Commerce-Supported Student Recruitment Group Opens Office in Vietnam
May 8, 2013John Siegmund is an International Trade Specialist in the International Trade Administration’s Office of Services.
The VETEC team talked about its mission at the Association of International Educators conference.
United States colleges and universities are one step closer to garnering a bigger share of the education market for Vietnamese students with the official recognition of the Vietnamese Education Training and Export Center (VETEC).
The initiative is part of a Market Development Cooperator Program award (MDCP) between the International Trade Administration (ITA) and the California Education and Training Export Center.
VETEC offers a broad variety of services to Vietnamese students and U.S. colleges and universities, all with the goal of increasing the number of Vietnamese studying in the United States. VETEC operates an office in Vietnam, which ITA supported with an MDCP award of $388,000 in 2011.
“Vietnam has been among the fastest growing source countries for overseas study in the United States during the past four years,” says VETEC Director Mark Matsumoto. “It has the potential to become one of the three most significant export markets in the world for U.S. education and training service exports within the next 10 years.”
VETEC is ideally located to help both U.S. institutions of higher learning and Vietnamese students. The office will open up new and effective ways to promote the benefits offered by U.S. colleges and universities to Vietnamese students and their families.
“VETEC was designed to provide U.S. schools an on-the-ground resource in Vietnam to actively engage students and parents in Vietnam,” added Matsumoto.
Education comprises a large portion of American exports in the service industry. In 2012, education accounted for nearly $23 billion in U.S. exports.
In 2011-2012, more than 15,000 students from Vietnam enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, making the United States the eighth-largest host market for Vietnamese students. Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) reported that as of December 2012, 106,000 Vietnamese students were studying abroad.
VETEC will offer the following services:
- Year-round promotion of U.S. educational opportunities in Vietnam
- High-impact advertising campaigns and promotions
- On-site student advising and counseling
- Facilitation of institutional contacts and exchange
- Translation and interpretation support
- Coordination of in-country logistics and meeting schedules
- Other services as needs arise
For more information go to www.californiaetec.com and www.vetecusa.com.
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