Fast Retailing Teams Up with IIIT-Delhi to Launch Sponsorship Program Working with the Premier Indian University to Help Students in Their Future Careers
Delhi : Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. today announces a partnership with one of India’s top universities to help promising students become global leaders of tomorrow. The company has signed an agreement with the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) to create the Fast Retailing Educational Sponsorship Program for students with high potential who seek financial assistance.
Through this initiative, Fast Retailing is further demonstrating its commitment to Indian society after opening a production office in September 2016, its first UNIQLO store in Delhi in October 2019, and officially launching its e-commerce business in India last month with the new UNIQLO online store.
“From the very beginning of our discussions with corporate and government leaders in India, I have been impressed by the exceptional talent, ambition and diligence of the young people I have met”, said Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President and CEO of Fast Retailing, parent company of UNIQLO. “We hope that our new program will foster the skills that both India and our company will need in the future and help young talented individuals to become business leaders on the global stage. I believe these premier universities are uniquely well-placed to fulfill this mission.”
Commenting on the partnership, Professor Ranjan Bose, Director, IIIT-Delhi said, “IIIT-Delhi is a young and agile Institute that is fast accelerating on the path of becoming one of the leading comprehensive research-led teaching institutes in India. It has proven to be consistently responsive towards the evolving needs of society. The partnership with Fast Retailing will provide further impetus to our vision of being socially relevant, industry facing, and globally connected.”
The educational sponsorship program will be funded by Fast Retailing and cover full tuition and related costs for a total of five freshman students a year, covering the full four-year period for a bachelor’s degree and two-year period for a master’s degree. While the structure of the program will be determined by the university to ensure it provides maximum benefit, recipients will be able to participate in Japanese language and culture studies and intern at UNIQLO India. Candidates who pass certain milestones will also be eligible to join Fast Retailing in Japan or UNIQLO in India, to help leverage skills they gain during their studies.
Fast Retailing is an active recruiter in India. Students from IIIT-Delhi and other top universities in engineering and technology education, were among Indian graduates to join the company’s global headquarters in Tokyo starting from 2019.
The latest initiative is also part of a global commitment by Fast Retailing, through the Fast Retailing Foundation, to offer educational programs for young individuals to pursue a career in particular areas of interest. Among them are the Global Graduate Fashion Scholarship for talented students to study at world-class fashion graduate schools, and the Harvard Business School Scholarship, which provides educational opportunities to Japanese students.