For institutions in the home countries, the benefits for partnering with those abroad could be capacity building, prestige and attracting more local students with higher fees.

Meanwhile, institutions hoping to set up programs in other countries could be creating new sources of revenues and enriching their staff and students, especially those looking at employment in the global market, Bone said.

The conference attracted the participation of officials from the Ministry of Education and Training as well as more than 200 representatives from UK and Vietnamese higher education institutions.

Looking at the potential for partnerships between institutions in the two countries, the conference emphasized that Southeast Asia in general, and Vietnam in particular, contains great opportunities for transnational education because of these countries’ fast growing economies, expanding education markets and populations that value education.

So far, 18 UK institutions have registered as partners with Vietnamese institutions.

In January, the British Council had commissioned a study that highlighted perceptions, attitudes, barriers and opportunities for transnational education partnerships in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia from the perspective of both UK and local institutions and students.

The study, which polled students in 11 local institutions in each of the three countries, found that Vietnamese students show higher intention to study overseas and that those of all three countries have a strong interest in either studying abroad or enrolling in a program associated with foreign institutions.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Le Huong, deputy director general of MoET’s Higher Education Department, Vietnam is committed to have its higher education “reach advanced levels in the region and approach the world’s advanced levels” by 2020.

In 2005, the government approved the plan to develop the higher education sector until 2020, with priorities such as promoting need-based training, training 20,000 doctorates among faculty members in universities and colleges, introducing a 10-year program of English in schools and developing world-class universities.

Bone suggested that UK institutions wanting to expand their programs overseas first partner with a local institution before considering setting up their overseas campuses.

The annual UK education exhibition will be held in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang on October 20 and 22 respectively.

Reported by Huong Le