Australian Ambassador H.E. Mr Craig Chittick hosted over sixty Australia Awards and Endeavour alumni, who recently returned to Vietnam upon completing their post-graduate studies in Australia, at a ceremony in Hanoi on 11 May 2017. Their supervisors were also invited to the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Mr Chittick stressed the importance of the alumni to Vietnam’s development and Vietnam and Australia links.
Australia Ambassador, H.E. Mr Craig Chittick, addresses the alumni.
“Education is the cornerstone in Australia and Vietnam’s partnership. For us, the most important thing is what you do next after your studies, how you apply your new knowledge to your family, workplace, community and to Vietnam’s social and economic development. I am very optimistic that you are going to help Vietnam reach its destination. Vietnam’s success and security is a key national interest of Australia,” Mr Chittick said.
Mr Dao Dang Manh (Master of Business Information Management, La Trobe University) explained that his studies in Australia changed him in different ways. “I became more confident and dared to take risks and tried to make changes,” he said. As President of Vietnamese Students’ Association, Mr Manh was granted the 2016 La Trobe Student Union Leadership Award for his contributions to the international student community at La Trobe. “For us, completing our studies in Australia is similar to finishing a mission. The next mission is to contribute to our country,” added Mr Manh, a project team leader at the Ministry of Finance.
Another alumnus, Ms Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh (Master of Biotechnology Research Extensive, University of Queensland), who recently received the John Kapeleris Medal for Biotechnology for her excellent study results, said that her time in Australia helped her to “achieve the knowledge and skills” that she “had never known or done before.” “Now is the time for us to implement what we have learned in Australia to make a better Vietnam, a better Australia-Vietnam relationship and, at a higher level, a better world. This task is not easy because conditions in Vietnam and Australia are very different. However, with skills that we learned and support from Australia Awards alumni, I believe that we can make it,” she added.
The alumni returned from their studies in Australia to work in a diverse range of sectors (central and provincial governments, NGOs, academic institutions and the private sector). They work in different parts of Vietnam and in various fields, including environment, banking, law, public security, agriculture, English language teaching and special education.
Australia Awards alumni pose with Australia Ambassador H.E. Mr Craig Chittick for a group photo.
