Saskatchewan Students to Explore International Economy on Tour of the Middle East

• News Release (PDF 233 KB)

(Right) Wayne Brownlee, PotashCorp Executive Vice President and CFO; (Left) Daphne Taras, Dean of ESB and (Back Left) Lionel Labelle, President and CEO STEP with Edwards School of Business students before embarking on a tour of the Middle East

New program at Edwards School of Business established with help from PotashCorp and other partners.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – A student group of aspiring Saskatchewan business leaders is travelling to Israel and Jordan for a first-hand look at innovation, entrepreneurialism and PotashCorp’s international mining investments.

Entrepreneurship and Mining in Israel and Jordan – an International Tour provides upper-year students at the Edwards School of Business an opportunity to experience international business culture while learning about the benefits of global business to Saskatchewan’s economy. The overseas portion of the course runs from April 30-May 10.

PotashCorp is supporting the course financially and with access to an expert in international business. Wayne Brownlee, PotashCorp’s Executive Vice President and CFO, will be joining the 16 students for one week – including visits to Arab Potash Company (APC) in Jordan and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) in Israel, companies in which PotashCorp has 28 percent and 14 percent ownership, respectively.

“PotashCorp’s people are our greatest resource and many of our best and brightest employees have come to us from the University of Saskatchewan,” said Brownlee. “We want the next generation of Saskatchewan’s business leaders to gain international perspectives and experience PotashCorp’s global reach firsthand.”

In addition to PotashCorp, the cost of the trip has been subsidized by other donors including: the Saskatchewan Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration; the University of Saskatchewan’s President’s Fund; The Hanlon Centre For International Business and Canadian Academics for Peace in the Middle East.

Students will meet their Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli peers studying at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and hear presentations on regional water issues and the environmental situation of the Dead Sea.

“There is no better way of developing sensitivity to global issues than by having students travel together with business leaders to see how commerce, ingenuity, antiquity and opportunity meld together,” said Daphne Taras, PhD, Dean of the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business.

“Through our generous sponsors, we made sure that ability to pay was not an issue. We hand-picked a unique group of students who are surely ambassadors for Saskatchewan.”

Taras, the course director, is personally accompanying the students on the tour.

“We applaud the Edwards School of Business and PotashCorp for creating this opportunity for Saskatchewan students to gain valuable international business experience,” Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris said. “Saskatchewan has an important relationship with Israel and Jordan in the areas of research, innovation and potash and this initiative helps to strengthen these ties.”

Meetings with the Canadian ambassadors to Israel and Jordan and visits to high-tech start-ups will be some of the highlights captured in video and posted on the course-related blog – www.esbtour398.ca - along with tweets using the hashtag #esbtour.

The Edwards School of Business develops business professionals to build nations. Giving students intensive opportunities to see other countries' economies and Saskatchewan's place within them makes them more sophisticated and knowledgeable when they are called upon to contribute at home.

Headquartered in Saskatoon, PotashCorp is the world’s largest fertilizer company by capacity, producing the three primary crop nutrients – potash, phosphate and nitrogen. With five potash operations in Saskatchewan, and one in New Brunswick, it is responsible for about 20 percent of global capacity. Its operations and business interests span seven countries, making PotashCorp an international enterprise and a key player in meeting the growing challenge of feeding the world.

For more information contact:
Bill Johnson
Senior Director, Public Affairs
Phone: (306) 933-8849
E-mail Public Relations