Jamshedpur, Sept. 15: Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) here is set to make its mark in the international education arena.

The institute has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with several foreign universities for students and faculty exchange programmes. XLRI has been running a course for Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in association with Dubai-based Al Abbas Institute of Technology for the past two years.

XLRI director Father P.D. Thomas said the institute had received a proposal from Kuwait to start a university there called Xavier University of Kuwait. “Last year we launched the Management Diploma Programme System, a satellite-based e-classroom programme in association with Noida-based IT firm Hughes.” He said plans for a faculty exchange programme with China’s Beijing University for the Beijing International MBA Programme (BIMBA) are near completion. The tie-up with BIMBA, which is a joint venture between 28 Jesuit business schools in the US and the Beijing University, came through after an agreement with the programme’s dean Ron Anton, former professor of Loyola College, Baltimore, US. American visiting professors heading for BIMBA will also visit XLRI.

XLRI officials said the Bank of Oman has approached the institute for a one-year course for its Muscat executives. The bank had agreed to provide classrooms and hostels and XLRI will send the faculty.

Members of the Programme for International Students’ Exchange (POISE) said XLRI is likely to sign an MoU in November with Eichstaett University of Germany for faculty and student exchange programmes, common research and training. “The university will invite faculty members from finance, marketing and human resources,” said Nakul Gupta, secretary, POISE. Requests have come in from Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and universities of northeast India too.

A senior XLRI professor, requesting anonymity, said the institute is also running a joint research programme with the University of Waterloo, Canada, and research and faculty exchange programmes with Wharton School of Business, Pennsylvania, Loyola University, Chicago and University of Yogyakartha, Indonesia.