PREMIER PREDICTS ASIAN STUDENT BOOM

Premier Rob Borbidge has dismissed current "Jerimiahs" preaching gloom and predicted a sharp boost in Asian students choosing to study in Queensland.

He also noted that Queensland has much to gain both in revenue and cultural exchanges from these students who were part of a business that was now worth $600million a year nationally.

Speaking to a Griffith University Graduate School of Management at Brisbane Polo Club tonight (Friday, November 14), the Premier said each year Queensland welcomed 12,000 international students, but this was only 15 per cent of the national market of 80,000.

"I believe our share could be increased and let the doomsayers take instruction from the example set by Griffith University which is taking a longer-term view of our marketing strategies," he said.

"This should ensure that any fall-off is nothing more than a short dip on an upward growth chart."

Mr Borbidge said a study released this week predicted a fall-off in enrolment from Asian countries, by as much as $100million a year.

"I don't think these gloomy analyses adequately reflect the many attractions of further study here in Queensland," he said.

"To be properly cautious is one thing. To hobble yourself - and worse, your community - with short-term, blinkered views is quite another."

Mr Borbidge said Griffith has more than 80 affiliations with universities overseas and had been exporting programs for years, drawing many students to Queensland.

He said this was augmented by commercial agreements for training and educational services ,including one program for senior civil service managers in the Chinese City of Shenzen and a series of major seminars the State Government organised in Japan.