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The Master's Degree in Development Economics (MDE) is a two-year full-time degree taught in English by Vietnamese lecturers who have been trained abroad and by visiting lecturers from abroad. The curriculum, which has been developed in Vietnam and in Europe, focuses on applying economic theory to the policy challenges facing Vietnam. Students undertake foundation core and specialization courses, while a substantial thesis requirement pushes them to develop their independent analytical capacities. Six years of teaching and other assistance from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, The Netherlands, funded through Dutch development co-operation, has enabled the degree to achieve and maintain international standards in the teaching of economics. 

Origin

Since the late 1980s, Vietnam has undergone a remarkable process of radical economic reform, which has laid the foundation for the development of the private sector and transition to a market economy. However, knowledge, experience and understanding of the working of a market economy is still insufficient. In this context the MDE was established in 1994 in two Vietnamese universities, with the assistance of Dutch development co-operation and in collaboration with the ISS, Europe’s largest graduate school of development studies. Graduates of the MDE gain a degree that is signed by both the Rector  of the counterpart Vietnamese university and the Rector of the ISS.

The second phase of development co-operation began in late 1998 and is planned to finish at the end of 2002. The budget of approximately US\$3.5 million is divided equally between the two counterpart universities. This funding pays for the delivery of courses by Vietnamese staff, full-time ISS staff assigned to the counterpart universities, student support services, teaching visits by ISS staff, and short and long term training of Vietnamese lecturers in The Netherlands. 

In Ho Chi Minh City, the MDE is located within the Faculty of Development Economics of University of Economics (UOE). Created out of the merger of two universities and one faculty in 1996, UOE has a teaching staff of 500, including 165 professors, and provides undergraduate and graduate teaching to over 50,000 full- and part-time students.