BUV and Ecopark raise the bar higher

The new British University Vietnam (BUV) campus will occupy a 6.5ha area in Ecopark, located in Hung Yen province’s Van Giang district, some 20km away from Hanoi’s centre. Using a capital infusion of $70 million, the campus will host a full-time student population of 7,000 upon its completion.

Construction of the new campus will be divided into three phases, providing Vietnamese and foreign students with world-class teaching and learning facilities, international faculties, globally-recognised degrees, as well as world-class recreation and student development facilities.

The first phase of construction, designed to cover around a 3ha area with nearly $25 million in total investment capital, is expected to commence operation before the end of 2017 with a capacity of 1,200 students.

The project will compliment the foreign direct investment flow of education into Hung Yen province and throughout Vietnam in general, helping to improve education quality by launching a global standard learning environment for Vietnamese students, and by reinforcing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) latest worldwide ranking in education.

OECD’s latest education ranking puts Vietnam in 12th place, ahead of Poland and the UK.

Once in operation, the new campus will be the first UK-standard teaching environment in Vietnam. It will accommodate study, research, and personal development through learning theatres, self-study areas and designated teamwork areas.

A sports and entertainment complex will also be built to create an active learning environment. With this aim at the core of their investment, BUV has chosen international architects and construction supervisors to handle design and development.

All the processes, from design to construction and quality supervision will be performed by foreign contractors. This is to ensure that not only the qualifications and the education, but also the building and environment are truly world-class.

“Our new Ecopark campus in Hung Yen province will act as the foundation for BUV in Vietnam and we are proud to commit such a long-term investment in Vietnam’s education,” said BUV’s general director Jesse David Boone.

As for why BUV has chosen to build their new major campus in Ecopark, Boone said: “We are impressed by the progress of development at Ecopark, especially the efforts in creating a leading educational service hub for our citizens.”

Most recently, Ecopark was honoured as the Best Mixed-use Development Project at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2014-2015.

In the running for the award were several major regional players, but Ecopark remained triumphant in this category for the third consecutive year.

International experts praised Ecopark for its careful planning, vision of sustainable development, excellent facilities and features, and rapid growth over recent years.

Dao Ngoc Thanh, general director of the Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Holding Company (Vihajico), the developer of Ecopark, said: “With the co-operation between Ecopark and prestigious education institutions like British University Vietnam, world-class education will become more accessible to young Vietnamese people.”

Thanh also said they had set a development vision for Ecopark, which focused on cultivating a high-quality living environment with associated facilities for the resident community.

“The new campus construction at Ecopark has shown BUV’s commitment to sustainable development in Vietnam. The modern, high-standard UK teaching environment which we are aiming to create will help more Vietnamese students to obtain a world-class, highly-recognised education right here in their home country,” said Christopher Jeffery, dean of BUV.

According to Jeffery, from the first year of studies onwards, students will be offered internships with international employers as well as international field trips and opportunities to study abroad.

“Educational institutions need to grow sustainably. At BUV, we are committed to giving Vietnamese students not only the knowledge and critical thinking skills, but also the professional working skills to keep pace with the global employment market’s rapid growth,” Jeffery added.

In early April this year, BUV general director Jesse David Boone met Hung Yen province’s management authorities regarding the upcoming 6.5ha new campus.

Boone proposed support from the provincial management to ensure that the project’s progress was on schedule.

The provincial management welcomed BUV’s efforts and decision to choose Hung Yen as an investment location, and strongly advised BUV to follow the proposed schedule.

They pledged to create favorable conditions for the completion of the project as “it would provide an added benefit to the province on a grander scale”, the province executives were quoted as saying on the occasion.

Founded in 2009, BUV is regarded as a successful higher-education co-operation model between Vietnam and UK governments.

This is the first and only university in Vietnam fully licensed to deliver undergraduate degree programmes awarded by the University of London (one of the top five leading universities in the UK) and Staffordshire University.

BUV students have opportunities to study with an entirely foreign faculty in a modern learning environment that has been designed for the 21st century student, enabling them to develop their knowledge and capabilities to the fullest and in-line with international standards.

In 2014, BUV was awarded Registered Centre status by the University of London International Programmes. Notably, it is only one of only 75 institutions in the world that has been awarded this status.

At its current Hanoi-based campus, BUV is teaching a Banking & Finance programme awarded by University of London, and four other programmes awarded by Staffordshire University: International Business Management, Marketing Management, Accounting & Business, and Accounting & Finance.

In 2015, BUV became the first international university in Vietnam that was granted permission by the Ministry of Education and Training to conduct full time BA degree

programmes on Finance and Economics. The programme is awarded by BUV and validated by Staffordshire University.