Chandigarh: A business and technology school in Chandigarh has opened its doors for students from SAARC countries for admission in various professional courses.

"It is time for collaborations and not for competition, so we have to take along our neighbours if we want to leap big in future," said Anshu Kataria, the school chairman.

"That is why Aryans Business School (ABS) has decided to provide quality professional education to students from SAARC countries at very affordable price and then provide best of placement to them," Kataria told IANS.

The Saarc countries, besides India, include: Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan.

The ABS Campus is on the Chandigarh-Patiala highway and was established in 2007. Currently ABS is running courses in MBA, MCA, BBA, BCA, BSc in information technology and e-MBA. Students from SAARC countries can take admission in any of these courses.

"Many students from SAARC countries go to America and Europe for higher education after spending millions to pay hefty fees there. Their admission procedure is very cumbersome and many times students don't even get visa to go there," said Kataria.

"But now we will go to their doorsteps in their respective countries and provide them an option of Indian education that is at par with any world class standards.

"Once they fulfil our conditions we will fully assist them in getting visa to come to India," Kataria told IANS.

ABS is targeting students for the session 2009-10 but will also admit students this year if they get any query in the next few weeks.

A team of the Aryan group visited Nepal and Bangladesh to have assess their requirements and to tie up with potential educational authorities there. They have signed an MoU with the Nepal International Educational Consultancy (NIEC), Kathmandu for student intake from the Himalayan nation.

There are no visa requirements for Nepal students "so we are expecting a good response from there", Kataria said.

In the third week of July, the ABS team is travelling to Sri Lanka and Bangkok to meet the delegates of educational consultancies there. IANS