Trade foments need for top professionals
Hong Kong is well on its way to becoming an international wine hub thanks to the government's decision to abolish duty on wine in 2008. This has created a huge demand for professionals in the wine trade. It prompted the University of Hong Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU Space) to partner with the prestigious Bordeaux Management School (BeM) to introduce the Wine MBA programme.
The programme, which costs Euro19,500 (HK217,517), is the first of its kind in Asia-Pacific. It was initially introduced at BeM in 2001. It aims to equip wine managers with the management acumen, market insights and leadership skills necessary to handle the complexities of the wine trade.
Daniel Yan Ting-kwan, director of the programme, says: "To turn Hong Kong into a regional wine hub, waiving import duties of wine is not enough. The k