Launch of the VOYAGE project at the Hanoi University's premises

On the 23^rd of June 2016, the Hanoi University has officially launched the VOYAGE project, coordinated by AlmaLaurea and co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, to involve all the 2016 graduating students in the project activities.

The event, organized in two sessions during the day, attracted more than 1000 graduating students from all the sixteen bachelor courses proposed by Hanoi University.

Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach, the Director of Studies from the Hanoi University, welcomed the students with his opening remarks, emphasizing the importance of their participation in the project as well as the project benefits in terms of increased employability and students’ contribution to the improvement of the quality of the higher education in the country.

Mr. Nguyen Dan Tam, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Enterprise Support of The Hanoi Industrial Zones Authority, a partner institution representing the Vietnamese business world, introduced the role of the Centre in supporting graduating students in Hanoi.

With 19 Industrial Zones around Hanoi hosting large multinational businesses, Hanoi Industrial Zones are among the most favorite choices for graduating students to boost their career. Until 2020, Hanoi Industrial Zones (HIZA) is expected to create a total revenue of 200,000 billion VND and 500,000 jobs.

In order to promote the quantity and quality of the employees in the workforce, HIZA is committed to support Vietnamese universities, especially those involved in the VOYAGE project, to bridge the academia – industry gap, notably providing students with trainings on job-related skills.

Representatives of Italian businesses also joined the event to present the employment opportunities of European business in Vietnam as well as in Europe. As students from the Hanoi University are well-trained in the major languages used in the European Union such as English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, the VOYAGE project will be an important linkage that will open them the door to the EU labour market.

After the formal speeches, the VOYAGE researcher team leader, Dr. Hoang Gia Thu, Dean of Faculty, demonstrated the use of the VOYAGE platform for matching demand and supply of qualified labour. The graduating students explored the platform by establishing their login accounts and browsing the survey questionnaires right on their smart phones. A help desk person, with email, Facebook account and hotline information, was also introduced to the students as a contact point for further questions.

Following the Hanoi University, the other VOYAGE partner institutions, the National University of Arts and Education and the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, will launch soon the VOYAGE project at their premises.