A document to this effect was signed in Hanoi on February 9 by Ambassador Joop Scheffers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Dat.

The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE) will help develop and improve curricula, strengthen quality assurance, and improve teaching methodologies and education materials.

It will focus on the areas of Vietnam’s higher education sector where there is a clear demand for specialised knowledge from the Netherlands, like agriculture, integrated water resource management and climate change. Other support areas are maritime transport and logistics, health care and profession-oriented higher education.

The programme aims to train quality human resources to meet the needs of the local labour market.

NICHE is part of a broader cooperation programme between the Netherlands and Vietnam in the field of higher education. It will gradually replace the current Netherlands Programme for the Institutional Strengthening of Post Secondary Education and Training Capacity (NPT). Fellowships continue to be provided through the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP).