São Paulo – A group of 11 Business Administration, Engineering, Economics and Foreign Relations Students from Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation (Faap), from São Paulo, are going to leave on Friday (10) for a student mission to the United Arab Emirates. The objective of the trip is to prepare the students for future trips they may take as professionals.
Accompanied by professors, the college students are going to visit Brazilian companies installed in the country, like Odebrecht, Perdigão and Marcopolo, and the Arab Dubal, a producer of aluminium, Damac Holding, a real estate organisation, and Masdar, which is responsible for the project of a city with zero carbon emissions. "We are not travelling on holiday. We will require serious behaviour and engagement from all students throughout the mission, which should take seven days," stated Luiz Alberto Machado, deputy head of the School of Economics, in a statement disclosed by FAAP.
Apart from the companies, the students should also visit government institutions, learn about the local infrastructure, the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is the capital, Jebel Ali Free Zone and Dubai Business Centre, run by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
As preparation for the mission, the students underwent training in September. They also did an English test, studied the Arab country and learnt about the different habits, customs and culture.
According to Machado, selection of the students was through their curriculums and a letter of intention. The entrepreneurial profile of the student was also analysed, taking into consideration that the program is similar to that of a trade or diplomatic mission. The evaluation of the results of the mission will be in the hands of the professors accompanying the group. Daily reports by the students should be published in a blog on the FAAP portal (www.faap.br).
United States
On the same day the group is leaving to Dubai, another group of 14 students in the same courses should leave on a mission to New York, with the same objective. In the United States, the students are going to visit the New York Stock Exchange, the Council of the Americas and Columbia and Washington Universities. They are also going to visit the United Nations (UN), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and several other institutions and companies.
*Translated by Mark Ament
