The new president of Bermuda College has called for closer links between his institution and international businesses operating on the Island.

Dr. George Cook said it would be in everybody's interests to better train Bermudians so they can fill crucial leadership roles in business and the community.

As well as the setting up of a research capacity, degree courses in topics such as insurance and banking could be started.

Done in a proper way, there was "good reason'' to believe the college could attract enough foreign students to make such courses viable, said Dr. Cook.

Bermuda-based international companies could contribute financially through cash gifts, grants and scholarships, he added.

"There is an important role here for the international companies,'' Dr. Cook told members of Bermuda Chamber of Commerce's International Companies Education Awards Committee.

He described Bermuda College as "the single most important social institution in these islands''.

Not only did the college supply an educated and trained young workforce, but it also helped provide a stable environment for international companies. "The college helps to create a people receptive to the idea of assuring a home for international business because they can see themselves as participants in what is fundamentally a shared enterprise,'' said Dr. Cook.

"It plays a part in shaping that stable and progressive environment, without which it would not be possible for the international companies to survive here.'' The mutual benefits went beyond greater profits for exempted companies or sources of income and career opportunities for Bermudians, said Dr. Cook.

"It is a collaboration which builds confidence in Bermuda and contributes to the establishment of a leadership role, not only as an international business centre, but also as a small island nation attempting to shape its future course,'' he added.

"In short, what we are talking about is quintessentially a partnership between Bermuda's people and international companies. Indeed, this affair today epitomises a symbiosis of mutual interdependence and mutual benefits.'' If Bermuda College was to play a proper future leadership role in the community, international companies had a vital part to play, he said.

"It is more than a case of putting in financial resources,'' said Dr. Cook.

"It is essentially a collaboration of spirit and ideas that we seek.

"Money poured into an exercise not philosophically sound is at best a gamble or, at worse, a waste.'' One of the most important immediate tasks was to complete the consolidation of Bermuda College at its Stonington campus. "The rise of Bermuda College, with its superb facilities and personnel, is a phenomenal achievement for such a small community,'' he said.

"As it nears completion, Bermuda College has the potential to play a significant role internationally. It has become more sophisticated with greater responsibilities in a time of shrinking public resources.'' Dr. Cook added: "I look toward a relationship with the international companies which is truly copacetic -- harmonious co-operation between the college and the international companies within the larger Bermudian context.''