This follows a March 2015 visit to Hanoi by Dr. Se-Hwa Wu, the Minister of Education. During his visit he attended the 2015 Taiwan-Vietnam Education Forum; approved the Taiwan-Vietnam Education Cooperation Agreement; and spoke at the 2015 Taiwan Higher Education Fair. He also visited some Taiwanese companies in Vietnam, and met with Chinese language teachers and internship students in Vietnam from Taiwan. After returning to Taiwan, Dr. Wu instructed the Ministry of Education staff to set up these two new Education Division offices in Vietnam to assist and further expand educational cooperation between Taiwan and Vietnam.

In the past ten years, the Ministry of Education has promoted Taiwan-Vietnam cooperation in higher education, and encouraged universities to train highly skilled professional personnel for companies in Vietnam, both Taiwanese and Vietnamese. Over a thousand agreements and memorandums have been signed between various Taiwanese and Vietnamese universities to undertake educational cooperation. Taiwan’s government has offered Taiwan Scholarships and MOE Huayu Enrichment Scholarships for 475 Vietnamese teachers and students to study in Taiwan; it has sponsored more than 130 carefully selected Taiwanese teachers to teach Chinese in universities in Vietnam; and provided funding support for 187 Vietnamese teachers and students to attend summer Chinese workshops in Taiwan. More than fifteen thousand Vietnamese students have sat the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) in various cities in Vietnam. And education cooperation between Taiwan and Vietnam is continuing to grow closer and more fruitful day by day.

The opening of an Education Divisions in Hanoi and another in Ho Chi Minh City is a most important milestone for education cooperation between Taiwan and Vietnam. It will help consolidate Taiwan’s higher education presence in Vietnam and expansion towards Southeast Asia, and educational internationalization will also promote innovative businesses.