NEW YORK: American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam on Saturday granted scholarships to brilliant undergraduates in 12 universities across Ho Chi Minh City under its AmCham Scholarship 2015 program, the chamber said the same day in a press release.
Fifty winners and 27 runners-up were named at the award presentation ceremony yesterday for satisfactorily passing the four intensive assessment rounds of AmCham Scholarship 2015.
Winners received scholarships valued at VND10 million (U$437) each, while each of the runners-up went home with VND4 million ($175).
One hundred and eighty-one scholarships, valued at 5.5 million ($241) each, which were offered by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, were also given away at the Saturday ceremony.
The grants total VND1.6 billion ($69,991).
All AmCham Scholarship recipients were required to be Vietnamese undergraduates in their third year and above of the 2015-16 academic year from 12 universities in the city, including seven member universities of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (University of Technology, University of Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Economics and Law, University of Information Technology, International University, School of Medicine), Foreign Trade University, Banking University, Hoa Sen University, University of Law, and University of Technical Education.
For the School of Medicine, students should be in their fifth year and above.
Some of the AmCham Scholarship 2015 recipients. Photo: Cong Nhat/Tuoi Tre News
The scholarship recipients prided themselves on outstanding academic performance, fluent communication in English, and active participation in extracurricular activities after an extensive, three-month-long assessment process.
The scholarship assessment process is similar to the recruitment process at many multinational companies, which helps thoroughly evaluate the candidates’ abilities and arm them with skills integral to entering a professional working environment.
The AmCham Scholarship 2015 program attracted more than 450 applications from students in various majors, ranging from business, social sciences to science and technology.
The annual AmCham Scholarship program is part of the AmCham efforts to improve the business environment in Vietnam by helping build quality human resources for its member companies and aiding students to acquire essential professional working skills.
This year, AmCham is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the AmCham Scholarship.
“In the future, we would like to increase the number of scholarships, while maintaining the program’s high quality. A key factor will be to develop ideas to increase English language capabilities, to increase sponsorships, and to transform the interview stage in some way,” Herb Cochran, executive director of AmCham, divulged in the press release.
Apart from financial support, AmCham scholars will also have the chance to be involved in certain AmCham activities, join the AmCham Scholar Alumni Club, and be recognized by nearly 500 AmCham member companies.
Since 2001, AmCham has awarded 705 scholarships in total.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam is an independent association of American and international businesses.
