Da Nang City, Vietnam – On February 22, 2019, Arizona State University and The American University in Vietnam in collaboration with Boeing Training and Professional Services hosted an Aviation Alliance Retreat to address aviation workforce needs, gaps and opportunities in Vietnam. The event attended by experts, leaders and aviation professionals from industry, government and education sectors.
“Arizona State University is excited to be part of this innovative public-private partnership to create a scalable and innovative solution to support the rapid growth of the Aviation sector in Vietnam. For the past 10 years, ASU has led national scale capacity projects in STEM education development and this is another important project to engage with our partner AUV,” said Jeffrey Goss, Associate Vice Provost for SE Asia, Arizona State University
Over the last decade, the Vietnam aviation sector has experienced significant annual growth averaging over 17.4 percent, far higher than the 7.9 percent growth in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAC), the passenger traffic through airports is estimated to reach 131 million by 2020 with an average growth rate of 16 percent per year from now until 2020; and by 2030, passenger air traffic is forecasted at 280 million per year at 8 percent annual growth rate. And by 2035, the International Air Transport Association predict Vietnam will become the 5th fastest growing aviation market.
The participants had a dynamic and open discussion about the key educational and training skills and competencies needed today and into the future to support the fast-growing aviation sector. The participants had a chance to hear from an industry panel, highlighting the importance of developing new models and innovations in education and training to fit the learning needs of a new generation of aviation students. The panel emphasized the need for close collaboration between academic partners and industry in the development of curricula and applied, active learning experiences for students to be work ready.
Panel from right to left: Moderator: Henry Nguyen, University of Missouri Professor and AUV Advisory Board member; Patrick Curtin, General Manager, Boeing Flight Services; Mai Trang Thanh, President, Honeywell Indochina; Stephen Chung, Vice President, ST Engineering Aerospace Technical Training; To Viet Thang, Vice President, VietJet Air; To Dinh Dung, Director of Center for Research and Implementation, Vietnam Airlines.
Participants noted that aviation-related skills are highly valued and will be in high demand in the next couple of decades. In addition, a strong theme interwoven through many of the conversations on the importance of inclusion of women in the profession.
“Our objective is to develop an Aviation School and Center of Excellence for Vietnam and broader ASEAN to create a pipeline of graduates to support a strong, sustainable and safe aviation industry to serve the current and projected future growth of air travelers in the future,” said Tran Nguyen Thy Binh, Chancellor and Chair of Board of Trustees, American University in Vietnam.
The meeting is the first step in establishing an Aviation Center of Excellence with action plans to develop a comprehensive project plan led by Arizona State University, The American University in Vietnam, and industry and government partners. A follow-up meeting is scheduled in Hanoi later in May to present the partnership and project plan to key industry and government leaders to formalize a plan forward.