VANCOUVER, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIBT Education Group Inc. (NYSE Alternext and TSX.V symbol: MBA) ("CIBT") is pleased to report that its hotel and tourism division in China has signed cooperative joint program agreements with a number of education institutions and companies in China. The agreements range in scope from providing professional certification, to course exchanges to ongoing training contracts.
The cooperation with various education partners across China provides CIBT's hotel and tourism division the network it needs to expand the company's presence into new markets in China, which may also serve as recruitment and job placement centers for other CIBT programs in the future.
CIBT has signed cooperative joint program agreements with the following institutions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Institutions City Province ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guizhou China Tourism Education and Cultural Development Co Guizhou Guiyang ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beijing International Education Institute Beijing Beijing ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chongqing Prosperity Consulting Chongqing Chongqing ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guangzhou Ritz-Carlton Hotel Management Co Guangzhou Guangdong ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suzhou Chuanda Hotel Management Suzhou Jiangsu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sichuan University - Suzhou Research Center Suzhou Jiangsu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kunming Quality Education Consulting Kunming Yunnan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chongqing Jinbo Education Consulting Chongqing Chongqing ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weifang University Weifang Shandong -------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Since our acquisition of the Tourism Training Institute in April 2008, we are very encouraged with the development and progress of our hotel and tourism training division," commented Toby Chu, Vice-Chairman, President & CEO of CIBT. "With a growing number of education partners progressively joining CIBT's education platform in northern, central and southern China, CIBT will be able to utilize this rapidly expanding network to not only establish new locations throughout China but also for future expansion to other countries in Asia using China as our Asia hub reaching out to other Asian countries via our satellite centers."
About CIBT Education Group Inc.
CIBT is an education management and investment company with a special focus on the global education market. Its subsidiaries, CIBT School of Business & Technology Corp., Tourism Training Institute, Concordia Career College, Modus International Language College and Sprott-Shaw Degree College Corp., which is comprised of Sprott-Shaw Degree College, Sprott-Shaw Community College (established in 1903), Sprott-Shaw International Language College, possess a combined operating history of over 118 years in China and Canada's education sectors. CIBT owns and operates a network of business, technical and language colleges with presence at over 50 campuses and teaching centers including Canada, China, Vietnam, Jordan and the Philippines. CIBT delivers North American and Chinese accredited business and management degree programs, automotive, and diesel maintenance programs, IT programs, travel and tourism programs and career/vocational programs through its network of campuses across China and Canada. In 2006, CIBT initiated plans to aggressively expand its business presence across China and to establish schools in other parts of Asia including South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India. CIBT also owns Irix Design Group, a leading full service design and advertising company based in Vancouver, Canada. In 2008, Irix Design was ranked 15th in the list of Biggest Ad Agencies in Greater Vancouver by the Business in Vancouver newspaper.
CIBT Education Group Inc. "Toby Chu" Toby Chu Vice-Chairman, President & CEO
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: "Forward-looking Statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or CIBT's future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. CIBT disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions, actions of CIBT's competitors, the extent to which CIBT is able to develop new services and markets for their services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of their services and changes in our business strategies.
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