GDP growth in Asia was 8.6% in 2010 (8.8% in the Emerging East Asia region consisting of the 10 ASEAN member countries, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taipei) according to a forecast by the Asian Development Bank. While every country in Asia is actively striving to create future business leaders backed by the booming economy, business schools are taking on an increasingly important role. Despite the controversy surrounding the role that some say Western business schools may have played in the collapse of Lehman, business schools in the U.S. and Europe have been enjoying popularity and enrolling more students from Asia, with the exception of Japan. Asian business schools continue to follow the Western style of business education.

An open symposium on "Asian Business and Human Resource Development" was held on March 6th as part of the Program for a Strategic University Alliance Targeted at Improvements in Higher Education. Deans from MSU Business School (Malaysia), Brawijaya University Business School (Indonesia), the S P Jain Center of Management (Singapore), and Bharathiear University Business School (India) representing business schools in "booming" Asia and professors from Aoyama Gakuin University and Kwansei Gakuin Univeristy representing Japanese business schools participated and discussed issues under the theme "Asian Business and Human Resource Development". Led by Professor David Methé of our university, we had a lively exchange of opinions from multiple viewpoints about Asian business, future efforts to develop human resources, expectations of Japan, what we can do through university alliances, and the role of Kwansei Gakuin Business School in the alliance.