MoU to Create Opportunities for Education Sector

Earlier this month Mayor Tom Tate, Chief Innovation & Economy Officer Ian Hatton and Study Gold Coast CEO took part in a virtual MoU signing with Da Nang. The Vietnamese city of 1.2 million people is the commercial and education centre of central Vietnam and also has a flourishing tourism sector. In establishing this relationship Mayor Tate observed that both the Gold Coast and Da Nang share many similarities including topography (ocean, river and mountains) and industries (tourism, education, marine, innovation).

With a total population in excess of 97 million, Vietnam has a highly open and dynamic economy following more than 30 years of reform with extensive domestic and international integration. The country has experienced such rapid growth that it is projected to soon become one of the ten fastest growing economies in the world.

Important Step 

In 2019 there were just over 26,000 Vietnamese student enrolments in Australia with 322 of those choosing to study on the Gold Coast. Study Gold Coast CEO says: “Clearly there is a huge opportunity for our city to develop its profile in Vietnam, particularly in a place like Da Nang which shares so many similarities with the Gold Coast. This signing of this MoU is a very important step for the Gold Coast education sector.”  

The virtual signing took place at Council Chambers with Vietnamese Southern Cross University student (and Mayor's Student Ambassador) Mia Nguyen providing translation of the Mayor's speech and supporting commentary. Mia was invited by the Mayor's Office to act as the official translator for proceedings and in that capacity made some translation changes to the Mayor's speech and liaised with the Foreign Affairs Office in Da Nang during preparations for the virtual signing of the agreement.

The Memorandum of Understanding to Establish Friendship and Cooperation is the first step in the creation of an international sister city partnership between Da Nang and the Gold Coast.