The German Delegation of the Minister President of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg and designate EU Commissioner, Mr Gunther H.Oettinger and Mr Hans Schoof, Head of Operations EC delegation in India visited S.P.Jain Institute of Management and Research on the 19th of Nov 2009 in recognition of the collaboration of SPJIMR and ESB Business School Reutlingen University since 2003. They were accompanied by a Scientific delegation, Dignitaries and Members of Parliament from Germany.

The highlight of the visit was the inauguration of the EU Study Centre for European Business Studies (CEBS) by Mr Oettinger and Mr Schoof in the presence of SPJIMR Dean Dr M L Shrikant, Director Dr Sesha Iyer and the Chairperson of International Relations, Prof. Prem Chandrani. This is the first and the only EU funded centre for European Business studies in India jointly operated by SPJIMR and ESB Business School, Reutlingen University.

The centre will have three fold objectives

• To offer certificate programs in areas of collaboration between India and the EU.
• To offer online, live interactive courses taught from Reutlingen University and Mumbai. These courses will complement the existing programs and will be offered throughout India.
• Annual Conference which will predominantly focus on the Indo European Trade that will bring together academia /business fraternity/political decision makers from India and EU to present comparative research carried out between Reutlingen ESB and SPJIMR Mumbai.

SPJIMR and ESB share a common ideology of Social Responsiveness and lay emphasis on development of skills and attitude as much as knowledge by developing indigenous learner centric pedagogic technologies.