Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program

Even as Vietnam’s historic socioeconomic transformation continues, Vietnam is confronting complex new challenges for which there are no simple solutions. In contrast to earlier stages of Doi Moi, the Vietnamese economy is today deeply integrated into the global trading and financial systems. For Vietnamese policymakers, this means that every policy decision must take into account rapidly shifting international conditions.

As this catalog goes to press, Vietnam is for the first time in twenty years confronting serious challenges to its macroeconomic stability. The public sector must allocate its limited resources more effectively if Vietnam is to retain a sustainable, long-term growth trajectory. The rapid pace of urbanization also poses great challenges. If Vietnam’s urban areas are to successfully absorb the current influx of new residents, Vietnam’s policymakers and public managers must become far more adept at providing the hard and soft infrastructure needed to sustain smooth socioeconomic development.

These problems, and many others, are placing new, heavy demands on the Vietnamese public sector. At the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (commonly known as the Fulbright School), we are dedicated to analyzing these challenges and devising innovative solutions to them. Fulbright School faculty and our colleagues from institutions inside and outside Vietnam, including the the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (Harvard Kennedy School), coordinate closely with the Vietnamese government to produce policy analysis that is timely, practical, and critical.

Through our teaching we aim to provide the next generation of public sector leaders with the skills and experience they need to address the policy challenges of tomorrow.

The year 2008 marks an important turning point for the Fulbright School. We are delighted to announce the establishment of a two-year Master in Public Policy (MPP) program; the first of its kind in Vietnam. It is the result of hard work by Fulbright School faculty and close coordination amongst our partner institutions, the University of Economics-Ho Chi Minh City and the Harvard Kennedy School, and Vietnamese government counterparts.

The Fulbright School MPP draws inspiration from the Harvard Kennedy School’s own public policy degree program. However, we recognize that Vietnamese policymakers require a curriculum that takes into account the unique challenges of implementing policies in a developing and transition country. It is for this reason that the MPP program is expressly tailored to Vietnam’s development context.

Also new in 2008-2009 is the Fulbright School Vietnam Leaders in Development Program, an intensive executive program for public sector leaders. Through research-based teaching and discussion led by Fulbright School and Harvard Kennedy School faculty, participants analyze the policy problems they face and develop the strategic tools needed to align public policies with Vietnam’s long-term development objectives. Senior decision-makers admitted to the Vietnam Leaders in Development Program can expect a challenging learning environment and an engaging and thought-provoking experience that will expand their abilities as leaders and managers.

Students at the Fulbright School are not passive recipients of an imparted body of knowledge but are instead active participants in a knowledge creation enterprise that is unique in Vietnam. In the following pages you will have an opportunity to meet members of the Fulbright School community and learn more about our activities.

Additional information about the Fulbright School MPP, the Vietnam Leaders in Development Program, and our other activities is available on our website: http://www.fetp.edu.vn.

We look forward to hearing from you.