Business Development and Support Division

Governor Ige and the First Lady welcomed a visiting delegation from Beijing who are in town on a study mission to learn more about Hawaii’s educational institutions. This delegation is part of DBEDT’s effort to increase the number of Chinese students to study at Hawaii schools.

The delegation of fourteen includes a representative from EducationUSA, a U.S. Department of State network of over 400 international student advising centers in more than 170 countries.  The network promotes U.S. higher education to students around the world by offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about opportunities to study in the U.S.  Also part of the delegation is a representative from Sina Weibo, a microblogging giant in China, that promotes services such as Hawaii as an educational destination.

Others in the delegation include representatives from the Beijing Association for the Promotion of Sci-Tech Education (BAPSTE) that was created under the auspices of the Beijing Education Commission and Beijing Science & Technology Commission to improve the scientific qualifications of youth in Beijing and enhance international exchanges.  There is keen interest in building closer relations with education counterparts in Hawaii.

“This reverse trade mission from China, conducted in collaboration with Study Hawaii, a consortium of 20 educational programs, and co-sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and the Hawaii Island Visitor’s Bureau, connects strategic education contacts in Beijing with Hawaii’s schools,” said Dennis Ling, Administrator, Business Development & Support Division, of DBEDT.  “While the number of foreign students studying in the US has been growing dramatically, the growth in Hawaii has been stagnant.  It is DBEDT’s intent to reverse this trend through projects such as this.”