BSwiss International Business Summer School 2019
Switzerland regularly tops the global rankings for competitiveness and innovation. What are the factors contributing to this international economic success?
Every year, the BSwiss International Business Summer School brings together young people from all around the world who want to gain insights into Swiss business practices and to learn how Swiss strategies can be applied in an international business environment. Apart from competitiveness and innovation, the Summer School also highlights the role of immigration in the economy. As a small country, Switzerland is dependent on the free flow of trade, knowledge, and people, which can lead to a need to negotiate between the expectations of the economic players and the political stakeholders.
The two-week programme includes lectures, classes, and group work as well as company visits, where the students can experience Swiss business and innovation culture first-hand. Besides this, a cultural programme also give them the chance to explore Switzerland and get to know urban hot spots as well as the beauty of the landscape.
This year, 31 participants from eleven countries, including the Netherlands, South Korea, and Mexico, among others, came to Basel to attend the programme. One of the students who came a long way for the BSwiss Summer School is Rose. Originally from Vietnam, she now lives in the USA where she studies for her degree in International Business at the California State University. “In the future, I want to start my own business and operate internationally. That’s why I always look for opportunities to learn about how business is done in different parts of the world” she says to express her motivation for joining the Summer School.
As an avid traveller, Rose sees the BSwiss Summer School as a way to not only further her knowledge about successful business practices in an international environment, but also to experience a new culture and make new friends. Being used to the vast distances in the US, she was thrilled to learn that from Basel, she could reach France and Germany within minutes. Another example of how distinctively international the Swiss experience can be.