Our client was a leading university with a strong focus on attracting international students
In discussions with several Thai universities and technical institutes, we realized there was a strong business opportunity for our client to not only attract students for graduate and post-graduate studies but also for them to “export” some of their educational expertise.
We worked extensively with a shortlist of Thai educators as our underlying concern was to find a strong match. It can be easy in the educational space for Asian partners to be enthusiastic but this not translating to student movements. It’s almost a trophy mentality. They have an MOU with a Western institution but that’s where it ends.
Once we had identified a strong match, we then gained a commitment from our client to make a personal visit to Thailand. This is a vital part of establishing business relationships in Asia – personal introductions including conversations about family and business.
Only then did we introduce the two parties along with tentative dates for an initial meeting in Thailand.
The meeting in Bangkok was attended by our client’s Vice Chancellor, as well as senior staff from their international department. Their country Ambassador also attended as this developing relationship was recognised as strategically important at a country level.
An action plan was scoped out the following week and we then stepped back to allow the parties to close business.