As a result of a partnership announced yesterday between a Japanese business association and the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), students will have newfound access to premiere international business research.

The KSG's Center for Business and Government (CBG) will produce research, sponsor two fellowships and run executive conferences as benefits of its partnership with Keizai Doyukai (Doyukai), a Japanese business association, said J.H. Dow Davis, executive director of CBG.

CBG officials are praising the partnership as a major achievement.

"The establishment of a long-term relationship with the Kansai region is one of this year's most satisfying developments for the [CBG]," said Roger B. Porter, the director of CBG, who is also IBM professor of business and government at KSG, in a press release.

This year, the research will be headed by Pierre Sauve, a CBG fellow and Brookings Institute senior fellow.

The research will focus on the global trading system, and Sauve will present his findings at a KSG conference in June and publish them later, Davis said.

Another element of the partnership is two fellowships for Japanese executives at KSG, similar to those existing fellowships that bring business experts and scholars from other countries to the school.

"These are business executives from the Osaka region who will come here for one to two semesters and will work on research that fits into the center for business and government's mission," Davis said.