne, chairman and chief executive officer of ITT. “A very significant number of students need to be educated and trained in information technology to meet the burgeoning employment demands in China. We believe our curricula are well designed to assist students develop the knowledge and skill sets required for a career in the information technology sector.”
“Clearly, our experience and established presence in the Chinese market combined with ITT’s industry-recognized curricula in North America positions CIBT to meet the need in China for practical, competitively-priced and market-driven information technology programs not presently provided by existing Chinese academic programs,” said Charles Chen, CIBT school of business president.
About ITT Educational Services
ITT Educational Services, Inc. (ESI) is a leading provider of technology-oriented postsecondary degree programs. Currently, ESI operates 70 ITT Technical Institutes in 28 states, which predominantly provide career-focused degree programs of study in fields of technology to more than 31,000 students. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., ESI has been actively involved in the higher education community in the United States since 1969. The ITT Technical Institutes have graduated approximately 150,000 students, including 80,000 in the last decade. ESI shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ESI. For more information, visit the ESI Web site at www.ittesi.com or the ITT Technical Institute Web site at www.itt-tech.edu.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of CIBT.
Toby Chu
President and C.E.O
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