Strong performances by two of Hong Kong's universities in the latest executive MBA (EMBA) global rankings has shown that the city is offering some of the world's most respected courses, according to programme providers.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), which led Asia in the latest global EMBA surveys, welcomed the rankings, saying that such international recognition would help develop its relatively young programme.
CUHK's EMBA programme director Mun Kin-chok said he was delighted the university had joined the world's best with a ranking of 18 globally in the UK-based Financial Times (FT) survey and 33 in the US Business Week.
'Look at some of the prestigious business schools in the US and UK, they are behind us. It is very encouraging,' said Professor Mun. 'We already had a good image in the community and now they have given us such a ranking, we are happy about that.'
Northwestern (Kellogg) University of the US, which topped the Business Week survey earlier this month and was ranked sixth by the FT, runs its EMBA in Hong Kong in conjunction with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) School of Business and Management.
HKUST's acting dean, Chan Ka-keung, said the FT survey also revealed that the institution was attracting participants who were among the world's highest paid.
Participants in the EMBA programme this year earned an average annual salary of US$205,000 (HK$1.6 million) compared with highest ranking US establishment - the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton - whose students earned US$203,000, he said.