Thirty invited guests, including Mr Gabriel Leost, Financial Counsellor, Deputy to the Head of the Economic Department for Southeast Asia, French Embassy in Singapore, sampled the sumptuous fare presented on 2 May 2008 at Amber@West, ITE College West's training restaurant.

French Connection
The IPB students’ visit to ITE was part of a one-week “Cuisine and Culture” tour to Singapore, and the first collaborative initiative between the two institutions since the signing of the IPB Worldwide Alliance Agreement.

ITE became the first and only educational institution in Southeast Asia to join the exclusive IPB Worldwide Alliance – an international grouping of ten exceptional hospitality and restaurant
management institutions sharing the same educational philosophy and goals– in a Signing Ceremony held on 27 March 2008. Dr Yek Tiew Ming, Principal of ITE College West, and Ms Eléonore Vial, IPB’s Dean and Director of Development, inked the Memomorandum of Understanding (MOU) on behalf of their respective institutions.

Mr Bruce Poh, Director & CEO, ITE, said of the collaboration: “The inking of the Worldwide Alliance Agreement provides for collaborations on international student exchange, faculty capability development, curriculum development and academic articulation. Selected ITE graduates can look forward to the annual 16-week international programme held in the Institute’s campus in Lyon, France. ITE is proud to have the world-renowned Institut Paul Bocuse as a strategic partner in the area of French culinary arts and hospitality training.”