Taiwan opens the door to studying abroad and working opportunities in multinational corporations

Đài Loan 'rộng cửa' du học, làm việc ở tập đoàn đa quốc gia cho người Việt - Ảnh 1. — Professor Lam Vi Chi, Education Counselor at TECO, in a recent interview with *Thanh Nien*

Before taking on the position of educational leader at TECO, Dr. Wei-Chih Lin was an honorary professor at the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU, Taiwan) and worked at many leading enterprises and research institutes. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 2013, holds more than 30 patents and has published more than 60 scientific papers to date.

He was also awarded the Taiwan Agricultural Science Award - Taiwan's highest award for agricultural research - in 2021.

In the context of the increasing number of Vietnamese studying in Taiwan, now reaching nearly 40,000, Mr. Lam analyzed with Thanh Nien about the motivation of Vietnamese people to study in Taiwan, the initial successes of the "International Industrial Talent Education Special Program" (INTENSE), the highlights in the Vietnam - Taiwan educational relationship and the plans he cherished to implement during his term.

Create job opportunities at NVIDIA, TSMC

Last year, Taiwan officially launched INTENSE, a special scholarship program that combines the "three houses": government, businesses and universities. After more than a year of operation, what achievements has the program achieved and what are the upcoming plans, sir?

Prof. Dr. Lam Vi Chi: I think the first achievement is the number of students participating in the program. When we started implementing INTENSE in 2024, there were only about 340 international students from other countries and 25 Taiwanese universities participating in the training. By this year, the number of international students and participating universities has increased, to 500 and 32 respectively, and we expect to welcome about 700-750 new students in the upcoming spring semester. Of these, about 30% are from Vietnam.

The second achievement, which I think is even more important, is the participation of leading corporations. Since the fall semester this year, businesses such as TSMC, NVIDIA, Micron, MediaTek... have started accepting INTENSE students, bringing the total number of units accompanying the program to 600. Thanks to this cooperation, we can also provide a variety of training programs, closely following current technology trends such as semiconductors, robots, artificial intelligence (AI)...

Recently, I learned that some Vietnamese students have also been contacted and accepted by NVIDIA, which is an extremely outstanding case because this corporation always receives hundreds of applications globally.

In Vietnam, we are also promoting the establishment of INTENSE Program Offices with support from Taiwanese universities. We currently have offices located at the National Innovation Center (Hanoi) and Can Tho University, and are planning to open more facilities in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City in the near future. These offices will provide information and advice on studying abroad in Taiwan, open free Chinese language classes, and train Vietnamese teachers on how to teach Chinese.

In addition, we are also inviting more and more multinational companies to join INTENSE. In fact, the initiative to build the INTENSE program came from the needs of businesses themselves, in response to concerns that Taiwan's low birth rate would lead to a shortage of human resources. In the semiconductor sector alone, companies have opened up to 34,000 new job positions by 2024, according to government statistics. The job opportunities are very open.

Đài Loan 'rộng cửa' du học, làm việc ở tập đoàn đa quốc gia cho người Việt - Ảnh 2. — The INTENSE program office in Hanoi opened at the end of October.

INTENSE was launched in the context of growing AI. Can you share more about how Taiwanese universities are adapting to this context, especially in the chip and semiconductor industries where Taiwan has strengths?

If we want to train high-quality scientists and engineers, we cannot just teach them a few skills and expect them to do a good job right away. What we are doing is to equip students with solid foundational knowledge and training in specialized skills. This is always the core factor, whether there is AI or not. We are also expanding the teaching of general subjects such as math, physics, chemistry... in English so that students have international career prospects.

Meanwhile, in some fields such as languages and accounting, it is undeniable that the influence of AI and technology makes it more difficult for many students to find jobs. That is why some schools have provided students with additional basic knowledge in other fields, such as physics and semiconductor technology. Then, the school creates opportunities for them to work at Taiwanese company branches in other countries to act as a "bridge" between Taiwanese experts and locals.

Besides INTENSE, what other scholarship opportunities can Vietnamese people find to study abroad in Taiwan?

From the Ministry of Education, we have the Taiwan Scholarship Program (MOE) for those who want to pursue a degree program, from undergraduate to doctoral, and the Chinese Language Scholarship (HES) for those who want to learn a foreign language. We also run the Taiwan Education Experience Program (TEEP), which provides opportunities for short-term internships or research in Taiwan.

Not to mention, almost every university in Taiwan offers scholarships to international students, only the level of support varies. If you achieve high results in your studies, you can also be rewarded by the local government.

Đài Loan 'rộng cửa' du học, làm việc ở tập đoàn đa quốc gia cho người Việt - Ảnh 3. — Vietnamese international students participate in an international cultural festival at a Taiwanese university in March.

Three-house cooperation scholarship

INTENSE is a scholarship program that combines three parties: the government, the university and the enterprise. Specifically, the Taiwanese government will pay for airfare, tuition and other fees. Enterprises support students with 10,000 TWD/month (about 8.4 million VND) and the university coordinates training according to the enterprise's order. The training period is 2 years, after graduation, students will work for at least 2 years for the supporting Taiwanese enterprise, then can choose to stay in Taiwan to continue working or return to Vietnam.

This scholarship is open for applications for the spring 2026 intake and is applicable to citizens of several countries including Vietnam, enrolling in undergraduate, graduate, master and doctoral degrees.

Many Taiwanese people study in Vietnam

In recent years, the number of Vietnamese studying in Taiwan has increased sharply. The latest data from the Taiwan Ministry of Education shows that by 2024, there will be nearly 40,000 Vietnamese students studying in Taiwan, the largest number among international students. In your opinion, what are the reasons for this growth?

I believe there are three main motivations that motivate Vietnamese people to choose to study in Taiwan. Cultural factors and living environment are the most important, especially when the weather, cuisine... of Taiwan and Vietnam are quite similar. Taiwanese people are also very friendly partly because our education system always teaches that we should help others if possible. Not to mention, the Vietnamese community in Taiwan is also very large, with many of you being second generation.

The second factor is the cost of education, which is much lower than in the US and Europe, not counting the financial support from both the school and the government, while the quality of education is still very high. Finally, there is the strong development of high-tech industries, in the context of more and more multinational corporations investing and expanding in Taiwan. Just recently, NVIDIA announced the opening of a new international center in Taipei and will soon have another center in Kaohsiung.

On the contrary, I am curious if Taiwanese people study abroad in Vietnam?

Absolutely. Under the management of the Taiwan Education Agency, we have many moves to support Taiwanese students to come to Vietnam for short-term research and internship; support students with Vietnamese parents to come to learn about Vietnamese culture and traditions; or even support young Taiwanese people to start businesses in Vietnam.

I would also like to share that academic cooperation between universities in Taiwan and Vietnam is also taking place regularly, almost every day. Before taking up my current position, I often went to Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho to teach and research. On many occasions, I even accompanied my students to Vietnam and stayed for a month.

I myself also hope that the Vietnamese Government can invite more universities to cooperate with Taiwan. In Taiwan, especially in the South, many young people grow up in multicultural Vietnamese-Taiwanese families. I often advise them to always be proud of their roots and learn Vietnamese, and come to Vietnam to contribute if possible with the knowledge and experience they have learned in Taiwan.

Đài Loan 'rộng cửa' du học, làm việc ở tập đoàn đa quốc gia cho người Việt - Ảnh 4. — Mr. Lam Vi Chi and Ms. Phan Thi Hong Xuan (middle), Director of the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City), awarded certificates of completion of the summer semester program in Vietnam to Taiwanese students.

Double the TOCFL exam quota

How do you outline your next three-year term in Vietnam?

The gratitude I have for the Vietnamese students who have accompanied me over the years is one of the reasons why I decided to take on the position of TECO Education Counselor. Therefore, in the future, I hope to be able to contribute even more to the development of both Taiwan and Vietnam through the "GSS" plan.

Đài Loan 'rộng cửa' du học, làm việc ở tập đoàn đa quốc gia cho người Việt - Ảnh 5. — Mr. Lam Vi Chi hopes to realize the "GSS" plan to help Vietnam and Taiwan develop together.

The first is the "goal", which is how to make it most convenient for Vietnamese people to study in Taiwan. Currently, we have doubled the number of TOCFL test slots to at least 10,000 slots. This makes it easier for you to register for the test to apply for a visa to study in Taiwan, no longer having to endure the situation of "running out of slots in two minutes" like before.

The second is "study". We create the best conditions for you to study in both Vietnam and Taiwan through a series of actions from teaching Chinese for free, calling on universities to post videos on YouTube introducing schools and majors, increasing support for Vietnamese students in Taiwan... Finally, "stay", which means creating many conditions for you to gain practical work experience in Taiwan to gain more experience before returning to contribute to Vietnam.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dai-loan-rong-cua-du-hoc-co-hoi-lam-viec-o-tap-doan-da-quoc-gia-185251127162435615.htm