On 25 October 2007, five students from Dalian Maritime University (DMU) reported on the success of their participation in this year's YICT Summer Practice Project. All five agreed that the three-week programme – offered by YICT yearly in order to build a pool of future talent for the port and logistics industry – had widened their perspectives and improved their career prospects.
In the summer of this year, the five students and their teacher took part in the programme, which included educational activities at YICT as well as visits to Huawei Technologies, Star Shine, DHL, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hongkong International Terminals, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals and Hong Kong Maritime Museum. These visits were chosen to match the students' interests, reflecting the tailor-made nature of the project.
The Summer Practice Project is just one component of a wider educational exchange between YICT and DMU. Every year, senior managers from YICT and other industry experts visit the university and give lectures on port management and operations. Several highly qualified students are then chosen to participate in the summer project. A similar programme has also been successfully implemented with Shenzhen University.
At the Summer Practice Project report meeting, Mr. YB Wai, Assistant General Manager of YICT, remarked that YICT had taken it upon itself to train future industry talent, and regarded the programme as an approach to facilitate the development of the industry. He further explained that the Summer Practice Project would help the students by giving them the latest industry knowledge.
YICT believes that education is the foundation for the future success of the port industry. In 2006, having learned of the interest DMU's students and teachers have in South China ports, YICT agreed to coordinate with the university to implement the Practice Project. YICT hopes that the experience of the participating students will help them positively contribute to China's port and logistics industries in the future.