Education to Vietnam

(Last updated: 12 Jul 2007)

Trends and opportunities

The market

Interest from Vietnamese to study in Australia has been significant. Australia currently attracts around 28 per cent of the market of fee-paying Vietnamese students going abroad to English-speaking countries including: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and USA for educational purposes.

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 centre has been in operation to tap in higher end market. Most vocational training centres focus on IT, business and accounting only.

Opportunities

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.
• English language training for special purposes.
• 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

Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are attracting Vietnamese students to campuses of famous universities from English-speaking countries locating in their countries. Overseas study market in Vietnam is quite competitive with the presence of many countries such as Switzerland, France, Holland, Germany, Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

Tariffs, regulations and customs

In March 2000 a decree was issued that provided incentives for foreign investment in education and training, healthcare and scientific research. Therefore, after the first year of profit, foreign investors in these sectors will:

• Be exempt from corporate income tax for four years
• Pay only five per cent in the following four years
• Pay 10 per cent for the remaining life of the project

From July 1^st 2004, personal income tax for Vietnamese was decreased, which resulted in the reduction of labour costs for enterprises investing in Vietnam.

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.

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

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 Australian Education International (AEI) IDP Education Australia, and AUSAid Training and Education.

E-commerce 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.

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

National Institute for Educational Development
106 Tran Hung Dao Street
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 4 942 3292
Fax: +84 4 942 1993

National Institute for Educational Science
101 Tran Hung Dao Street
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 4 822 0913
Fax: +84 4 822 3213

Government, business and trade resources for Vietnam

Asian Development Bank (ADB) - www.adb.org
Vietlaw - www.vietlaw.gov.vn
World Bank (Vietnam) - www.worldbank.org.vn

Ministry of Education and Training 
International Relations Department
49 Dai Co Viet Street
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84 4 869 2479
Fax: +84 4 869 4085

Australian resources

AUSAid Training and Education - www.ausaid.gov.au
Australian Education International - www.studyinaustralia.gov.au