Australia is considered an attractive address for Vietnamese students because it has a world-acclaimed education system. As we near the 40th anniversary of Vietnam - Australia diplomatic relations, the Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Ms Pham Thi Duong, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of New Ocean Investment Joint Stock Company, which has become a prestigious bridge for study and cultural exchange between Vietnam and Australia. Quang Sang reports.
How do you assess the study environment in Australia in comparison with that of Singapore, Japan, South Korea or other countries?
The climate in Australia is suitable for Vietnamese people to study, to live, and to travel. Australia is known for its very friendly and hospitable people who are always open and ready to help you to integrate into their environment.
As regards the education market, as we all know, Australia is a very good study destination because of professional training quality and internationally recognised qualification systems. Coming to Australia, students will have the opportunity to study and rub shoulders with society, under regulations allowing students to work up to 20 hours a week to gain practical experience and earn their living.
We see that study expenses in Australia are much higher than that of other markets, but this is also proportional to the quality of education that students receive when they study here. After they graduate, many students are granted green cards to work in Australia and many return to Vietnam to work, assuming high positions in Vietnamese and international companies and organisations.
Under the Australian government visa policy, Vietnamese students do not have to prove their financial capacity (neither undergraduate nor postgraduate). This is very convenient because Vietnamese people often find it hard to prove financial capacity. Hopefully, after opening this visa review policy, more students will come to Australia. Especially, New Ocean was one of the five most prestigious overseas study companies in the northern region to be invited to contribute its input to the new visa policy change in 2012, initiated by the Australian Embassy in April 2012. The new policy has created more favourable conditions for Vietnamese students to study in Australia.
In this very competitive market of overseas study consultancy and support, would you mind sharing some of the strong points that New Ocean is determined to build up for its brand name, as well as corporate culture?
For New Ocean, the principles and highlights of building identity, culture and brand name are to build a prestigious, professional, committed and effective working environment. We always provide all information necessary for students, parents and partners. We constantly strive to improve all the services we provide. Our staff are at all times dedicated, supportive and attentively communicative with customers. We always strive to fulfil our service quality commitments to customers. Our branding principle is to diversify services to better serve the needs of more customers. We actively organise major cultural and educational events to create a playing field for young people. Most recently, we held an educational exhibition at the Melia Hotel with more than 300 attendees.
In addition to professional activities, New Ocean also organises pro-community activities like the New Ocean Football Cup. Would you be kind enough to provide more information about the significance and value of these activities?
With the desire to create a useful, healthy playground for students, especially with the most popular sport, football, we have attracted the participation of a lot of schools. Besides, these events make schools, students and social organisations more confident in the service quality of New Ocean. The New Ocean Cup 2012 has been successful beyond our expectations. This encourages us to make this an annual event.
So, what is the key to creating a more open and efficient investment environment in the two countries, especially relating to the expansion and strengthening of cooperative activities in which New Ocean is engaged?
From the business angle, in my opinion, businesses must make every effort to strengthen cooperation. With support policies of the two governments, businesses are the centre because they are directly involved in cooperative activities.
New Ocean also maps out its own development strategies for the three business fields of foreign language training, overseas study consulting and travel, thus contributing to general cooperation between Vietnam and Australia. With our strength in overseas study consulting, we have organised Australian study workshops across the country to introduce information about the study environment in Australia. As regards our second business line, New Ocean sees foreign languages as the key to unlock the gate to the world. With our current two training centres on Thai Ha and Tran Dai Nghia, and a future centre in Cau Giay, we can spread knowledge for students to know the world, including Australia.
Regarding tourism, New Ocean has tried to help people explore the beauty of Vietnam and Australia. We hope that the Australian side will facilitate cultural exchanges for students of the two countries, and that the two countries will have more favourable tourism policies.
Thank you very much!
Vietnamese
