Australia Sends 160 University Students to Vietnam

The Australian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City last week launched the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan (NCP) which sent 160 Australian university students to Vietnam for studies and internships in 2015. There were two groups of the NCP’s Mobility Scheme students at the launching ceremony. A University of Adelaide student group would learn about environmental issues facing this region with the Mekong River Commission, and another from James Cook University would learn about sustainable, eco- and agriculture-tourism in the Mekong Delta, in collaboration with Can Tho University. The students had a chance to meet and collaborate with representatives from universities in HCMC. This year, Australia is sponsoring around 160 students from 12 Australian universities to study and gain work experience in Vietnam, in fields as diverse as teaching, business, forest management, design, agriculture, urban planning and social sciences. This is expected to create a stronger link between Australian and Vietnamese youth, and create opportunities for further cooperation in economic development. Addressing the reception Australian, Consul General John McAnulty said, “Under the NCP, we want to see study in the region become a rite of passage for Australian undergraduate students. We want to foster an Australian community that understands and engages with our region better - what better way to achieve this than by investing in our young people? “Students studying in Vietnam as part of the NCP will receive a transformational experience that will enhance the value of their Australian degree. The NCP will expand their world-view, build connections, improve their cross-cultural skills and allow them to gain experience that will enhance their career progress. They will return to Australia with new networks, new perspective, new insights, and a regional literacy founded on friendship and goodwill.” The Australian Government has committed $100 million to the NCP over five years. The program, which was first started in the 1950s, will back Australian students to generate long-term professional and personal relationships with people of the Indo-Pacific region through study and work placements as part of their undergraduate degree. It includes two main streams of grants: a prestigious scholarship program, and a mobility grants scheme. (vietnamnet.vn July 21)