On July 10th, 2015 in New York City, New York, the Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV) Project of the Trust for University Innovation in Vietnam (TUIV) was ceremonially granted the investment certificate by the Management Board of Saigon High-Tech Park, Ho Chi Minh City. TUIV is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and chaired by Thomas Vallely, Director of the Vietnam Program at Harvard University.
According to the investment certificate, FUV is headquartered at a 15 hectare land plot in Saigon High-Tech Park, Ho Chi Minh City. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foreign invested university, FUV will offer research and education in public policy and management, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), medicine, social sciences, humanities, and inter-disciplinary sciences.
The FUV Project plans to start its construction in 2016 with an investment capital of USD 70 million, including USD 5.3 million in the initial phase (by 2016), USD 20 million in the second phase (2017-2020) and USD 44.7 million in the third phase (2020-2030).
The investment certificate granting ceremony is held during the official visit to the United States by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, who witnessed the certificate being granted to TUIV by Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, on behalf of the city.
"I fully share your vision: the development of FUV is for the sake of our people, and for the sake of our higher education enterprise. Implemented effectively, it will be a nonprofit university with a modern governance system that provides new knowledge appropriate with Vietnam's needs, through modern methodologies that enhance skills, understanding and practical application—I fully approve all of these priorities. Mr. Thomas Vallely observed that a level of autonomy greater than that enjoyed by other universities will be required and I am in complete agreement," General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong remarks at the ceremony.
In the United States – Vietnam Joint Vision Statement on July 7th, 2015, President Barrack Obama and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong recognized the bilateral educational collaboration endeavor exemplified by the FUV initiative. One of the achievements of the official visit by Mr. Secretary General is Vietnam's endorsement for the establishment license for FUV.
After the Prime Minister's in-principle approval of the FUV Project in Ho Chi Minh City last June, the investment certificate is a significant milestone in the advancement of FUV Project. In the coming months, FUV Project will work closely with the Ministry of Education and Training, Ho Chi Minh City Peoples' Committee, and other government authorities to complete the establishment procedures.
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