Bulletin Spring 1990

CUHK aspires to become an international centre for training and consultancy projects The United Nations Fellows Training Programme on Economic informationSystemManagement A United Nations Fellows Training Programme on Economic Information System Management was launched at the University on 2nd January 1990. SPONSORS The first project of its kind carried out in Hong Kong by the United Nations, this training programme is technically supported by the United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development, cosponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund, and implemented by The Chinese University. Dr. Wong Pui-Yee of the Centre for Contemporary Asian Studies is the programme director, and Dr. Victor Mok of the Department o f Economics the associate director. TRAINEES The programme provides a six-month period of intensive course work and practical training to 19 Fellows who are currently technical and managerial staff members of the China State Economic Information System (CSEIS). The Fellows are aged between 24 and 51. All are college graduates with some years of working experience and most have formal training in the scientific and technical fields. They come from various parts of China, including Beijing, Wuhan, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Guizhou and Xinjiang. They arrived in Hong Kong on 28th December 1989 and began their training in January 1990. PROJECT BACKGROUND Consisting of ten model economic information centres with branches all over China at provincial, municipal and county levels, CSEIS was established in 1986 and is being coordinated by the State Economic Information Centre in Beijing which is directly under China's State Planning Commission. These centres serve to collect economic data and make analyses and forecasts. On a previous occasion, and with financial support from UNDP, CSEIS sent out Fellows to receive technical training in the Slates. However, due to language problems and the fact that the overall design of the training programme and the teaching methods were not particularly geared to suit the situation in China, the project failed to satisfy either party. At the end of 1988, The Chinese University was approached for assistance. It was believed that the University, with its excellent campus, teaching facilities ， and a team of Putonghua-speaking professionals who had better understanding of mainland China ， was an ideal place to implement the programme. After a lot of discussion and negotiation in New York and Beijing, the Office of Industrial and Business Development (OIBD) of the University finally accepted the invitation to organize the programme in Hong Kong. Since the funding from UNDP could support only 11 Fellows, the University had to seek further sponsorship to make ends meet. Mr. William Mong, chairman of Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund, kindly agreed to sponsor eight more Fellows, and the total income was then sufficient to offset the training costs involved. PROGRAMME CONTENT The training programme consists of 14 intensive courses in management of information systems, office automation, systems networking, information system TRAINING & CONSULTANCY 16