Bond University Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Tim Brailsford and British University Vietnam Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Ray Gordon.
Students from British University Vietnam will complete their business and tourism programs at Bond University under a new agreement.
The students will study for two years in Hanoi before completing a Bachelor of Business or Bachelor of International Tourism and Hotel Management on the Gold Coast in 16 months. British University Vietnam MBA students will be able to obtain a Bond MBA with eight months of extra study.
The Vice Chancellor and President of British University Vietnam, Professor Ray Gordon, said Vietnam was among the 10 best educated countries in the world but was struggling the meet the economy’s huge demand for skills.
“In Vietnam, education is very different to western countries. It is embedded in their history and in their culture, so education is everything to them,” he said.
“The idea of being engaged with international universities and global universities is very important to the Vietnamese people.”
Bond University Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Tim Brailsford, said he looked forward to welcoming more Vietnamese students to the Gold Coast.
“International students have always been an essential part of Bond University,” Professor Brailsford said.
“They add diversity and vibrancy to the classroom and can open the eyes of Australian students to opportunities beyond our shores.
“Never has it been more important for people from the region to interact, share experiences and learn from each other.”
The deal between the two universities paves the way for Bond students to study at British University Vietnam, established in 2009 at a futuristic $US36 million campus.
Professor Gordon said he hoped students would explore opportunities in Vietnam, ‘the jewel of Asia from an investment point of view’ with annual GDP growth of 7 percent before the pandemic.
“It’s a very large country of 97 million people and a rapidly growing middle class, which from an economic and business standpoint just screams opportunity,” he said.
“If I were a student, I'd be wanting to get to know as many people and places in Vietnam as I could.
“There are many big companies setting up there and there is a big start-up culture as well.”
British University Vietnam offers British degrees and is subject to the United Kingdom’s higher education quality assurance standards.
Located in the new Ecopark township on the outskirts of Hanoi, the university is expanding to accommodate 7000 students in what will eventually be a $US100 million campus.
