(Last updated: 8 Jul 2011)

Trends and opportunities

The market

Interest from Vietnamese to study in Australia has been significant. The Vietnamese education and training industry has been identified by the government as one of its priorities for development. Key objectives include:

• Eradication of illiteracy
• Universalisation of primary school education
• Expansion of vocational training
• Continuation of university amalgamation
• Expansion and continuation of education programs, especially distance education

Over the next decade the government plans to increase education spending from 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the national budget. Foreign aid funds also provide a significant impetus for implementing education and training projects. Vietnam will continue to be a significant recipient of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) with annual support of around US$2 billion from ODA donors. Australia is the fourth largest bilateral donor to Vietnam with an annual program of over A$80 million. It is expected that ODA funding for development of the human resources sector is likely to increase proportionately in the future as the physical infrastructure in Vietnam improves.

Vietnam is currently in shortage of skilled workers to serve in hi-tech industries, which result in a high demand of vocational training. Each year, there are over one million new entrants joining the workforce so reducing the level of unemployment is a major concern of the government. Raising education levels and advancing the population into higher value-added occupations is seen as one way of countering unemployment. This continuous need will drive demand for technical and vocational education in Vietnam.

In big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, many foreign invested language-learning centres and vocational training centres have established operations to tap into higher end market. Most vocational training centres focus on delivering IT, business and accounting programs.

Opportunities

Vietnam places enormous value in education (especially higher education), with many Vietnamese aspiring to learn English and earn qualifications from a foreign, English-language institution.

Australia has a reputation for providing high quality education at a cost that is significantly lower than the United States and Britain. Substantial Vietnamese-Australian communities in Australia also provide a strong pull.

The government has recently announced ambitious plans to expand and improve the quality of its higher education and VET sectors and appears to recognise that this will not be achieved without foreign participation.

Opportunity areas for Australian exporters in the education and training sector in Vietnam include:

• High quality vocational with updated curriculum and English training courses at reasonable price.
• Upgrading the skills of government officials, teachers and other personnel at all levels of the education and training system including English and management skills.
• School education, undergraduate and postgraduate programs delivered either in-country or abroad.
• MBA courses delivered online or in-country.
• Preparation course for undergraduate and postgraduate programs delivered in Australia.

Competitive environment

In the recent report made by IIE in Vietnam, the most preferred destinations for studying abroad by Vietnamese students were: USA, Australia, UK, Singapore, France. In this report, Singapore ranked equal first with Australia as a potential study destination.

Tariffs, regulations and customs

In March 2000 a decree (No. 06-2000-ND-CP) was issued that provided incentives for foreign investment in education and training, healthcare and scientific research.

According to the decree, educational and scientific research establishments shall:

• Enjoy the income tax rate of 10 per cent during the entire duration of their operations
• Be entitled to exemption from income tax for a period of four years from the time of profit-making
• Have a reduction of 50 per cent for the subsequent four years

Foreign partners are also encouraged to establish educational institutions to provide vocational and tertiary education for both Vietnamese and foreigners as joint ventures, under business cooperation contracts or as wholly foreign owned ventures.

In line with WTO commitments, Vietnam has committed to reduce the experience requirement for Australian teachers in higher, secondary and other education services (including foreign language training) from five to three years and to expand the (WTO-committed) fields of study that can be delivered by foreign education suppliers.

Industry standards

While there is no specific industry standard requirement applied to international education and training service providers, institutions wishing to establish an in-market campus must present curricula to the Vietnamese Government prior to obtaining an investment and operating licence.

Other providers operating within the context of an aid-funded project will be awarded the project on the basis of course content and thus checks apply at this point. Providers wishing to engage in twinning arrangements with Vietnamese institutions need only to satisfy the partner institution in relation to course content.

Marketing your products and services

Market entry

There are three alternatives for companies that want to establish an investment project in Vietnam:

• 100 per cent foreign owned enterprises
• Joint ventures
• Business cooperation contracts

To date RMIT University has established in-market campuses in Vietnam, and they have provided a pioneering impetus in this sector. For companies that want to provide offshore education and training, the following methods are recommended:

• Appointing a local partner or agent to undertake customer liaison and visa procedures for fee-paying students.
• Partnering with local training provider to deliver in-country vocational training courses/short training courses.
• Setting up a representative office in Vietnam to handle public relations, government liaison.
• Establishing ‘twinning’ arrangements with Vietnamese universities and institutions to provide courses in-market.

Australia’s reputation is already very good in Vietnam and it is considered the ideal destination for education and training. To consolidate this position, Australian education and training institutions and companies need to pay attention to three main areas:

• Use exhibitions and advertising campaigns to maintain a strong position in the market by building up the reputation of Australia as a quality provider of education and training services.
• Establish and maintain good relationships with educational organisations, particularly the Ministry of Education and Training, international aid organisations including World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Official Development Assistance projects to influence the development of funding programs for education and training infrastructure.
• Effectively coordinate with Australian education facilitation organisations including IDP Education Australia, and AUSAid Training and Education.

E-learning in Vietnam is still in its infancy. Distance education was introduced into Vietnam several years ago and is developing quickly. Current obstacles include the language barrier, limited and expensive access to the Internet and difficulties in transferring forex from Vietnam.

Less than a decade ago interest and demand for e-learning was very low. In March 2005, the first conference on ‘E-learning Research and Development’ was held with participation by leading universities, institutes and enterprises. Since then, supported by efforts of the government to spread basic e-learning knowledge to schools, universities, enterprises and a high penetration of Internet, mobile, demand for e-learning has strengthened and has been adopted for use in not only universities and institutions but also in government organisations and private enterprises.

Distribution channels

Education and training services are distributed in Vietnam through:

• Joint venture arrangements for in-country campuses
• 100 per cent foreign owned investments in in-country campuses
• ‘Twinning’ with Vietnamese institutions
• Agency agreements for attracting fee paying students to Australia
• On a project by project basis through direct consultancy contracts with government agencies or corporate entities

Links and industry contacts

Education–related resources

Vietnam Development Information Centre – www.vdic.org.vn
Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences – www.niesac.edu.vn/

Government, business and trade resources for Vietnam

Asian Development Bank – www.adb.org
Ministry of Education and Training – www.moet.gov.vn
Vietlaw – www.vietlaw.gov.vn
World Bank (Vietnam) – www.worldbank.org/vietnam

Contact details

The Australian Trade Commission – Austrade – is the Australian Government’s trade and investment development agency.

Through Austrade’s network of offices in over 50 countries, we assist Australian companies to succeed in international business, attract productive foreign direct investment into Australia and promote Australia's education sector internationally.

For more information on how Austrade can assist you, contact us on:

Australia ph: 13 28 78 | Email: info@austrade.gov.au

A list of Austrade offices (in alphabetical order of country) is also available.