Masters Degrees in International Business, Belgium

Are you ambitious of an international career? Are you attracted to a job in international business, like export manager, international purchasing manager, investment manager, international sales representative, country manager, or institutional relation manager? Then the Postgraduate in International Trade and Investment is exactly what you need. This academic postgraduate certificate offers you a specialized, comprehensive, and practically oriented programme that is unique in the world and designed to maximize your professional success.

Aims

The postgraduate in International Trade and Investment is a comprehensive programme aiming at delivering graduates who are able to independently conduct international business practices like export, import, sourcing, investing, M&A and international alliance formation. Courses of high academic quality are enriched by hands-on input from practitioners. Skills workshops will guarantee an optimal functioning at professional level.
The programme is organized by VUB's Brussels Diplomatic Academy http://www.vub.ac.be/en/brussels-diplomatic-academy

Target groups

- Bachelors or masters aspiring for a career in international business.
- Lawyers, legal advisors, consultants, civil servants and politicians who want to acquire knowledge about the various aspects of international trade and investment.
- Professionals who wish to broaden or reorient their career in the field of international trade and investment.
- Business people who wish to further professionalise their knowledge and skills.

Added value

The postgraduate in International Trade and Investment offers you:
- A worldwide unique and specialized curriculum of 66 ECTS.
- A versatile programme that deals with the various aspects of international trade and investment.
- Practical orientation in order to maximize the professional success of its graduates.
- A transcontinental programme in international business. Students have the option to study in Washington D.C. and/or Shanghai.
- Internship services: an internship tutor assists the students in writing application letters, preparing for the interviews and identifying internship placements.
- Career services.

Attainment targets

Graduates will be able to:
- understand the full picture of international trade and investment (legal, fiscal, insurance, VAT, required documents, finance, insurance,…)
- develop international business (export, import, international investment, M&A, international alliance formation)
- compete on the international project market (international tendering) and/or offering consultancy in this field
- understand international business strategy
- protect intellectual property rights
- conduct international negotiations
- lobby at national and international level
- deploy the necessary skills needed within international business
- deploy the proper attitudes required within international business
- operate within an international context
- understand the jargon of international business development
- detect business opportunities
- draft reports on a country’s various economic sectors (market reports or industry reports)
- discuss economic diplomacy and international business with business people, diplomats, bankers, consultants, legal advisers and lawyers.

International opportunities

The Postgraduate in International Trade and Investment is a transcontinental programme.

In the second semester, students have the following possibilities:

Following 18 ECTS in Washington D.C.
Following 18 ECTS in Shanghai
Following 9 ECTS in Washington D.C. and 9 ECTS in Shanghai

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What is the 'Master of International Business Economics and Management' all about?

 The Master in International Business Economics and Management (MIBEM) is a master program for holders of a degree in a non-business economic or management discipline. It prepares for a career in international business through the acquisition of business economic insights, knowledge and management skills.

The curriculum adopts a practical and business-oriented perspective, but still provides a thorough treatment, based in science, of major international business economic and management issues.

As a master of science program, MIBEM relies on insights from scientific research. Its primary purpose is not to prepare graduates for an academic career, but to foster an attitude of autonomous, critical and informed reflection in the search for solutions to concrete business problems. The program instills an international and business- and management oriented mindset in individuals educated in diverse backgrounds.

Students who have direct access, can follow the one-year Master's programme. Those who have no direct access, must first follow the 30 credits preparatory programme from September till January and start the Master's programme in February. They can finish the programme in January of the following academic year.

Is this the right programme for me?

 The ideal prospective student:

• has obtained an academic bachelor's or master's degree in a non-business economics or management discipline;
• is eager to broaden his/her horizon by acquiring knowledge of business economics and management;
• aims to enhance his/her career opportunities by acquiring general management skills and business knowledge;
• is interested in an international business career;
• feels that a business-oriented, hands-on, critical, interdisciplinary and problem-based learning approach is something for him;
• understands that working in a multicultural and multidisciplinary team is an asset.

Objectives

Students with no economics background are first, if necessary, introduced to the basics of economics and management in a 30 ECTS preparatory programme.

After the programme a master:

• Is able to apply microeconomic and macroeconomic insights when analyzing the international business context.
• Can analyze, interpret, plan, and evaluate business processes, based on scientific knowledge, and -when relevant- with an explicitly international perspective.
• Understands and can critically assess how societal and international evolutions affect the business world.
• Can identify the risks and challenges of doing business in an international environment, and can provide solutions for dealing with them.
• Possesses managerial and entrepreneurial skills, applied within an international business context, with attention to social and ethical aspects.
• Is able to work on a project basis in a multidisciplinary team, whether or not internationally established.
• Can autonomously conceive, plan, execute and communicate a scientifically grounded research project as a beginning practitioner and with an international mindset.
• Recognizes the importance of lifelong learning and the need for continuing education.

Career perspectives

The MIBEM programme prepares students for management positions in a number of sectors. Obviously, your personal interest and prior education play a major role in your post-graduation path. Our graduates find employment in a broad range of sectors, including purchasing, sales, marketing, production control, planning and budgeting, financial management and ICT. Other graduates go on to a career in banking and insurance, become civil servants, work in one of the European institutions, or set up their own company.

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Aims and objectives

The Postgraduate Flagship Programme in Economic Diplomacy and International Business is a highly specialised and comprehensive
programme preparing students for a career in diplomacy, especially economic diplomacy, and international business. To
an important extent, diplomats and business people need to master the same skills and deal with the same matters, albeit from
different angles. Graduates from this programme who are active in diplomacy will excel in defending their home country’s economic
interests. Graduates who are active in business will excel professionally by mastering trade and investment techniques and through
their knowledge on how to maximise the potential of their home country’s economic diplomacy. Another advantage is that graduates
can easily switch career from diplomacy to business or banking and back.

Courses of a high academic standard are enriched by hands-on input from practitioners. Participants will be offered all-around
training, giving them a sound understanding of the legal, fiscal, economic, monetary, banking and commercial aspects of economic
diplomacy and international business. Skills workshops support optimal professional performance. This programme is not only
relevant for anyone aspiring to a career in diplomacy and international business, it is also of particular interest to anyone who wants
to be involved with international economic, monetary, financial and banking policy making.

Programme schedule

The postgraduate programme consists of three semesters and is completed in one and a half academic years.
A detailed timetable will be given to participants. It is possible to spread the programme over a number of years.

Elective courses

Students can opt for one of the 4 tracks (see below).
- Brussels track (VUB): students have a choice of 18 ECTS credits between 'Professional experience: Internship' or the 'Thesis'.
- Shanghai track (Shanghai University for International Business and Economics - SUIBE). Students have a choice of 18 ECTS between the following courses: 'WTO and China', 'Chinese Investment Law', 'Chinese Trade Law', 'Chinese Intellectual Property Rights Protection', 'Chinese Competition Policy' or ' Seminar on Shanghai Free Trade Zone'
- Washington D.C. track (The Institute of World Politics - IWP). Students have a choice of 18 ECTS between the following courses: 'Crisis Management and Decision making', 'Political Risk Analysis and Forecasting', 'Challenges in the Emerging Geo-Political landscape', 'International Challenges of the Public -Private Partnership in the Cyber Domain', 'Corporate Statecraft', 'Economic Statecraft', 'The Art of Diplomacy', 'Trans-Atlantic Competitiveness & Western Prosperity'
- Students can also choose 9 ECTS of this track in combination with 9 ECTS of the Washington D.C. track

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Combining a rigorous analytical approach with a thorough knowledge of international business, this highly selective and demanding programme is the perfect preparation for a career in strategic consulting or high-level management.

Want to compete on the international level? Our Masters in International Management & Strategy gives you the tools and skills to take the first steps towards an international career in business and management.

This programme offers you the possibility to experience different business cultures. You'll spend up to 3 months abroad including an immersion in China and a global consultancy project abroad.

Our most international programme is run from our Brussels campus in the prestigious Brussels Manhattan Center, right in the vibrant heart of Brussels and within walking distance of the European Quarter.

Campus: Brussels

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