Foreign Trade University, or FTU, is a university established in 1960, located in Hanoi, Vietnam. FTU is among the most well-known universities in Vietnam, covering a wide range of business courses among which are finance, management, and marketing. The annual admissions test to the university is the most competitive in Vietnam. Students from FTU are recognized as being active and well-qualified.

The university also has campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hạ Long - Quảng Ninh.

It has both undergraduate and graduate programs for foreign students. These courses are taught in Vietnamese, English, and French. In the fall semester 2012, the FTU welcomed undergraduate exchange students from the US, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Japan and South Korea, who stayed mostly for one semester but in parts also for two. Besides student exchanges as a part of an academic partnership, the FTU also allows self-organized exchange semesters (commonly known as "Free Mover" semesters).

Foreign Trade University (FTU) in details

1. Year of Establishment: 1960.

2. Mandate: to provide higher education in foreign trade economics aiming at supplying human resource for the economic sector generally and foreign trade economic activities particularly, providing knowledge to community members for their specific business purposes, and simultaneously fostering the team of lecturers, academic researchers in order to contribute to national education, academic research and economic development.

3. Degrees and Training Programmes

- Full-time Undergraduate Programme (B.A. Degree): 4.5 years, specialized in Foreign Trade Economics, Business Administration and Business English.

- Master''''s Degree Programme (M.A. Degree): 3 years, specialized in World Economy and International Economic Relations.

- Doctoral Degree Programme (Ph.D. Degree): 5 years, specialized inWorld Economy and International Economic Relations.

- Part-time In-service Programme (B.A. Degree): 5 years, specialized inForeign Trade Economics.

- Part-time In-service Second Degree Programmes for non-foreign trade graduates: 2.5 years, specialized in Foreign Trade Economics.

- Part-time In-service Second Degree Programmes for foreign trade graduates and non-foreign trade graduates: 2.5 years, specialized in Business English.

- In-service Training Courses on Foreign Trade Economics in different cities/provinces throughout Vietnam.

4. Faculties

- Foreign Trade Economics

- Business English

- Business Administration

- Basic and Fundamental Economics

- Social Science and Human Studies

5. Departments (Specialized Training)

- French Language

- Chinese Language

- Russian Language

- Japanese Language

6. Departments (supporting)

- Training Management

- Academic Research

- International Relations

- Personnel

- Political Education

- Administration and Finance

- Language Laboratory

- Library

- IT Department

- In-service Training

- Postgraduate Studies

7. Branch and Centers

- FTU Ho Chi Minh City Branch

- Center for Foreign Economic Research, Training and Consultancy (FERETCO)

- Vietnam – Japan Human Resources Co-operation Centers (VJCC) in Hanoi and in Ho Chi Minh City

- Information Center

8. Teaching Staff and Students (2002 figure)

Number of teaching staff (full-time regular):    195

- Professors and Associate Professors:                  5

- Lecturers/Instructors:                                      190

- Ph.D. Degrees:                                                  20

- M.A. Degrees:                                                   57

- B.A. Degrees:                                                  246

Number of students:

- Full-time students:                                        4,600

- M.A. students:                                                 150

- Ph.D. students:                                                  20

9. Academic Research Activities

Annually, the FTU has about 8 to 10 research works carried out at state, ministerial and university levels. Additionally, the FTU has a network of business circles with researches, seminars, workshops and conferences on business matters (both theoretical and practical terms). These assist FTU in improving teaching materials and training quality. Research works also offer businesses more access to business environment, practices and legal aspects.

10. International Relations

- A number of foreign companies such as Sumitomo Corporation, Kumagai Gami Company (Japan), Vina-Debon (Korea) and Hasebe Bank provide scholarships to FTU students who have outstanding results in their studies.

- FTU has connections with a number of universities and colleges such as University of Hawaii, California State University at Riverside, University of Buffalo (USA); Osaka International University, Tokyo Keizai University, Kobe University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences (Japan); Bejing University of International Business and Economics (China); University of Tours (France); Bangkok University (Thailand); Aalborg University, Copenhagen Business School (Denmark); Cambridge University, Birmingham University (UK), etc. These connections are reflected in the exchanges of information, research/training programmes and lecturers/students.

- FTU has connections with a number of international organizations such as UNDP; JICA, JOCV (Japan); VIA, ELI, ALI, REI (the USA); VVOB (Belgium); WUSC (Canada); OSB (Australia); DANIDA (Denmark); SIF (Singapore),... mainly focusing on the exchanges of scholars and teachers.

Source: general