Singaporean institute opens Ho Chi Minh City office, joining growing list of global education hubs

The representative office of Hanbridge Institute began operations in Binh Tay Ward following an opening ceremony on Sunday.

Registered in Singapore since 2003, the institute holds EduTrust certification, which is required under Singapore regulations for private education institutions enrolling international students for full-time study and helping them obtain a Student's Pass.

Dr. Alan Go, Chairman of the Academic Board at Hanbridge Institute, said the institute wanted an on-the-ground presence in Vietnam to reach learners and develop closer partnerships.

The office will enable the institute to work more regularly with partners rather than relying mainly on student recruitment activities, Go said.

In the longer term, the institute plans to use the office to seek joint programs and explore opportunities to cooperate with Vietnamese partners on training programs in Vietnam, he added.

Nguyen Huynh Nhu Oanh, deputy chairwoman of the Binh Tay Ward administration, said demand for education, further training, international programs and professional skills development was increasing among students and workers.

The presence of international education organizations would give local learners more opportunities to access diverse educational programs and expand their study and career prospects, she said.

Vietnam had 31 representative offices of foreign education institutions as of May 31, 2025, according to a document released by the Ministry of Education and Training and the British Council, with many of them concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City.

Most recently, in early July 2026, the representative office of INTENSE, a well-known Taiwan-based program that trains international human resources in line with business needs, was established at the International Training Office of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology under Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City.

Other foreign institutions have also established a presence in the city, including Singapore Management University, which opened a representative office in 2024; Australia's University of Sydney, which launched the University of Sydney Vietnam Institute in June 2024; and the University of Hong Kong, which opened a representative office in 2022.

Earlier, Bangkok University of Thailand established a representative office in 2015, followed by the U.S.'s Arizona State University in 2011 and Japan's University of Tsukuba in 2009.

Adding to this trend, a representative of a top 1 percent Australian university said the institution plans to establish a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City in 2027.

Under current plans, the office will serve as a permanent liaison with Vietnamese universities to expand joint training programs and seek local partners for scientific and technological projects.

The representative noted that the regulatory environment for administrative procedures in Vietnam is currently favorable, expressing confidence that a physical presence in Ho Chi Minh City will accelerate the implementation of collaborative ventures.