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International Trade between Vietnam and the US
Vietnam has been considered one of the largest beneficiaries in the US-China trade war as companies shift their production out of China to avoid tariffs. A business faculty-led program focusing on International Trade is a good way for your students to learn about the culture, how people do business as well as the key drives behind the impressive economic growth of one of Asia's new tigers.
Request for proposal
Through the program, we hope the students will be able to experience Vietnam to the fullest and learn deeply about:
- Trade relations between Vietnam and the US through a visit to the U.S Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City or American Chamber in Vietnam
- How to invest in Vietnam through visits to U.S-owned companies in Vietnam, law/consulting firms
- How Vietnamese-owned companies start doing business with US companies and their strategies to enter the US market/ expand globally
- Different models of how Vietnamese companies in fields like financial services, tech, logistics, e-commerce, start-up, etc have prepared to faster grow and benefit from international trade opportunities (including the US-China trade war) and what are the opportunities for their peers in the US?
- Vietnamese culture: how culture affects the way people do business in Vietnam
Potential list of companies to visit: Nike, Intel, Cocacola, KMS, PwC, Momo, Lazada/Tiki, Standard Chartered, Coats
Possible Universities to exchange: Fulbright University Vietnam, University of Economics HCMC, Foreign Trade University HCMC
Tentative location: Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon or the Pearl of the far East
Duration: 13 days
Tentative Program Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in HCMC
Afternoon/Evening: airport pick up, hotel check-in
Official check-in time is 14:00
Day 2: Orientation
Morning: FREE
Afternoon: Onsite Orientation
Students will have an orientation with the site team. Program itinerary, safety, and survival tips and a basic Vietnamese language lesson will be covered.
Evening: Welcome dinner with authentic Vietnamese foods
Day 3: City tour
The purpose of this tour is to let the students understand how resilient Vietnam and its people were throughout the Vietnam War.
Day 4: Guest Lecture & China Town Visit
Day 5: Company visits
Day 6: Day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels
Visiting one of the world’s biggest manmade network of connecting tunnels to learn how innovative and resilient the people of Vietnam were during the wartime, what community life meant back then and how people made friends with and relied on nature to protect them.
Day 7: Company visits
Day 8 & 9: Overnight tour to the Mekong Delta
A trip for students to see the biggest “rice bowl” of Vietnam, the main drive behind Vietnam being the 3rd rice exporter in the world at the same time experience life in a water world where boats, houses, and markets float upon innumerable rivers, canals, and streams. The Mekong Delta is also home to many of Vietnam’s most delicious dishes.
Day 10: Volunteer Day & Street Food Tour
Volunteer at a not-for-profit restaurant for people with low-income in the morning and discover the delicious and colorful street food scene of Ho Chi Minh City through a food tour with our local guide(s) in the afternoon
Day 11: Free
Morning & Afternoon: Free
Recommended activities: Independence Palace, Ben Thanh Market, Bui Vien Walking Street, etc
Day 12: Company visits
Day 13: Departure from Vietnam
Morning/Noon: Check out of hotel
Official check-out time is 12:00 PM
Afternoon/Evening: Flight back to the US - End of program
Activities listed are subject to change in case of unexpected circumstances and company/organization’s unavailability.
We customize the itinerary to best meet your needs and objectives; thus there will be no programs at the same price.
What's usually included in our price?
- Airport transfer
- Accommodation: 3-star hotel, twin room, same-gender/room, single room for university faculty, free Wi-Fi and room service
- Meals: Breakfast at hotel; welcome and farewell dinners; other meals as listed in the itinerary
- Program development
- Program coordinator accompanies the group in every activity for the whole program;
- Local buddies arrangement (if requested)
- On-site orientation;
- Company visits arrangement;
- Guide and entrance fees for all excursions as listed in the itinerary
- Transportation as described in the program itinerary
- 24/7 emergency contact number (SOS card);
- All gratuities to bus drivers, tour guides and/ or similar;
- Fee for at least 1 faculty or employee from the university to join in program activities with students in Vietnam.
Step 1: If you are interested in working with us for a Customized FLP, please take some minutes to fill out this online questionnaire. Our representative then will contact you for a free consultation to discuss your program in more detail.
Step 2: We finalize and send you the program proposal to ask for your institution’s approval
Step 3: Implementation
At your end:
- Market your program on campus & process students’ applications
- Finalize academic content for your program
- Collect students’ program fees
- Work closely with Abroader's representative to finalize all activities and logistics (airfare, housing, airport pickup, classroom, excursions, etc.) needed for your program
- Hold pre-departure meeting and orientation
At our end
- Finalize the whole program schedule
- Produce or support with the production of marketing materials for your program
- Arrange all necessary logistics and cultural excursions to support your program
- Support with the pre-departure meeting and orientation
Step 4: You and your students arrive in Vietnam – your program starts.
Step 5: While in Vietnam, you teach the course, and we implement the logistics and cultural excursions for your program.
Step 6: Your program ends – the group departs from Vietnam. After you return home, there will be an evaluation meeting for us to review your program for future improvements and planning.
No words can represent how much experience I have gained throughout my internship in Vietnam. Working at my host company as a research assistant, I have gained many technical and soft skills, such as participating in lab undergraduate training courses, doing lab testing services and also learning the culture of Vietnam with the Vietnamese people. After this internship, I realized that I could adapt myself to a different and foreign environment. This enables me to be able to work with a more diverse environment, even with colleagues with different background and knowledge. This pushes me as an employee to learn and work even harder to cope and manage with different people and adapt accordingly to the needs of the company. All in all, I feel that it was a breathtaking experience for me to have this opportunity to immerse myself with the Vietnam culture with the Vietnamese people, and I am really thankful to have taken up this internship experience with ABROADER for letting me experience such a new life.
The funniest moment I had during my internship experience was that I had to CHASE down a bus when I was on the way to work. It was a really funny one as I have this mindset that the buses in Vietnam would wait for you to board before it starts to drive again. However, the bus did not even stop moving and kept on driving, and left me behind the bus stop. Since that day onwards, I ensure myself not to miss the bus by chasing the bus down before the driver closes its door on me.
Thank you ABROADER for this memorable experience!
Kelvin On
Biology & Environment Internship ,Republic Polytechnic, Singapore
I am so incredibly lucky that I have people and things that make saying goodbye to Hanoi incredibly difficult. For if I did not have them, that would have meant I wasted nearly three months internship in Vietnam. I was able to make friends, experience the culture, learn a little Vietnamese in the process; all those things became part of me and make it that much more difficult to say farewell to them.
Maile Moore
Public Health Internship ,Oregon State University, USA
The local buddies were amazing!! Such a wonderful experience!! I would recommend to everyone, even if you don’t know anyone else. Was such a great time meeting new people and exploring a culture that was so welcoming. Due to the local buddies we got to experience the local side of Vietnam and all the places the average tourist won’t get to see. I also know my class mates at lot better. I have made connections with industry professionals that will stay with me after I graduate. Loved it!!!!!!!!!!
Baillie Wheatly
Electrical Engineering and Computing Study Tour ,University of Newcastle, Australia
Vietnam, from my experience, is a very work-oriented and relationship-oriented country. You must come prepared to work a lot, learn a lot, and you absolutely must not try to apply the logic or expectation that you would have in the West. This will do little to nothing to help you and will hinder your ability to learn. Come here with the mindset of a student, not an authoritative figure. There is much to learn in Vietnam that will be very valuable to you wherever you work or live, and it is important that you come to Vietnam with an open and unexpecting mind, so that when you go home you will have been able to learn, enjoy and apply your experiences to your future in a positive way.
Come to Vietnam with the ability to motivate and add value to people’s lives. Set an example for people, and remember that you are at all times representing you country, university and culture, so make an impression that will stand out as a positive one. Make friends as much as possible and when you can try to study the language as much as possible, even if it is just the language that relates to your job. Doing these two basic things will make living and working here quite enjoyable.
Jack Sherpa
Hospitality & Tourism Internship ,University of Oregon, USA
Everything so far, from preparation before departure to the whole internship execution has been good. But what I am most satisfied with must be the helpfullness from the local buddy and coordinators through the whole process. Eventhough I am a more independent individual and have no problem exploring new places alone, I felt that their presence made me feel more safe and that I have friends in this new environment.
All in all a great experience that I would not have gone without. One of the best experiences I have had. For my internship, however, there was a big part of the different tasks I could not be involved in because of the language barrier. They have given me a great experience and done at great deal to show me the process from how everything works in the different departments/shops to taken me out to see the farm where the organic products grow. They have kept me well informed and all in all been a great place to work. If there is anything I would suggest for improvement it would be better if there were more tasks that could be done in English.
I am really happy with my experience and definitely will recommend it to anyone friends who are interested.
Trine Hansen
Marketing Internship ,Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
I had a great experience interning in Vietnam, I made new friends, experienced new things and learned a lot through the program. ABROADER's staff were really helpful and friendly, making me and the other interns here get used to life in Vietnam. Being an engineering student, I was placed in an engineering company. There, I learned a lot about working life and knowledge that would help me in my future. I also got to experience Vietnam's culture, their way of life and explored the country. Overall, I had a good time over the 5 months I was in Vietnam, experiences good or bad, will likely stick with me for the rest of my life.
Harris Bin Hazri
Technical Sales in Engineering Internship ,Republic Polytechnic, Singapore
Overall, I think I had a really fun time and enjoyed the many different kind of activities. At first, I was quite nervous about going somewhere overseas alone to do internship but it was definitely worth it. I not only got work experience but learnt about the culture in Vietnam which I would never had a chance to do if I hadn’t come.
Elena Tokukatsu
Marketing Internship ,Keio University, Japan
When people ask me how I changed this summer, I tell them I aged eight years. Because the best way I know how to encompass all that I learned and how I matured is to change my ‘real’ age from 20 to someone much older. I feel wise in the least pretentious way and armed with enough life knowledge to take on the world. I know I could not have gained this much independence in Corvallis and I doubt I could have achieved it anywhere else in the world. Still, Vietnam taught me that simplicity does not repel complexity, that I can do anything, and, most importantly, that there is a big world out there to explore. “My first internship placement, at Bac Lung Secondary School, was excellent. I love living and teaching there, and I wish I could have stayed the entire time. I felt like I was making an important contribution in the community in allowing the students to learn English from a foreigner when they might not get that chance otherwise. Obviously, having to move and change everything halfway through my internship was not ideal. Since I came to Vietnam expecting to live in the countryside and teach English the entire time, the move to the city, where I could no longer teach, was frustrating. That being said, my experience in Hanoi ended up much better than I could have expected, and I am grateful for the opportunity to go outside my comfort zone living in the city. One of the best parts of my experience was the local buddy system. […] it was invaluable for me to have him (the local buddy) as a support and confidant. My experience would not have been the same without him.
Monica Anderson
Education Internship ,Oregon State University, USA
I enjoyed the time in Ho Chi Minh city. The experience was much better than I expected. I came with an open mind to face anything, but everything was smooth and easy. The host organisation is satisfying. They tried their best to help me learn. It was satisfying. I would do this again if I get the chance. The abroader staff was really friendly and they prepared everything for me before I landed in Vietnam. So I did not have to worry about anything. I am satisfied with the program and I would recommend this program 100%.
Dan Fernando
Trainer & Communication Internship ,Deakin University, Australia
The study tour was a great was to experience Vietnam. The academic industry visits provided insights into how the manufacturing industry operates in SE Asia, relevant to our engineering course on Control Systems. Then many cultural experiences helped out understanding of the Vietnamese people and how the modern country has been shaped through the conflicts of the 20th century. Visiting the Mekong Delta was a highlight of the trip, living at a homestead and preparing/cooking a tradition Vietnamese meal was amazing. Overall the local buddies that helped us on our trip were amazing, providing us an insight into Vietnam through the eyes of other young adults.
Nicholas Zander
Electrical Engineering and Computing Study Tour ,University of Newcastle, Australia