Harvard Business School plans real-estate Seminar in Hyderab

[mahendra]

Harvard Business School is hosting its first-ever real-estate program in India this summer.

The South Asia Real Estate Seminar runs from June 17 to June 20 in Hyderabad and costs just under $7,300. It will focus on South Asian real estate and will feature a lecture by Noel Tata, the managing director of Trent, the company that manages Tata Group's retail store chains in India.

John Macomber, a lecturer at the Harvard Business School who is part of the real estate program's faculty, said he expects about 50 people to attend the program.The course is intended for executives with significant real estate experience, but Macomber said it is also geared towards executives who may not have formal training in the sector but are familiar with business in the Middle East and Asia.

"This is intended essentially for in-country people to develop management and leadership skills. This is about being in the real estate business in South Asia. ... It's about really being a principal at risk and operator," he said.

He added that people who attend the program will learn on several levels: They can take a step back from day-to-day business operations and have the opportunity to learn about other people's experiences and reflect on what they can do when they return to their company; they can share some best practices with peers; and they have a chance to learn in a formal setting in an academic framework that they may already know.

The program comes to India at a time when the country's real-estate industry is on the rise. According to a report by Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in February 2007, investment in India's real estate sector is expected to jump from $16 billion to $90 billion by 2015. Due to the relaxation of rules on foreign investment by India's government in March 2005, many U.S. companies have pledged or have already invested billions into the Indian real estate market. http://www.maaproperties.com/Pages/ModuleContent.aspx?Module=News