Renewed Vietnam-Australia Human Resource Development Program to commence from February 2016

The Australian and Vietnamese Governments today signed a Subsidiary Arrangement for the implementation of the Vietnam-Australia Human Resource Development Program, 2016 – 2020.  The program represents Australia’s renewed investment in Vietnam’s human resources for the next five years.  Commencing from February 2016, the program has an estimated value of up to A$146 million and is aimed at strengthening the level of professional and technical knowledge, skills and competencies in Vietnam.

“This program will significantly broaden Australia’s education engagement with Vietnam,” said Mr Layton Pike, Chargé d’Affaires of the Australian Embassy.

The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam is the Australian Government’s key partner in implementing the program to achieve outcomes such as:

- strengthening contributions made by male and female alumni through using new skills and knowledge;

- strengthening workplace enabling environments for skills utilisation in selected priority areas; and

- building stronger, sustainable links between Australia and Vietnam in selected priority areas.

The activities are designed to extend beyond traditional long-term scholarships, and diversify across other forms, such as short courses, support for technical and vocational training, women in leadership training, more focused support for alumni, and ad hoc technical assistance in Vietnam’s priority areas. These are closely linked with opportunities to enhance Australian students’ professional understanding of countries in the region.

“I am proud that Australia is the number one country of choice for self-funded Vietnamese students going overseas, with around 25,000 Vietnamese student enrolments in Australia at any one time. I very much look forward to a more reciprocal exchange of students in the future, as initiatives such as the New Colombo Plan encourage Australian students to take up opportunities to study in Vietnam”, said Mr Pike.

Australia has been a leading provider of government scholarships to Vietnam.  There are currently over 5,300 Australia Awards alumni from Vietnam who graduated from Australian universities under Australian Government funded scholarships programs dating back to the 1970s.  Since returning to Vietnam, they have made important contributions in fields such as governance, financial management and economics. Alumni have been very active volunteers in their local communities, and in building professional and business links between their organisations and Australian organisations, strengthening linkages between our two countries.

For further information about Australia’s Aid Program in Vietnam, please visit: http://dfat.gov.au/geo/vietnam/development-assistance/Pages/development-assistance-in-vietnam.aspx