Leading Examples of Cross-border Public-Private Partnerships

Just as manufacturing is taking on an increasingly global character, so are the most successful public-private partnerships. This is especially true in skills development programmes. Indeed, one of the most compelling drivers of successful training partnerships is the extent to which they give their trainees exposure to international markets and cultures.

A particularly innovative kind of skills training partnership – the “bilateral” partnership – takes the idea of international exposure a step further. Instead of providing international exposure merely in a classroom setting, the bilateral partnership brings together nationals from different countries in some kind of training endeavour. Often, a bilateral partnership involves government agencies, although this is not always the case. Regardless of the exact makeup, all bilateral partnerships share a common purpose in the cross-pollination of cultures and ideas in advancing the objectives of a training curriculum.

What Makes Bilateral Partnerships a Best Practice?

An international component in any kind of training programme redounds to the benefit of the trainees. Bilateral partnerships are best practices because their very premise is rooted in an international sensibility:

• Global perspective on what works: The bilateral partnership is a forum in which the best ideas on labour practices, manufacturing process and training methodology – among a whole host of other ideas – are shared in a type of global laboratory. The direct interaction of world-class ideas contributes more to an efficient knowledge-sharing process than a more traditional classroom setting.
• Promotes foreign direct investment: One kind of bilateral partnership occurs when a company that makes a direct investment in another country offers training of nationals from the host country. Beyond the other benefits that come from bilateral partnerships generally, this kind of bilateral partnership also serves to promote foreign direct investment.
• Promotes cultural understanding: The bilateral partnership is by definition the bringing together of people from different cultural backgrounds in a training setting. It serves to engender the kind of cultural understanding that will facilitate cross-border trade.

Bilateral Partnerships in Action

• German Embassy Skills Initiative: The purpose of this joint effort between the German Embassy in the United States and regional/state educational authorities is for German companies located in the US to provide workforce training to US nationals who live in the communities where the German companies operate in the US.⁷⁷
  
• Fraunhofer USA: A primary reason that Fraunhofer is so successful is its fundamental understanding that science and its industrial applications transcend national borders. At the same time, Fraunhofer recognizes that the best relationships are forged locally. In that spirit, the organization formed Fraunhofer USA in 1994 to serve the US market in a more effective manner. Since its founding, Fraunhofer USA has grown to some 200 employees and US$ 45 million in revenue. It now has six research centres across the United States – ranging in scope from manufacturing innovation to laser technology. It also has established relationships with leading research universities – including MIT and the University of Michigan – as well as an array of federal and state agencies.⁷⁸
  
• US-Brazil Connect: Effectively a two-way cultural exchange programme in which US teenagers – identified for their leadership potential – spend four to six weeks in Brazil immersed in training in the country’s science and technology industries as well as in broader cultural exchange activities.⁷⁹
  
• BMW/China Business Journal: In 2011, BMW’s Chinese operations and the China Business Journal joined forces to create a think tank that focuses on an array of topics related to manufacturing, including competition, sustainability and government/enterprise relationships, among other areas.