The Confucius Institute, University of Cape Coast (CIUCC) has held an industrial lecture for its students to equip them with the needed knowledge to stay relevant on the job market.

The event, which saw in attendance the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof.

Kwabena Sarfo Sarfo-Kantanka; the Ghana Director of CIUCC, Prof. Emmanuel Amoh Ofori and the College Registrar of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Mr. Ebenezer Aggrey, had two Chinese accomplished Ghanaian industry players addressing the students. The two, Madam Yang Yang, Founder and CEO of Zonda Tec and the Human Resource Manager at KEDA Ceramics Ghana Limited, Luo spoke on “Women Empowerment in Chinese Enterprises” and “Understanding Chinese Business Culture and Etiquette: Keys to Succeeding Enterprises” respectively.

^{The China Director of CIUCC, Prof Ou Yamei}

Welcoming participants to the lecture, the China Director of CIUCC, Prof Ou Yamei, indicated that building successful individual entrepreneurial ventures was partly hinged on entrepreneurs taking a cue from the success stories of developed and accomplished companies. She maintained that the lecture was to expose the students to the world of business and the skills needed to stay successful.

Speaking on the topic, “Understanding Chinese Business Culture and Etiquette: Keys to Succeeding Enterprises” the Human Resource Manager at KEDA Ceramics Ghana Limited, Luo Yan, said the Chinese thrived on hard work, social networking, maintaining a peaceful surrounding and making good impressions.

^{The Human Resource Manager at KEDA Ceramics Ghana Limited, Luo Yan}

She said the Chinese had a common understanding that working diligently and bracing all odds to achieve set goals and targets was crucial to growing their enterprises.  She added that being sensitive to one’s surrounding, punctuality, building a credible personality as well as gaining the art to negotiate within the business terrain were some of the concepts inculcated into Chinese enterprises.

On her part, the founder and CEO of Zonda Tec, Ms. Yang Yang, counseled the students to devote themselves to their work and pursue excellence in that regard instead of concentrating on the gains they stand to make.  She further indicated that being a good leader and setting the pace for others to follow were key attributes every entrepreneur should have.

^{Founder and CEO of Zonda Tec, Ms. Yang Yang}

Ms. Yang noted that budding entrepreneurs must take advantage of opportunities around them, have passion to push their entrepreneurial agenda and stay committed and serious.

She was quick to indicate that the world, especially the business terrain, was not the preserve of men only hence, she charged women to position themselves well by researching, taking initiative and communicate effectively while showing respect in order to excel.

The participants were allowed to pose questions to the resource persons during an interactive session. Generally, the students were impressed with the lecture and called for more such educative sessions to build their competencies.

^{The resource persons in a group photo with some staff of the CIUCC and the College of Humanities and Legal Studies}

The Dean of the Faculty of Arts-UCC, Prof. Kwabena Sarfo Sarfo-Kantanka, pledged to make the industrial lecture a recurring event not just for students of the CIUCC but the larger university student body.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC